Halloween is a fast-growing business in the UK, with purchases of related products up by over 80% in the past five years and the annual amount spent
now exceeding £400 million.
The biggest share of the spend goes on confectionery, followed by pumpkins, fancy dress, decorations and food and drink. But alongside Halloween-themed purchases, retailers can cash in on the buzz by appealing to customers with seasonal marketing for other items. Take a look at our five October promotion ideas for boosting your sales figures and advertising your Halloween offers.
1. Email trick or treat campaign and online scavenger hunt
Even if your product isn’t directly related to Halloween, you can still offer a seasonal promotion. Try sending a trick or treat email where potential customers have to choose between clicking two offers, one bigger than the other.
Alternatively try a scavenger hunt with discount codes hidden around your website, for example printed on bats or pumpkin.
Both of these ideas are a great way to
reward customer loyalty, an important step in building a lasting relationship.
2. Halloween branding and social media posts
You can either replace your website and social media headers with Halloween related images, or just add some relevant elements. If you have an app, add a spooky wrap to it. You should also include any Halloween promotions you have by adding text to your cover image.
It is relatively easy and effective to run a series of Halloween marketing campaign posts on social media. Put together some fun collections of your products that have a Halloween connection or could be used in a fun way at Halloween. This could include recipes, clothes, shoes, pet accessories or decorations. Don’t forget to include details of any promotions or events.
3. Halloween themed content
Good quality content is always popular, particularly when it offers something of value to your customer. Demand Metric figures found that content marketing generates around three times the number of leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less.
Put together some posts that will solve your customers’ problems, such as children’s party ideas, recipes or simple costume suggestions. Engaging with potential customers and helping them out will build your brand loyalty and boost sales. Don’t forget to share links to the content across your social media platforms.
4. Spooky quiz or game on your website
Create a Halloween promotion quiz or game with a discount or offer as a prize. Customers love answering questions and playing games and are likely to share a good quiz or game with their friends, particularly if it’s slightly tricky. Make sure it’s easy to share across social media platforms.
5. Halloween-themed social media contest
Set up a competition on social media for the best Halloween cake, the best costume or the spookiest decorations. Make the conditions of entry that competitors like and share your original post advertising the competition and also that they use a specific hashtag. You can give a prize to the winner, as well as a discount to all entrants.
This is a good way to reach a wider audience, as entrants share their creations across their social media accounts. It’s a great way to
connect with customers as well as getting across the message that your brand is fun.
With Halloween a perennial event in the holiday calendar, particularly for parents and younger adults, there’s plenty of capital to be made from trying some October promotion ideas. Offer value for money and helpful tips and you’ll not only increase engagement and loyalty but boost your sales figures too.