This guide contains info about the holiday along with a brief explanation of the assets added to our Astro Marketing Suite along with My Promotion Ideas, Social Media Fun, and Astro Offer Pairings!

Marketing Guide Key:

🤩 - Marketing Materials

💸 - Offer Pairings

💞 - Sharing The Love

🗞 - Blog Pairing

Month-Long & Week-Long Observances

Active Dog Month 🤩

Adopt a Greyhound Month 🤩💞

April 1-7: National Raw Feeding Week 🤩💸🗞

April 24-30: National Scoop the Poop Week 🤩

One-Day Holidays with Astro Offer Pairings

April 1: April Fool’s Day 🤩💸

April 10: National Hug Your Dog Day 🤩💸💞

April 11: National Pet Day 🤩💸💞

April 12: World Hamster Day 💸💞

April 19: National Cat Lady Day 🤩💸💞

April 20: 420 CBD 🤩💸🗞

April 21: Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day 🤩💸💞

April 22: Earth Day 🤩💸🗞

Additional One-Day Holidays Just for Fun!

April 4: World Rat Day 💞

April 17: Easter 🤩💞

April 19: Pet Owners Day 💞

April 24: National Pet Parents Day 💞

April 26: National Kids with Pets Day 🤩💞

April 27: National Little Pampered Dog Day 🤩

April 30: Adopt a Shelter Pet Day 🤩💞🗞

Month-Long Observances

Active Dog Month

Active Dog Month was created by Om Shanti Pups and is all about enjoying spring and getting active with your furry best friend!

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• My Promotion Idea: %/$ Off your favorite products that encourage people and their pets to get active. This could be anything from outdoor fetch toys, leashes/harnesses for walking, or hiking and outdoor adventure gear!
• Social Media Fun: Share your favorite outdoor spots to take a hike, or go for a swim. Showcase some of your favorite fetch toys. Do live demos of your dog playing with those toys!
• Hashtag: #ActiveDogMonth

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Adopt a Greyhound Month

Adopt a Greyhound Month is a great time to show your support for your local Greyhound rescues while sharing information about your store's involvement in our Sharing The Love Adoption Platform.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Adoption Flyer Button, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• Sharing The Love: Add an additional coupon to your Adoption Bundle for any greyhound adopted this month.
• Social Media Fun: Tag your local greyhound rescues and share info on your involvement in Sharing The Love.
• Hashtag: #AdoptAGreyhoundMonth

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Week-Long Observances

April 1-7: National Raw Feeding Week

National Raw Feeding Week is an awesome holiday for the Neighborhood Pet Community. To celebrate this holiday Astro has put together an AstroBlog titled Benefits of Feeding Raw to Your Pet to share the many benefits of feeding raw. We also have a ton of raw food Offers for this month!

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• My Promotion Idea: %/$ Off your favorite raw foods, toppers, and treats.
• Social Media Fun: Share your raw feeding tips- a little raw goes a long way! Just a little bit as a topper or as a treat can make a huge difference. Share your favorite raw feeding gurus' content, or refer to them for inspiration and become your own guru! I recommend Doodle Dogs from Calgary, CA (@doodledogsyyc on Instagram) - their social media game is on point!
• AstroBlog: Benefits of Feeding Raw to Your Pet
• Hashtag: #NationalRawFeedingWeek

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April 24-30: National Scoop the Poop Week

National Scoop the Poop Week is about educating the public on the importance of cleaning up after their dogs. Remember- there is no such thing as the Poop Fairy! We had to include this holiday since we have several awesome poop bag Frequent Buyer Programs and brands on Astro - such as Earth Rated and Metro Paws.

• Marketing Materials: Coming soon! Check your Astro Template Library and Image Library in the coming days.

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One-Day Holidays with Astro Offer Pairings

April 1: April Fool’s Day

We created a FAKE Offer by a Made-Up Brand called My Pet Unicorn so you can play a fun April Fools joke on your customers. The Offer is fully functional, so you can actually redeem it - it just won't report anywhere. Last year we had some retailers actually make little bags of sparkle sprinkles to hand out. They were little bags of unicorn confetti and glitter! So cute.

So go ahead, enroll, redeem, and yuck it up!

