The Public Holiday Hours Post That Stops the 'Are You Open?' DMs

02 September 2026·5 min read

Quick answer: A public holiday hours post is a short, well-timed update across your Google Business Profile, socials and (if you have one) website banner that tells people plainly whether you're open, closed or running different hours over a public holiday — posted early enough that it actually stops the "are you open?" messages instead of arriving after they've already sent one. The trick isn't the design, it's the timing and the places you put it. Post it once well ahead of the holiday and again as a reminder the day before. 📈

There's a very specific kind of quiet dread in seeing "hey, are you open Monday?" land in your DMs for the fourth time in a week, especially when the answer is sitting right there on Google — if anyone thought to update it. People don't check three different platforms before messaging you; they check one, don't find a clear answer, and message instead, because messaging is faster than searching. A proper public holiday hours post fixes this at the source: it puts the answer where people are already looking, before they've decided to ask 💖.

What most businesses get wrong

The biggest mistake is timing — posting the update on the holiday itself, or the night before, when half the "are you open?" messages have already been sent. The second mistake is only updating one channel, usually Instagram, while Google Business Profile (the place most people actually check first for hours) is left showing standard trading hours straight through the long weekend. The third is vagueness: "reduced hours over the break" tells a customer nothing useful, and they'll message anyway just to get an actual time.

The public holiday hours checklist (copy and run through it each time):

1. Update Google Business Profile special hours — this is the single highest-impact step, since it's what shows directly in Search and Maps results, often before someone even clicks through to your page.

2. Post it 5–7 days out, not the day before. Caption formula: "Heads up 🌴 — we'll be [closed / open X–Xpm] on [date] for [holiday]. Normal hours resume [date]. Anything urgent before then, [contact method]."

3. Repost as a reminder 1–2 days out, shorter: "Reminder: we're [closed / open X–Xpm] this [day] for [holiday] 🤍"

4. Pin it to the top of your Instagram/Facebook page and, if you have one, add a temporary banner or note to your website homepage.

5. Set an auto-reply on DMs and missed calls for the closed period itself, so anyone who messages anyway still gets an instant answer.

What this looks like in practice

A local service business with a seasonal dip: Long weekends around a quiet season are exactly when "are you even still open?" messages spike, because customers assume the worst if hours look inconsistent. A simple week-out post with an exact reopening date reassures people the business isn't winding down, it's just closed for the day.

A clinic-style business: Patients often need to know holiday hours specifically to plan around appointments or prescriptions. A post that states exact open hours (not just "reduced hours") lets people self-serve the answer and book or reschedule online without needing to ask reception first.

A tradie or trade-based business: Jobs booked around a long weekend are a common source of "are you working Monday?" texts. A short post plus an updated voicemail greeting covers both the people who check social media and the people who just ring the number on the truck.

How to actually run it (without it becoming a chore)

Build a simple recurring reminder for the handful of public holidays that affect your trading hours each year — most calendars let you set an annual repeating event a week out. Keep one saved caption template (see the checklist above) so you're not writing it from scratch every time, just swapping in the date and hours. Google Business Profile's special hours feature is the one step that pays off even if you skip everything else, because it's the first thing that shows in a search for "[your business] hours today" — which is very often the exact search someone runs instead of messaging you.

💡 Google first, socials second: if you only have time to update one thing, update your Google Business Profile hours — it's usually the first result someone sees, often before they've even opened Instagram.

Mistakes to avoid

Posting the update the same day as the holiday, after most questions have already been sent
Updating Instagram but leaving Google Business Profile showing normal hours
Vague wording like "reduced hours" instead of an actual time
Forgetting to switch hours back afterwards, so the special hours quietly linger for weeks
Not setting an auto-reply for the closed period, so anyone who messages anyway still waits for a manual answer

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to post this on every platform I use?

Not every platform equally — Google Business Profile matters most because it's usually the first thing people check, followed by whichever social platform your customers actually use day to day. Spreading the same update thin across five platforms is less effective than doing the top two properly.

How far ahead should I post?

A week out gives people enough time to plan around it, with a shorter reminder one to two days before for anyone who missed the first post. Posting only the day before will still catch some people, but by then a chunk of the "are you open?" messages have usually already landed.

Does this really stop the DMs completely?

It reduces them noticeably, but it won't stop every message — some people will always message rather than check, especially regulars who'd rather ask you directly than search. The goal is fewer avoidable questions, not zero, and having the auto-reply in place covers the gap either way.

What if my hours change at short notice?

Update Google Business Profile as soon as you know, even if it's the same day — an inaccurate listing left standing is worse than a late update, since it sends people to your door expecting you to be open.