Planning Google offer and event posts: a monthly calendar for Ireland

Short answer: plan one genuine offer or event each month, confirm its dates and terms, and prepare it for approval about a week before it begins. Use the remaining weeks for useful updates. For businesses in Ireland, check bank holiday hours, keep your address and Eircode accurate, and make sure every promotion matches what customers can actually book or buy.

Google Business Profile supports updates, offers and events. Choose the format that matches the announcement rather than turning every post into a promotion. An offer needs a clear benefit and conditions; an event needs a date, time and location. Neither replaces accurate opening hours or a working booking page.

The examples below are illustrative planning ideas, not customer stories or evidence of results. Posting regularly does not guarantee rankings, enquiries or sales.

Start with your actual trading calendar

Before writing posts, check staff availability, stock, booking capacity and planned closures. A promotion that brings customers to a closed shop is worse than having no promotion at all.

For an Irish business, build the calendar around relevant dates rather than importing a UK seasonal template. St Patrick’s Day, Easter Monday, the June Bank Holiday and the October Bank Holiday may affect opening hours, deliveries or appointment availability. Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day also need advance planning.

Good Friday is not a public holiday in Ireland, although individual businesses may close or change their hours. Record what your business will actually do rather than copying another company’s holiday schedule.

Local activity matters too. A Galway business might have a genuine reason to discuss an upcoming city event, while a business serving rural parts of County Galway may need to explain delivery areas or appointment arrangements instead. Do not imply an association with an event unless one exists.

Build a four-week calendar around one useful announcement

Use this framework as an illustrative starting point. If there is no worthwhile offer or event, publish an ordinary update instead.

Prepare the main announcement about a week before it starts, allowing longer where customers need to book in advance. That is a planning recommendation, not a Google requirement. Set offer and event dates to reflect the real activity, not the date you drafted the post.

Keep a simple record of the owner, approval deadline, publication date and destination link for each item. This makes changes easier when staff leave, stock runs out or a venue becomes unavailable.

Write offers customers can understand before travelling

An offer should answer four questions immediately: what is available, when it applies, who qualifies and how to claim it.

Include:

• A plain-language headline describing the benefit.
• The actual start and end dates.
• Relevant eligibility rules, exclusions and availability limits.
• A clear action, such as booking online, calling or visiting.
• A destination page with the complete terms where needed.

Avoid vague claims such as “Ireland’s best deal” unless you can substantiate them. Never create an inflated previous price to make a discount look larger. Irish consumer-protection rules apply to online marketing, and particular price-reduction rules apply to goods. Check the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s guidance before approving a discount campaign.

Essential restrictions should not appear only after someone has started booking. If the offer applies only on weekdays, excludes certain products or requires advance payment, make that clear early.

Check the booking journey on a mobile. A readable post is not enough if its link leads to an expired promotion or a form that customers cannot use.

Write events with practical Irish location details

An event post should explain what happens, who it is for, the date, start and finish times, and whether booking is required. State any attendance charge and cancellation conditions accurately.

Use the real venue name and address. Include the correct Eircode in the event information or linked booking page where helpful, and verify it rather than asking AI to generate one. Add the county when it helps customers distinguish locations or understand the journey.

If the event is not at your usual premises, make the separate venue unmistakable. Do not change your main business address simply to promote a temporary event.

Use an original venue photo or a relevant image you have permission to publish. Do not present an AI-generated crowd as evidence of a previous event. If plans change, update the post and booking page, and notify booked attendees through your normal contact process.

Worked example: an illustrative Cork garden centre

Illustrative only: this is a fictional planning scenario, not a named client, real offer or report of results. No address, Eircode, attendance figures or performance outcomes are being supplied.

Imagine an independent garden centre in Cork planning a spring container-planting workshop. Its manager chooses an event post because the main message is a scheduled session, not a discount.

