The short version
- Most businesses need two Thanksgiving social media posts: a sincere thank you and a clear holiday hours notice.
- A thank you post works best when it names something specific, such as a year in business, a neighbourhood or the people who keep coming back.
- Holiday hours should be readable in two seconds: the days, the hours and the date you reopen.
- Warm autumn palettes of rust, mustard, cream and deep brown suit Thanksgiving without needing leaves or turkeys.
- In the United States Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, and in Canada on the second Monday of October.
On this page
The best Thanksgiving social media posts do two simple things: they thank the people who support you, in words that sound like you, and they tell customers exactly when you are open. Everything else is optional. Set both on a warm autumn background of rust, mustard and cream, keep the type large and the copy short, and you will have posts people actually read in a week when feeds are crowded with sales.
A note on dates: in the United States Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, and the next day is Black Friday. In Canada it is the second Monday of October. If you serve both, schedule each post for its own country.
The two posts every business needs
When to publish
What it says
Format
When to publish
What it says
Format
When to publish
What it says
Format
Keep the gratitude and the selling apart. A thank you that ends in a discount code reads as a sales post wearing a sweater. If you have a Black Friday offer, give it its own post the next day; Black Friday social media posts covers that run.
How to write a Thanksgiving thank you post
Generic gratitude is invisible. "We're thankful for you" is all over the feed that day. What people remember is a detail only you could write.
Generic
- "Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours."
- "We're so thankful for all of you."
- "Grateful for another amazing year."
Specific
- "Four years on Elm Street. Thank you for every Saturday queue."
- "To the 6am regulars who never once complained about the line: thank you."
- "This year you helped us open a second room. We're grateful."
A good structure is one line of headline and one or two sentences of caption. Name the people (regulars, neighbours, the team), name the thing (a year, a move, a new menu), and stop. If your team agrees, a photo of them tinted in your colours makes it personal without staging a dinner table.
A thank you post at 1080×1350: one specific line, one signature, no offer.
How to design a Thanksgiving holiday hours post
An hours post has one job: answer "are you open?" in a glance. People check it in a hurry, often from a story, so treat it like a sign on the door. The holiday hours post guide covers every holiday; here are the Thanksgiving specifics.
- 1
Lead with the change
"Closed Thursday" is the headline. Normal days don't need repeating unless they change too.
- 2
List days and hours in a column
Wed 8am to 2pm, Thu closed, Fri 9am to 6pm. One line per day, aligned, in your body font.
- 3
Say when normal hours return
"Back to usual hours Monday" saves you a dozen messages.
- 4
Pin it and repeat it
Pin the feed post for the week and add a story on Wednesday and Thursday, then update your Google Business hours to match.
The feed version, pinned for the week.
The story version for the day itself: one fact, very large.
Warm autumn palettes for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving colours come from the table and the season: roasted squash, cranberry, pie crust, candlelight, dark wood. A palette of four is plenty. Use the deep brown or cranberry as the ground for evening posts, and the cream for daytime ones.
If you want more seasonal options, fall colour palettes has a wider range with codes, and warm and cool colours explains why these tones feel so comforting.
More Thanksgiving post ideas
Beyond the two essentials, a few extra posts can carry the week if they suit your business. Pick one or two, not all five, and keep them in the same palette so the run looks planned. For year round inspiration, see small business Instagram ideas.
- A carousel of thank yous: one slide each for regulars, suppliers, neighbours and the team.
- Behind the scenes: the kitchen prepping pies, the florist building centrepieces, the team's own Friendsgiving.
- Order deadlines: for bakeries, caterers and florists, "Last pie orders Monday at noon" is the most useful post you'll make all month.
- A community post: if you run a food drive or donate a share of sales, say exactly what and where, without making it about you.
- A quiet sign off: "Closing early to be with family. See you Friday." Short, human, true.
Making the hours post in three shapes every holiday gets tedious. In Gradiently you design it once and, with Pro, resize it to every format in one step, and the brand kit keeps your fonts and colours in place each time. The Designer can also draft the thank you in your brand's voice, which you then make specific.
Questions people ask
What should a business post on Thanksgiving?
A sincere thank you to customers and a clear post with your holiday hours. Keep any sale for a separate post the following day.
How do I write a Thanksgiving thank you post for customers?
Name who you are thanking and one specific thing they did, such as a year of visits or helping you grow, then sign off. Two sentences is enough.
When should I post Thanksgiving holiday hours?
Early in Thanksgiving week, pinned to your profile, with a story repeat on the day before and the day itself.
What colours are good for Thanksgiving graphics?
Warm autumn tones: deep brown, rust, mustard, cranberry and cream, with sage green as a quiet accent.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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