"Our Nutritional Wizards have been crafting premium magical toppers for the refined unicorn for millennia. Our Sparkle Sprinkles contain the finest ingredients such as toadstools, rainbows, 4-leaf clovers, and fairy dust, all sourced locally from magical forests. Passionate wizards craft our toppers within hollow trees surrounded by twinkle lights and disembodied singing. We strive to provide you with the highest quality meal toppers, so your pet unicorn's magical cloaking ability remains intact."

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Templates with Offer/Promo Elements (One for Sparkle Sprinkles, the other for 'Dino-Mites' - a new food for you guessed it, Dinosaurs!), Holiday Images in Astro Media Library, and Offer Image in Brand Media under "My Pet Unicorn" (these same images are available as Canva Templates.
• Social Media Fun: Tell your customers you are now carrying a new line of food made especially for unicorns! 
• Hashtag: #AprilFools

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April 10: National Hug Your Dog Day

National Hug Your Dog Day is all about showing affection for your dog. This is a great time to talk about the many ways to show affection for a loved pup.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• My Promotion Idea: %/$ Off your favorite dog products.
• Social Media Fun: Share pics of you hugging your pup. Ask your customers to do the same.
• Hashtag: #HugYourDogDay

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April 11: National Pet Day

National Pet Day celebrates ALL pets! This holiday includes all species of pets and brings awareness to those who are still searching for their forever homes.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• Sharing The Love: The Sharing The Love platform rewards adoption for all kinds of pets. astrodog, astrocat, astrorabbit, astrochinchilla, astromouse, astrorat, astrohamster, astroguineapig, and more species are coming real soon!
• Social Media Fun: Share pics of all of your pets. Ask your customers to do the same.
• Hashtag: #NationalPetDay #CelebrateShelterPetsDay

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April 12: World Hamster Day

World Hamster Day celebrates the little guys! And we love the little guys.

• Marketing Materials: Coming Soon!
• Social Media Fun: Share fun facts about hamsters. Ask your customers to share pics of their hamsters.
• Sharing The Love: Did you know 'astrohamster' is part of Sharing The Love. Yup! Oxbow has a program available for qualifying retailers - ask your Oxbow rep for more info.
• Hashtag: #WorldHamsterDay

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April 19: National Cat Lady Day

National Cat Lady Day celebrates ladies and their best feline friends. As a cat lady myself I am here for it!

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• Social Media Fun: Share pics of you and your cat. Ask your customers to do the same.
• Sharing The Love: Any adopted cat, aka "astrocat", qualify for a Free Adoption Bundle.
• Hashtag: #NationalCatLadyDay

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April 20: 420 CBD

420 is a joke holiday related to THC. We all know that the CBD oils marketed to our pets contain only CBD, and no THC - but this 'holiday' can still be used to start a conversation about the benefits of hemp for our pets. But do make sure that you specify that Pet CBD contains no THC.

CBD has helped so many pets since its entry into the holistic pet health market. My pets take CBD for their own unique reasons - my cat for anxiety and my dog for his joints - and it has helped them both! Astro Offers are a great way to introduce pet parents to CBD. To help you spread the word, Astro and our brand partners provide educational materials on the benefits and uses of CBD. 

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• My Promotion Idea: %/$ Off your favorite hemp products
• Social Media Fun: Share information about the benefits of CBD. Share your own personal experiences with pet CBD.
• AstroBlog: Benefits of Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil for Pets / National CBD Month is for Pets Too
• Hashtag: #420CBD #CBD4Pets

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April 21: Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day

Bulldogs are Beautiful Day celebrates all Bulldogs and Bulldog mixes!

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• Social Media Fun: Ask your customers to share pics of their bulldogs! Give your favorite local bulldog rescues a shoutout!
• Sharing The Love: An adopted Bulldog can be an "astrodog" and get a free Adoption Bundle. Reach out to your favorite local bulldog rescues this month and let them know you are part of the Sharing The Love platform on Astro.
• Hashtag: #BulldogsAreBeautifulDay

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April 22: Earth Day

We believe Earth Day should be celebrated every day! As an Astro Neighborhood Retailer, you have something extra special to celebrate on this day. When you joined Astro you eliminated hundreds of pounds of paper that would have been used to create paper frequent buyer cards and coupons! So you saved a ton of trees, and you continue to do so every year you are on Astro. Together we can eliminate paper frequent buyer cards altogether!

