May the 4th Be With You, Young Padawan

Oh, Star Wars. With its unmistakable opening music, characters, unique creatures, and lightsabers it’s a film beloved by all (if not mostly all) that continues to inspire us. It’s pretty incredible that since the premier of the first film in the original trilogy in 1977, it’s a storyline that people still care about and want to follow. There’s even a Star Wars Land in the works at Disney!  So, it wasn’t all that shocking when Star Wars fans first begun celebrating May the Fourth in 2011.

Since then, May the Fourth, a pretty obvious pun on the famous phrase “may the force be with you”, has become a day to celebrate this galactic franchise. On May 4th, you can expect to see the Internet blow up with Yoda memes and people sharing  their love for the films and what they mean to them. This, ladies and gentleman, is a prime example of a pop culture holiday and it matters because participating in these wildly popular online moments is a great way to up your visibility.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, great! If not, that doesn’t mean you can’t use May the Fourth to your advantage. Consider these ideas to get you started and drive engagement, you will.

• Share a fun meme or Star Wars Day pun on your Facebook page. Lucky for you, our Sesame Social team creates graphics for this unofficial holiday every year.
• Host a Star Wars themed contest in the office and promote it on your social media.
• Create a post encouraging people to share their favorite Star Wars film and why.
• Indulge in an office guessing game of “which quotes came from which movie” if you’re a really big fan.
• Play a Star Wars movie on the office televisions if you have them. People are bound to share that on social media, trust us.

You can be as laid back or as involved in May the Fourth as you want. And if it’s really not something you  want to do, the good news is that there are plenty of other fun, pop culture holidays you can participate in! There’s JRR Tolkien Day, National Coffee Day, and World Emoji Day, just to name a few. You might think it’s silly (because it is) but it’s a great way to diversify your content on social media and make it more relatable to your audience.

—Michelle Hammond, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications