7 Digital Marketing Ideas for Halloween

Halloween is the perfect opportunity to market your business and have some fun in the process!

According to the National Retail Federation, more than 171 million Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year, spending an average $82.93, up from last year’s $74.34. Total spending is expected to reach $8.4 billion, an all-time high. It’s becoming more popular for adults, and has always been one of my favorite holidays, and that’s why I have so much fun merging Halloween and digital marketing to create some really creative ways to create exposure, both for our clients and for Spartan Media.

So today, I’m going to share 7 great digital marketing ideas for Halloween. But beware, these ideas are so effective, your competitors will be terrified!

Publish a Halloween-themed video

Video is huge and it’s only going to get bigger with Facebook and Instagram putting such heavy emphasis on it on their respective platforms. Video typically gets about twice the organic exposure.

You can do something simple like donning a silly Halloween costume while you dole out your wisdom on camera, or you can go all out like Ford did in their Spooky Car Wash. The important thing to remember is that creativity is more important than production value. It’s also important to remember not to take yourself too seriously. A lot of people get nervous on video, but there’s no reason for that. If you’re one of them, I suggest binge-watching Holly G Studios for tons of great video advice.

Hold a costume contest on social media

This is so easy that you don’t even have to leave your office. Or put on pants!

Just publish a post on social media outlining the terms and the prize for your costume contest, and let your followers enter by posting the picture of them in their costume. Just be sure to be clear about what kind of costumes are appropriate. If your brand is kid friendly, you certainly don’t want inappropriate costumes posted. Likewise, if your brand caters to younger adults in the party scene, cute baby costumes won’t resonate with your audience either.

This kind of post can create a ton of engagement, plus it exposes your brand to your followers’ friends as well. For even better results, you can run a paid ad to ensure your contest is seen by even more people.

Send treat bags to dream clients

Depending on your demographic, you can either choose a mix of cheap traditional Halloween candies or unique gourmet candies, packed into a Halloween-themed bag along with a postcard. Make it easy for them to visit your website by including a powerful call to action and a QR code.

Publish a Halloween-themed blog post

Coming up with new blog post ideas doesn’t have to be scary because there are countless ways to tie Halloween into your products or services. Once you do, you’ll have a blog post that will put your brand prominently in front of new visitors this time every year.

Here are a few Halloween topics to get started:

Halloween recipies
Halloween decorations
Local pumpkin patches
Halloween party ideas
Halloween movies
Local Halloween events
Halloween costume ideas
Pumpkin carving ideas
Halloween pranks
Halloween history

Now you just need to tie a Halloween topic into what you do. Here are a few potential Halloween blog post ideas for various niches:

7 Terrifying Real Estate Mistakes People Make that Scare Buyers Away
The Busy Mom’s Guide to Hosting a Spooktactular Halloween Party
How to Carve the Perfect Jack-o’-lantern without Loosing Any Fingers
The Complete List of Kid-Friendly Halloween Events in Tampa Bay
9 Mouthwatering Halloween Recipies Your Little Monsters will Rave Over

Design a Halloween-themed infographic

Infographics are a great way to present a lot of data in an easily digestible format while creating a ton of exposure for your brand. The key is to find a creative way to tie a Halloween theme with what you do, just like you did with the blog post.

The best part is that you don’t need to be a graphic designer or even have a copy of Adobe Photoshop, because there are several tools specifically for creating beautiful (or in this case, scary) and engaging infographics.

Piktochart – With a simple point and click editor and over 4,000 graphics, icons, and template files, Piktochart makes it easy to create infographics.
Easel.ly – Loaded with tons of creative templates and an east-to-use interface, this is another powerful tool to create your own stunning infographics.
Venngage – This drag and drop interface provides all the charts, maps, icons and templates you’ll need to design attention-grabbing infographics.

Be sure to include your logo, company name, URL, and a QR code. (Here’s a great QR code generator.)

Host a Halloween party at your office

Strategically place a few banners throughout your office with a powerful call to action and a QR code that drives guests to an optin form for your newsletter. You’ll need to give them a reason to optin though. Some ideas are:

discount code or coupon
ebook
exclusive/VIP content (video, blog post, MP3)
free consultation

Offer goodies for reviews of your company

You offer an incentive in exchange for a review of your company. It could be something simple like a bag of Halloween candy, or something more creative, like partnering with a local farmer’s market to offer a free pumpkin. I recommend the pumpkin approach, but you could offer just about anything as long as it’s enough to motivate people.

In the case of a free pumpkin, simply make arrangements with a local farmers market to bill you for any of your customers/clients who show up to claim a pumpkin with the coupon you provide. Customers will publish their review of your company online, then you’ll give them a coupon which they’ll use to receive their free pumpkin at the farmers market.

For a bargain price of just $10-$20 each, you’ll receive a valuable online review that will help improve your credibility and foster trust in new potential customers for years to come.

For most businesses, the following websites will be the most important to ask for reviews on:

Depending on the type of business you’re in, these other review websites may be worth investing your time and energy into as well: