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It’s coming up to that time of year when celebrations are all about events and fun times. And the first one on most of our calendars is Halloween. If you want to know how to plan a Halloween event that won’t bankrupt you and will get you noticed, keep reading!
Halloween isn’t for everyone, but it can cross many divides of religion and culture as a fun way to spend a cool end of October that can be fun for all the family.
Why are Halloween Events so Popular?
Even though the commercialisation of the Halloween phenomenon started in the US, it has spread far and wide, wherever the original seed was able to grow. Basically, anywhere widely settled by caucasian Europeans. Moreover, Halloween has the cachet of being the first broadly celebrated event after the Summer Holidays. When kids have gone back to grinding away at a school desk, parents and teachers are also back to the grind at work.
Halloween is more than a fun semi-holiday; it’s a reminder that more festivities are on the horizon. It is not “ALL work and NO play”. There are fun times and celebrations ahead.
Let’s not forget that for those who follow Wicca, Samhain is more than a spooky horror fest. It’s a celebration linked to the changing of the seasons, feeling a connection to ancestors, and the presence of fairies, goblins and sprites that are the source of Halloween tricks.
Whichever way you look at Halloween, it is a happy holiday and brings much joy to children and adults alike. And that makes it an ideal time to create Halloween events and marketing around a common and upbeat theme.
Marketing Halloween Events to Get you Noticed
Halloween marketing doesn’t need to be flashy, bold, or even costly to get you noticed. It just needs to be seen.
Digital Halloween
If you don’t have a lot to spend on a holiday like Halloween, get into the groove digitally:
- Spooki-fy your online presence, add stickers and fun Halloween decor to your profile pictures and get in the mood even if it’s just online.
- Quick and cute games, such as Halloween-themed puzzles, like crosswords and word searches, can add a little playfulness to your online persona without costing a penny.
- Dress-up photo competitions can be so much fun for your clients, and you can even offer a business-centred prize to the winner. It’s often a lot of fun to get the kids involved too. Get clients to tag their Halloween outfit pictures with your business page.
- Tell Spooky Stories, using social media “stories” to make them pop!
It doesn’t take much to spooki-fy your business name or logo with a touch of Canva magic.
On-Site Halloween
When you have premises in a high-traffic business area, it’s a great idea to include passing trade in your Halloween event. If you want to go a little further and get a bit hands-on with Halloween, you can step up your game with some interactive events without breaking the bank:
- Be a Trick or Treat venue. – There are a lot of children who live around business and shopping areas, but they don’t get the same suburban Trick or Treat experience because so many of their neighbours are businesses. Group together with your local business neighbours and become a local Trick or Treat route.
- Decorate Your Premises. – Nothing screams Halloween like a decorated venue. Get into the mood and have fun throughout your working day.
- Have a Costume Contest. – It needn’t be a contest. You could give a discount to people or their kids who come into your business in costume. or simply collect pictures with you and your clients for public social voting
- Provide Halloween Treats. – Pumpkin and ghost-shaped cookies and decorated cupcakes are cute and simple. If you have a bakery or a food-based business, you could have a cookie/cake decorating stand, or if you have a restaurant, you could even host a bake-off during your quiet hours.
- Pumpkin Carving. – Adults are required to help children, and cut-free gloves worn at all times, please! Otherwise, you can have your pumpkins carved in the Halloween spirit by your local community.
Create a Halloween Event to Remember
Throw a Party!!
You can collaborate with multiple businesses to make it a marketing event people will remember and add to all of your future revenues. Especially on the build-up to Thanksgiving and Christmas, these two holidays are when people spend a significant amount of money on events, gifts and other services, so showcase them in a fun Halloween event and get your name recognised at just the right time.
You can use so many different approaches to a Halloween Party. Below are a few ideas you might like to play with and develop your own twist. First, think of your audience:
- Kids
- Adults only
- Fun for all the family
Now it’s time to get serious: What do you and your collaboration partners want to do with it?
Think about who you are and your position within the business community in your area. A large party event requires a lot of businesses involved, and you can all make the party a success and even profitable with key collaboration.
- Fall fun with Hay Rides, Pumpkin Carving and other Activities
- Haunted House
- The Living Dead
- Fairies, Sprites & the worlds beyond
- Halloween Hollywood
- Masked Ball
- Buffet, Banquet, Dance, Disco, Live Music the possibilities and collaborations are so numerous that your event could be completely unique simply by virtue of the collaborating businesses.
Make Your Halloween Event Go with a “BOO!”
Whether you will be hosting the mother of all Halloween parties or just trying to rustle up some extra awareness online, here’s how to make sure your Halloween event gets your business the attention it deserves.
Get Teasing & Create Buzz
Don’t leave things too late to tease your event. If you are only doing something small, or maybe an online quiz or user-generated content contest, you don’t need to tease too early, but you should still get people on board. Make it sound fun and exciting to be a part of your Halloween celebrations.
If you are planning a party event, you need to tease the content and activities early. Much like the large music festivals do when they tease bands and activities well before the tickets go on sale. The idea is that you want people ready to buy tickets as soon as they are available.
Smaller events and activities can still have teasers, even if you aren’t charging a fee. Make it feel like a party atmosphere when people come to join the festivities. Even if they are coming in for a normal appointment, make the decor, activities, and atmosphere feel spookily festive.
Advertise Early!!
The larger the event, the earlier you should start advertising in earnest. I’m not talking about the teasers and creating buzz. I’m talking about active advertising to get people to buy in.
Differentiate Your Event
Your potential attendees will probably be on the list for many Halloween-themed events. To make yours stand out, make sure you take a different approach. For example, design your event space with dry ice and candles or tombstones rather than decorating with streamers and handing out sweets and treats. You can also devise unique offerings particular to you and your businesses that will grab the attention of your guests. Just for an idea, try partnering with a local charity and offer a percentage of sales to their worthy cause. The charity may even agree to act as an advocate and send a mailshot out to their contact list to promote your Halloween event.
Get the Community involved in other ways too. It’s not all about charity. Your clients and partygoers are part of your community, and getting people involved is always good. Sign up people to help clean up the park afterwards, or employ a local cleaning company
Go After the Grown-ups
This is not to say that you can’t include the kids, but however you look at it, the parents will always be your ultimate customers.
There are plenty of child-centred activities around Halloween. Instead of targeting the youth group, try instead to target Gen-Z, Gen-X , and maybe the older segment of Millennials/Gen-Y (sometimes called Xennials). People tend to forget that older millennials are old enough to have adult children and still young enough to party hard. These are more likely to spend a Halloween without children and without parental guilt.
An All-out booze-fest might not be the scene you want to create, but emphasising that adults can also have a good time celebrating Halloween will draw the adults with a touch of disposable income to spend.
Get Going, Already!
Okay, it might be a little short notice to plan and throw a massive Halloween party event right now. Halloween isn’t that far away. However, there is nothing stopping you from trimming up your online profiles and premises to get into the spirit of a fun holiday.
While it might be too late to plan a big party, you can get to know your neighbouring businesses, and you have an entire year to plan a bash for 2023 that will put you all on the map!