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• My Promotion Idea: Give any customer who brings in their own reusable bags %/$ Off their purchase. (If you want to offer a promotion such as this full time let us know and we can help you set that up.)
• Social Media Fun: Give your favorite eco brands a shout-out. Talk about your paperless loyalty program! Mention your free 'paper-free' mobile app that now replaces thousands and thousands of paper cards.
• AstroBlog: Astro has several very eco-conscious Brand Partners on our loyalty platform, and we would like to take the time to highlight them. Stay tuned for a special AstroBlog article.
• Hashtag: #EarthDay #EarthDayEveryDay

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Additional One-Day Holidays Just for Fun!

April 4: World Rat Day

I love rats so much! They are brilliant and affectionate animals. World Rat Day celebrates rats everywhere! Did you know that Adopted Rats qualify for Sharing The Love Adoption Bundles from Oxbow? Just type in "astrorat" to bring up the adoption form. (The Oxbow Adoption Program is private and only available at select locations- ask your Oxbow rep for details.)

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April 17: Easter

When I was in pet retail one of my favorite things to do was to help my customers put together Easter Baskets for their pets! I recommend going out and getting a nice basket or two and putting together some example displays to inspire your customers. This makes an amazing window display.

Easter is also a good time to bring awareness to Rabbit Rescues in your area.

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April 19: Pet Owners Day

Your customers are known as "Pet Owners" in the Astroverse, and each of them has a Pet Owner Account that tracks all of their loyalty cards. This is a great time to share info about your Free Astro Mobile App so your customers can download it and follow along and track their progress.

This is also a great time to talk about your involvement in Sharing The Love and attract all newbies and future Pet Owners to your doors!

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April 24: National Pet Parents Day

National Pet Parents Day on April 24 this year (the last Sunday in April) was acknowledged by Veterinary Pet Insurance as a way to celebrate responsible pet parents and their furry children. This is essentially Mother's & Father's Day for Pet Parents.

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April 26: National Kids with Pets Day

National Kids and Pets Day on April 26th raises awareness of the importance of picking the right pet for children at the right time. It’s an important decision that can lead to a lifetime of bonding between pet and child. The day also celebrates the bonds children and pets can share and a day to remember safety where our pets and children are concerned.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
  
• Social Media Fun: Share a story about how having a pet as a kid impacted your life. Ask your customers to share stories about themselves or their kids.
• Sharing The Love: Encourage your customers to bring their kids when they come in to redeem their Adoption Bundle. Invite those kids to ask questions about caring for their new pet. Make sure to include them in the conversation!
• Hashtag: #NationalKidswithPetsDay

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April 27: National Little Pampered Dog Day

Every dog should be happy in their own way. So if you and your dog love to dress up together – perfect! If your dog is well-traveled, fed and heck, even read – even better.
Let’s celebrate being crazy about our dogs together on National Little Pampered Dog Day while raising awareness of and funding for the many dogs in need of loving and safe homes. Lourdes and Bella Welhaven (Bella is the dog) publish Little Pampered Dog. Little Pampered Dog is “the Lifestyle Magazine for Little Pampered Dogs and the People Who Love Them.” The magazine, blog, and podcast celebrate all of the over-the-top crazy love that people shower on their dogs. Check out their official website for ways you can celebrate this holiday.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
  
• My Promotion Idea: Do you offer grooming? This is a great holiday to push those services. Make it a spa day!
• Social Media Fun: Share pics of your dog being pampered. Highlight some of your favorite products and services in the process.
• Hashtag: #NationalLittlePamperedDogDay

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April 30: Adopt a Shelter Pet Day

National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day is celebrated across the nation on April 30 and we are getting ready to observe the day by going to pet shelters, adopting as many pets as possible, spreading the word among our friends and colleagues, and taking to social media to spread the message to everyone.

• Marketing Materials: Holiday Template with Offer/Promo Elements, Holiday Images in Astro Media Library (these same images are available as Canva Templates)
• Social Media Fun: Bring awareness to your favorite local shelters and show your support. Share details about your involvement in Sharing The Love.
• Sharing The Love: All adopted shelter pets can be an "astrocat" or an "astrodog" and get a free Adoption Bundle at your store. Reach out to your favorite local shelters this month and let them know you are part of the Sharing The Love platform on Astro.
• AstroBlog: Adopt A Shelter Pet Day
• Hashtag: #AdoptAShelterPetDay

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