In 2020, even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Halloween expenditure held its ground proudly with the overall spending in the United States alone reaching the amount of 8 billion USD. Statistics continue to impress even across the Atlantic, with 49% of the UK population being invested in Halloween, spending every year their hard-earned money on holiday paraphernalia. Impressively, these numbers make it abundantly clear that neither the apocalypse nor any other hardship is enough to keep customers from celebrating their favorite holidays. As a result, taking into consideration every retailer’s need for inspirational campaigns, we took the time to gather for you the best Halloween retail promotion ideas.
Hearing the voices of the customers and following a data-driven strategy can give a fresh perspective to any marketer or business owner that wishes to increase their online or in-store traffic and revenue. Halloween retail sales ideas, or for that matter any other seasonal context, are the perfect opportunity to approach new, potential customers and engage the existing ones, achieving higher profits in the process.
Table of Contents
Why Halloween promotion is important
Consumer excitement is hard to suppress, even in unreal situations. Last year 80% of the customers celebrated with candy and costumes, adhering to safety regulations. Customers have an intensified fear of missing out when it comes to occasional events around theme-based sales, promotions, and attractive deals. Not to mention, that on average, Halloween is a more affordable holiday, compared to Christman or Easter, and significantly much more fun.
Holiday optimism and excitement can help you leverage the hype and seize the opportunity for increased online or foot traffic, following the simple rules of seasonal marketing. Actualizing interesting marketing ideas for Halloween can help your brand attract a whole new clientele, convert leads and increase your brand awareness. As far as retaining customers are concerned, communicating some festive omnichannel promotion ideas will increase the engagement of your loyal followers and make them more involved in your brand’s campaigns.
In-store Halloween retail promotion ideas
Halloween is surely one of the most creative holidays and imagination runs wild, especially for those who love a good scare. Brick-and-mortar storefronts can easily get inspired by the following marketing ideas and unleash their full artistic potential.
Halloween promotion idea #1: Give your store windows a spooky theme
Spooky physical site decorations and all-things-horror are the heart of Halloween. As it seems, non-essential retail stores will remain open this time of year, as long as they abide by the prescribed measures. Get creative with your exterior and interior decorations and make your store festive, fun, and spooky. Whether you want to go overboard or keep it minimal, that’s entirely up to you.
Halloween promotion idea #2: Share trick-or-treat branded bags
Prepare and share trick-or-treat branded bags with a new spooky, Halloween version of your logo. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to promote your brand’s participation in the festivities that people can use when trick-or-treating.
Halloween promotion idea #3: Throw a Halloween party with a party-exclusive sale
Who doesn’t like a Halloween costume party? Organize a party where people will have the chance to shop and browse at your store while wearing their costumes, listening to music, and eating free treats. Offering a party-exclusive sale is a bonus tip to increase in-house sales and create scarcity, as your customers are more likely to purchase something when they are having a good time and when it is limited.
Halloween promotion idea #4: Offer promotional theme-based gifts
To make your overall campaign more alluring, offer gift bags with candies in them and small items that can be used as holiday decorations or gifts. It is a very thoughtful and effective way to motivate your customers to make a purchase, by giving them a gift that will work as a reminder of your brand even after the holidays have passed.
Halloween promotion idea #5: Launch an immersive Halloween event
This idea has a lot of room for inspiration, creativity, and interaction. Event marketing is the perfect way to leverage direct, in-person engagement, gather real-life data, and design a memorable customer experience. The event will definitely benefit both your online and physical presence, as statistics show that 98% of consumers create digital or social content during events. It is the perfect opportunity for user-generated content (UGC) and meaningful customer engagement.
Halloween promotion idea #6: Collaborate with local businesses
The aforementioned immersive event can be coordinated with businesses that share the same target audience in your local community. All the implicated parties will benefit from this endeavor, as long as they offer different products and services. Do extensive market research and identify potential brands that will benefit from your mutual partnership. Taking this idea one step further, you can cooperate with local events and gift free tickets if a customer’s order reaches a specific amount. Make sure to keep a fair price in order to earn a profit.
Halloween promotion idea #7: Organize a costume contest with a prize
A sense of fair play and some healthy competition is a must for any holiday and prizes are an extra incentive. A costume contest is another insightful idea for both online and offline brand awareness, engagement, and UGC. You can realize this idea both physically and digitally and promote it on your social media accounts.
Halloween promotion idea #8: Introduce seasonal limited edition merch
Another way to create a limited supply that will bring a demand frenzy is limited edition merchandise. The fear of missing out and the law of scarcity will take care of the rest. Limited editions drive customer desire, increase word-of-mouth, and cultivate long-term devotion.
Halloween promotion idea #9: Give your product packaging a spooky look
Alter your packaging to match the overall holiday spirit to capture your visitors’ attention and increase impulse buying. This playful way, mixed with some of the strategies listed in this article, will further build your brand awareness and create a holiday buzz around your brand’s name.
Halloween promotion idea #10: Join a good cause and give back to your community
Social awareness is a classic marketing strategy, but besides the financial benefits and your company’s image, it is always a good idea. Associating your brand with a good cause will not only bring meaningful change in your community but will also work as an additional validation layer.