Before drafting, the manager confirms the workshop date, duration, available places, attendance charge, included materials and cancellation terms. The team also checks whether the chosen weekend affects bank holiday hours.

An AI drafting brief could read:

Draft a Google Business Profile event post for a container-planting workshop in Cork. Use only the approved details supplied below. Explain whether booking is required and what participants should bring. Flag missing facts instead of inventing them. Do not claim limited availability unless we confirm it.

The first draft might use this structure:

Spring container-planting workshop in Cork — Join our practical session on [confirmed date], from [start time] to [finish time]. Attendance costs [confirmed charge] and includes [confirmed materials]. Booking is required. See the booking page for our venue address, Eircode and full terms.

Those brackets are drafting placeholders, not publishable copy. The manager replaces every placeholder, checks the link on a mobile and approves the final version.

Later posts can show the actual preparation area or explain what participants should bring. A final reminder goes out only if booking remains open. No post claims the workshop sold out, attracted customers or improved rankings without evidence.

Keep hours and local listings consistent

A holiday announcement does not automatically update your profile’s opening hours. Set Google Business Profile special hours separately whenever bank holiday hours differ from your normal schedule.

Check your website and any directory listings you maintain, including Golden Pages and Cylex Ireland. Keep the business name, address, telephone number and website consistent. Where a directory offers opening-hours fields, update those as well. Directory inclusion is not a ranking guarantee.

Location pages should reflect genuine operations. For relevant local guidance, see Dublin, Cork, Galway or Limerick. Avoid placing every city name into a post when the event serves only one location.

Use AI for drafting, not for inventing facts

Give AI a short, approved fact sheet rather than asking it to devise a promotion independently. Include the offer or event type, dates, location, terms, booking link and preferred action. Tell it to flag missing information.

Local SEO AI’s AI content can draft copy from your details, while Google posts provides an approval calendar for planned posts. Every post is reviewed before scheduling. Publishing to Google is awaiting Google’s connection approval; do not treat a planned item as confirmation that it is live.

For hours changes, use the special hours guide. If you are comparing subscriptions, see pricing: billing is in GBP (£), with no currency conversion presented here.

Final approval checklist

• The promotion or event is genuine and operationally feasible.
• Dates, times, charges and terms match the booking page.
• Any previous-price or savings claim has been checked.
• The real address, county and Eircode are correct where included.
• Staff know how customers can claim or book.
• The destination link works on a mobile.
• Bank holiday hours are updated separately.
• Images are accurate and used with permission.
• A named person has approved the post and will handle changes.

Frequently asked questions

Which Irish regulator should I check before publishing offers or reviews?

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the relevant Irish consumer-protection authority. Check its guidance when making savings claims or using customer reviews in marketing. The Consumer Rights Act 2022 strengthened protections concerning reviews, including prohibitions on fake reviews. Do not ask AI to fabricate testimonials or imply that reviews have been verified when you have not taken the necessary steps.

Should I update Golden Pages and Cylex Ireland as well as Google?

If you maintain listings on Golden Pages or Cylex Ireland, keep their core details consistent with your website and Google Business Profile. Prioritise your business name, address, telephone number and website, then opening hours where supported. You do not need to copy every monthly post into every directory. Focus on accurate information that helps customers contact or visit the right business.

How should I handle bank holiday hours in Ireland?

Confirm your actual opening arrangements for each holiday, including St Patrick’s Day, Easter Monday and St Stephen’s Day. Add special hours to Google Business Profile and update your website or booking system where necessary. A post can explain the change, but it does not replace the hours setting. Good Friday is not a public holiday in Ireland, so do not assume a statutory closure.

Where should I include an Eircode, county and mobile number?

Use your verified Eircode and county in relevant address or venue details, particularly when customers must travel to an event. Never invent an Eircode or use one belonging to a nearby premises. Keep your main contact number accurate on the profile and linked website. If customers should call a mobile, make sure it is a genuine business contact that staff can answer.