Many kids look forward to Halloween for several months. Who doesn’t like the chance to go get some free candy from the neighbors? It is a fun holiday where costumes, spooky stuff, and a lot of fun can be had. It’s also a great opportunity for your business to make a marketing splash that will drive more traffic through your doors.
If you want to embrace Halloween as a marketing concept, then it begins with a 100% commitment to it. Without an authentic embrace of the holiday, you’ll actually turn people away from your marketing efforts because you’ll be seen as trying to take advantage of your customers instead of trying to provide them with a good deal.
Great Halloween Marketing Ideas
1. Change Your Logo
A quick logo change that includes a spooky character is a great way to show you’re embracing the holiday. On a budget? Don’t have a graphic designer? Hire a freelancer and you could get this done for as little as five bucks.
2. Be the Scary
Halloween is all about spooky fun, so be the scary business in your community – but in a fun way. Setup pranks and offer “victims” discounts. Paint scary faces on kids [or adults!] who visit your business.
3. Create New Products
Your products or services may have a Halloween theme to them as well and that can encourage a purchase. Sometimes it can be difficult to create Halloween-themed services, like for a lawn mowing company. For that example, you could do a reverse trick-or-treat when you visit your contracts in the days leading up to the holiday.
4. Bundle, Bundle, Bundle
Now is a good time to utilize some of those products that are tough to sell individually because Halloween bundles are always popular. Give the bundle a spooky name, show the value in the combined products, and people will engage with you.
5. Brand the Candy
You’ll have people stopping by regularly around the holiday, which means it is the perfect time to embrace the trick-or-treating aspect of Halloween. Get some candy put together with your branding on the wrapper to hand out. It’s just one little extra way to put your name at the top of someone’s mind.
6. Judge a Costume Contest
If you’ve got a lot of creative customers who love a little competition, then a costume contest for prizes or discounts is a great way to develop more brand awareness in your community. Push your marketing for the event about 30 days in advance, make it a good social event, and maybe even raise money for a local charity while doing it. In return, you’ll have a fun Halloween party that will have people developing relationships with your business.
7. Give Your Blog a Makeover
Blogs are all about value, which gives you the chance to add value to your Halloween marketing push. Give your blog a makeover with graphics to bring some extra smiles. At the very least, offer a couple Halloween-themed posts for people to enjoy reading.
8. Stay Open Late
One of the issues with Halloween is that there just isn’t enough time to get everything done. By staying open later, you’ll be able to pull in some extra traffic after the trick-or-treating is all done and the candy has been counted.
9. Was That a Skeleton?
Arrows have been an effective method to point someone’s attention in a direction you want them to look. A skeleton’s finger is an excellent arrow during the Halloween season.
10. Be a Haunted House
Give people some extra spooky fun by adding some frights into your location so that your customers can have a haunted house experience whenever they visit. You could even turn your business into a training center to defend against the upcoming hordes of zombies that may attack. Only your imagination limits you here!
11. Tell Your Story
Ghost stories are as much a part of Halloween as apple pie is a slice of Americana. Hold a contest in your business where people can tell their favorite ghost stories or can create their own unique stories. Have it over an open mic, have people submit written stories, or have submissions happen in your own unique way.
12. Host an Off-Site Party
There are a number of agencies in your community who would love some help with a Halloween party for the people that they serve. Assisted living facilities, nursing homes, homeless shelters, and hospitals all have a need at this time of year for volunteers. Sometimes you’ve got to give before you receive and this is one of the best ways to do so.
13. Take New Photos
If you have a staffing page that has employee images on your website, then take new pictures of your employees in Halloween costumes to post online.
14. Offer Some Help
Although most people have common sense about them during Halloween these days, there are still people who love sticking needles into chocolate bars or try to pull dangerous pranks on trick-or-treaters. Publish a safety list, hand it out to everyone, and make sure your branding is on that handout. You’ll provide value to your community and get some brand awareness accomplished at the same time.
15. Write a PR
Whatever marketing ideas you’ve decided to implement, no one is going to know about them if you don’t start talking about it. Let your local media know about your Halloween efforts with a simple press release. You might just get some free press as an outcome.
16. Presell Like a Pro
You don’t have to wait until Halloween to begin selling like it’s Halloween. Offer advanced specials to your customers through email or social media. If you do direct marketing, offer coupons that will bring people into your store for a blast of Halloween goodness.
17. Find the Cash
Why trick-or-treat for candy when you could search for cash? Hide cash prizes around your community and offer spooky clues to help people find the prizes. You’ll get a lot of brand awareness, some extra press, and a happy people when they find a secret stash.
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