While October is jam-packed with exciting and interesting events, the month’s final day receives all the attention. However, you don’t have to wait until the end of the month to use it for some fun and inventive marketing. There are a variety of methods to use Halloween to create exciting and appealing sales campaigns that will enhance interaction, generate leads, and bring in more consumers to your local business. Most significantly, these marketing strategies are centered on integrating with and strengthening your community, which is the most effective type of marketing.
Ideas For Halloween Promotion For Your Small Business
Many of these October marketing ideas are based on conventional Halloween activities, but you can make them your own by tailoring them to your company’s goods and personality. Consider how you might turn the examples into genuine and win-win marketing chances for your local business and customers as you read and view them.
1. Host A Halloween Bash
Throwing a Halloween house party for all ages is a terrific method to generate new and existing consumer foot traffic (if applicable). Due to COVID-19, you may need to restructure your Halloween house party to allow for a longer time frame so that only a small number of clients can be present at any same moment. You can create a house party flyer for inviting your friends and family.
Your Halloween party doesn’t have to be expensive; some free goodies, spooky or festive music, and modest décor can go a long way (especially the free treats, which shouldn’t be overlooked).
A few tips:
- Avoid unopened food and treats, which are hazardous for allergies and, of course, the epidemic.
- Monster Mash, of course. Just joking. Music that is spooky, festive, or simply enjoyable pop music are all wonderful choices.
- Decorations: You can find inexpensive decorations at your local Dollar Tree/Dollar Shop/Family Dollar, buy a few little pumpkins at a local farmstand or even a grocery store, or make cutouts and streamers yourself.
- Instead of spending money on an invitation card, use an online video animation company to invite your guests.
- Pro tip: To help boost sales during your party, offer a party-exclusive promotion, such as 13 percent off (a spooky percentage indeed).
2. Host A Pumpkin Carving Competition
Although having an outdoor place at or near your site for this Halloween ritual would be ideal (particularly given the pandemic), you may also organize the event remotely.
To make this an effective promotion, follow these steps:
Allow individuals to sign up for updates and follow up with images and other information by registering online with their email addresses.
Offer motivating incentives, such as a gift card to your business, a seasonal gift basket, or a discounted bundle of your services (first, second, and third place).
If you’re holding a contest online, create a unique hashtag that participants must use to enter.
3. Offer A Dress-Up Discount
Offering a discount or gift with purchase to everyone (human or pet) who appears in costume is another wonderful method to enhance foot traffic and maximize sales during Halloween. This will not only encourage people to visit your store, but it will also allow for user-generated content. Offer a bonus if customers share your content on social media and tag your company. Set up a basic DIY photo booth with a tablet if you have one.
Offering a discount or gift with purchase to everyone (human or pet) who appears in costume is another wonderful method to enhance foot traffic and maximize sales during Halloween. This will not only encourage people to visit your store, but it will also allow for user-generated content. Offer a bonus if customers share your content on social media and tag your company. Set up a basic DIY photo booth with a tablet if you have one.
4. Organize A Trick-or-Treating Party
If your town doesn’t already have a trick-or-treating event, start one now. Isn’t it true that you should be the change you want to see? If you don’t have the resources, you may team up with other local small companies to host a collaborative event. This will give it an even stronger sense of community. Plus, parents are usually on the lookout for safe Halloween activities, so this is a great chance to win them over.
Here are some ideas for making this event stand out:
- Include a customized “discount” treasure map for the adults that lists the specials but leaves it up to them to find out whose store they belong to.
- Assemble a wide (and hence more enticing) selection of offers by partnering with firms that can offer various items or services from one another.
5. Provide An Item Or Service With A Halloween Theme
Offer a Halloween-themed product, service, or complete menu to enhance sales this month. Customers love themed things, and they often make for terrific social media content.
Here are some suggestions:
- Green witch finger cookies or white chocolate-colored strawberry ghosts can be found at bakeries.
- Vampire cocktails with cranberry juice and a plastic spider garnish can be served at restaurants.
- At your flower shop, florists could create Halloween bouquets with orange, black, green, and purple flowers.
- A Halloween-themed fitness class might be held at a gym. Create a Halloween music (think “Somebody’s Watching Me” or “Disturbia”), teach a black-lit class with neon sneakers, or have participants lift a huge pumpkin in one of your circuit stations if you want to get really ridiculous.
Be sure to promote these fun offerings on your website, blog, social media, and Google My Business page to generate excitement and encourage participation.
6. Make The Most Of Social Media
There are a few things you can do with social media to assist your Halloween advertising go well. First and foremost, take a lot of images and share them before, during, and after the sale or event. Take images of customers or employees and post them to your Facebook page with their permission. Encourage people to follow your lead. Second, use hashtags to increase your visibility and improve your outcomes (you may even use all of them in one article).
7. Make Your Online Assets Scary
This is a super-easy Halloween marketing concept that you can enjoy as well. You may adorn your shop with pumpkins and spider webs for Halloween, but you can also decorate your site. It is, after all, your internet storefront. Also, use Photoshop or PhotoADKing to create a Halloween-themed cover photo for your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. If you ran an event last year, you could even replace the featured image on your website with a shot from the previous year’s event.