Online Halloween retail promotion ideas
Your in-store Halloween retail promotion ideas must be coordinated with a careful online strategy for better results. Implementing an omnichannel business plan that bridges the gap between the offline and online presence will benefit your brand and your conversions.
Halloween promotion idea #11: Create an omnichannel campaign with Halloween features
The best course of action and one of the most important Halloween business marketing ideas is to invest in an omnichannel customer engagement strategy. Apart from the physical means, ensure all your digital channels, for instance, your pop-ups or your push notifications are aligned with your brand’s general holiday image. Being consistent and diligent will prove to your customer’s that they can invest in your services or products.
Areas to optimize in your omnichannel engagement plan:
-
Pre-Purchase customer touchpoints: Social Media, Chat functionality, Onsite and Offsite behavioral triggers (eg. personalized product recommendations, Halloween-themed abandoned cart automations, Halloween-themed costumes for the staff )
-
Post-Purchase customer touchpoints: Loyalty program, After-sales support, Halloween freebie on every online order, Automated new arrival emails/push notifications of similar products, QR code-based instore remarketing
Halloween promotion idea #12: Do a Halloween themed giveaway
Giveaways are the equivalent of a prize but with a digital twist. The costume contest mentioned above can easily be virtual instead of physical or it can connect both worlds. Moreover, giveaways tend to increase visitor engagement and offer huge traction on a brand’s social media accounts.
Halloween promotion idea #13: Design a themed email campaign
Draft holiday newsletters with your company’s holiday news, offers, sales, promotions, or giveaways. A well-prepared Halloween email campaign can communicate all your preferred actions for this year’s Halloween, boost your conversions, acquire new customers, and re-engage with existing ones.
Tip: check out image generators to skyrocket your email campaigns.
Halloween promotion idea #14: Upload Halloween blog posts for Google traffic
Lead with an extensive keyword and SEO research in order to get an insight into the type of blog posts that attract visitors around the holidays. Initiate your content strategy at the correct timing for better results and compose articles that show your expertise in a field based on the Halloween theme.
Halloween promotion idea #15: Give a spooky look to your digital image
Give both your digital and physical decor a concise look inspired by the scariest holiday of the year. Do not be afraid to get creative and try new things. Apart from your homepage, you can add some ornaments to the entirety of your website, for instance, your category, product, or check-out pages.
Halloween promotion idea #16: Run an engaging social media campaign
Use a variety of branded, unique, or popular hashtags in all your social media campaigns, upload plenty of pictures to showcase your contests, discounts, limited products. Additionally, you can upload content with your employees participating in the festivities or reshare posts from the businesses that will co-op with you for your shared events. Social media can be updated constantly, giving you an extra channel to communicate with your customers about anything and everything.
Ideas: daily Halloween quiz questions, daily posts with Halloween-themed products
Halloween promotion idea #17: Initiate a Google Ads campaign with a Halloween pattern
Spice up your Google Ads with a Halloween motif and extend your campaigning on all things digital. Keeping your positioning consistent is the first rule of the internet and it never fails. Estimate your budget and target specific audiences, based on their searches. Make sure to monitor the results of your campaigns and make adjustments along the way.
Halloween promotion idea #18: Cross-sell with Halloween theme bundles
Cross-sell and recommendation bundles increase the average order value, so taking advantage of that strategy is essential for your Halloween campaign. Give your sales a healthy boost, increasing your customer satisfaction in the process and benefit from the Halloween spending.
Halloween promotion idea #19: Promote limited holiday deals, offers, and discounts
This set of Halloween retail promotion ideas can work complementary along with your additional digital campaigns. Sent newsletters with your festive discounts and offers and share them on social media. Balanced sales and discounts can increase your revenue, allowing you to turn a profit and retain existing customers. This tactic will move your old products, making way for new ones while attracting new customers.
Halloween promotion idea #20: Reward your loyal customers with a Halloween gift
Incentivize your loyal customers to increase their average order value, offering rewards and deals to your trusted followers. Loyalty programs forge substantial consumer-brand relationships and showing your appreciation will not go unnoticed, as it will contribute to customer retention.
Other useful Halloween Marketing resources for retailers
- 75 Halloween statistics and facts every retailer should consider
- 5 Halloween Email Campaign Ideas to Hallo-win the Impressions this year
Treat your customers by using omnichannel tactics and trick the competition
In conclusion, of course, every retailer has different needs and every brand is unique. Although, one thing is certain; in order to deliver an exceptional in-store and online experience on seasonal occasions, going omnichannel is definitely a must for every business. Using every online and offline channel available is the key, and your strategy must be in sync across all mediums. Differentiate your strategy from your competitors, focusing on your customers’ needs and pain points.
Omnichannel customer engagement will give you a complete and holistic view of your customers’ preferences and will aid you to achieve a targeted, personalized experience. With that in mind, the first course of action is experimentation and documentation. Testing each campaign and monitoring the impact on your customers’ behavior will yield insightful results about your next steps.
Capitalize on a long-lasting relationship with your customers by partnering with an established omnichannel customer engagement platform. ContactPigeon’s proprietary software is specifically built for the retail industry with enriched customer insights and multichannel reach. Book a free 30-minute customer engagement session that will answer all your questions about our features and the overall onboarding process.
