We are dangerously close to Halloween, and it seems like every single company out there is incorporating some fright into their marketing campaigns.

Why?

Because it WORKS. From adults to kids, Halloween isn’t just a day, it’s a month-long opportunity for businesses and their marketing departments to reach a huge audience.

 

Why You Should Be Capitalizing on Holiday Theme Marketing

Not only is it a great theme to build your marketing ideas around, it’s a billion dollar season. Check out this infographic with statistics on Halloween spending in 2017, all $9.1 billion dollars of it!

Theme-marketing can help you reach those spenders. According to LifeCycle Marketing,  holiday-themed emails can drive higher conversion rates than business-as-usual emails, and they found that Halloween-specific email marketing conversion rates were 11% higher than regular emails.

So now that you know using Halloween could potentially yield more email opens? How can you use it to increase physical traffic to your business? 

What can you do as a small business owner to make your Halloween marketing stand out from the crowd? Here are five new ideas to consider for your Halloween-themed marketing:

 

Give an In-store Treat

Everyone gives out candy! Try something different. Pick something that relates to your business; follow the lead of the dentist who gives out toothbrushes with their contact information on them.

Use giveaways to entice people to take a treat, and include a percentage off for their next order. This is an effective way for your customers to take something branded with them and incentivize them to come back with a coupon for a future use.

 

Select Spooky Swag for a Trade Show 

You don’t have to limit your Halloween-themed marketing to your website or store. For trade shows in October, give anyone who stops by your booth a Halloween tote, glow sticks, or a spooky cat eye necklace. Your booth will stand out from others who go to every show with the same-old, same-old. Feel free to carry the theme even further with spooky sounds or a fog machine.

 

Decorate with Ghosts and Goblins In-store or Online

Don’t forget spiders, bats, and pumpkins. Anything Halloween related! If the inside (and outside) of your business looks like a haunted house or Halloween party, passers-by will be intrigued. If your website has been “taken over” by Halloween and spooky creatures, your audience may spend more time on it. Google loves that! It also shows you keep it fresh. They’ll be no second-guessing if your website info is up-to-date.

You can even incorporate a fun game in the process. Have people count the number of pumpkins or spiders throughout your business or website for a special prize (or percentage off).

 

Encourage Dressing up the Week in Celebration of Halloween

Get your employees on board with the marketing theme! Allow your employees to dress in a (business-friendly) costume as a way to promote the season. It creates a fun environment, and allows your employees, not just those in charge of marketing, to play an important role in your Halloween campaign.

Give a special prize to the employee with the best costume and the one with the costume most tied into your business.

 

Don’t Stop at Halloween

If Halloween isn’t your thing, or if you’re having so much fun you want to do more, there’s plenty of other theme marketing to celebrate in October. There’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, where you could offer specials on pink merchandise or host fundraising for the cause. It’s also “Cookie Month” and “Pizza Month” if you are a food business and want to promote those items. Don’t forget Boss’s Day (October 16) and Sweetest Day (October 20) this month.

You can use theme marketing around any holiday or special event, not just Halloween. There’s plenty of tried-and-true marketing ideas out there, but there are also a lot of opportunities to try something new. Use these ideas to jumpstart your creativity and think up new marketing plans you can use around holidays to make your business stand out!