SPOOK-Tacular Ideas to BOO-st Engagement
We have finally entered October which means that Halloween is just around the corner! Not so surprisingly, this seasonal event is a pretty important opportunity for brands online every year.
In 2020, many places across the globe were still in lockdown, so fewer people fully enjoyed the spooky season. But this year, Halloween is back on.
It was predicted in 2018 that the UK’s spending on Halloween products would reach £484 billion. After a worldwide lockdown, this is expected to reach nearly £600 billion this year. Put simply - people are ready to eat, drink and be scary this Halloween! Making this the perfect time to increase your e-commerce marketing.
Creativity is really part of Halloween! Social platforms also play a key role in how Gen Z and millennials find their ideas for a costume, makeup, decoration, or even food. Every year has its new theme, new trends. Therefore, marketers should create content around the themes consumers are most interested in — with a focus on convenience, promotion, savings and holiday preparation. Some consumers are preparing for a night out, while others plan to spend the evening in with a spooky movie. There's an opportunity for marketers to reach both audiences with the right message across all channels at the right time.
So what themes are we looking at for Halloween this year?
A major theme we will see for Halloween decorations this year is a throwback style.“Retro Halloween aesthetic” is the top trending term related to Halloween– searches have increased by 76x” Pinterest Newsroom
Memorable and elaborate designs - Halloween costumes are set to be as haunting as ever - with most inspiration taken from popular media. £510 million in 2020 was spent on Halloween costumes. FairyLand Trust.
A major theme this year is convenience and (somewhat) comfort - with more people than ever DIYing their Halloween, they have been purchasing related goods online.
The Halloween spirit hits Facebook Messenger:
Last week Facebook introduced a new set of themed AR effects, video backgrounds and stickers to get users in the Halloween spirit. They introduced ‘four new haunted worlds’, with users able to explore these AR effects on both Facebook and Instagram. As described by Facebook, the four worlds include ‘a ghoul-inhabited labyrinth, a bustling robot hive, a ghost-filled nebula (coming Oct. 23) and a misty planet filled with sinister flora (coming Oct. 30)’.
In addition, users on Messenger can try out a new Halloween 360 background of their choice and related sticker pack, helping users get into the spooky spirit of the season. So, when chatting to their friends and family, they can send spook-tacularly stylish messages and help you to add more bewitching creatives to your online engagement efforts, ensuring your brand stands out this Halloween.
Here's a look at what's selling on Facebook Marketplace:
Facebook has also recently shared some new insights into the latest Halloween trends based on Facebook Marketplace activity, including costumes, pet costumes, décor ideas and DIY inspiration. The overview also includes notes on Facebook’s recently added shipping and saved search options for Marketplace, which is now up to a billion monthly visitors. It could be just the thing you need to inspire your approach and get you excited for the event.
But what ways can I weave Halloween into my social marketing plan to craft effective and fun strategies you may be wondering? We have you covered with our top 5 ideas:
- Keywords are Creepily Awesome!
Keywords are great for social media. They can tie your online content back to you and your business. Consider crafting a few well-thought-out hashtags for your Halloween social media marketing campaign.
- What keywords are your target audience using? This will help with some ideas.
- Use online keyword research tools to help you. (Like Keyword Tool, Google Trends, etc)
- Take onboard the trends you see! Take Halloween costumes, movies, recipes, and other popular searches this time of year into account.
Once you have an idea about what people are searching for, you can begin crafting posts and hashtags that will help your users find what they are looking for and help your business be seen.
- User-Generated Content
Starbucks is a great example of creating an Instagram-worthy product that people go crazy for and they’ll promote it online for you. They've done this with their Zombie Frappuccino. Creating a Halloween themed product and accompanying this with a trending hashtag that helps them track the UGC content that comes off the back of the campaign.
- Halloween Themed Graphics and Web Pages
It’s pretty simple, but how about putting a Halloween twist on your website’s appearance, or even on your social presence? From entire landing pages to banners and pops of blood orange, there are plenty of opportunities to create some spooktacular online experiences.
- Halloween Themed Interactive Posts
Add animation to your Halloween posts to make them really pop. Similar to Facebook's AR Halloween effect this could be as simple as adding spook-tacular dynamic backgrounds and Halloween inspired stickers to your seasonal content. Or staging spooktacular campaign content with Halloween inspired imagery and seasonal messaging; that become an anchor point of your seasonal campaign. Focusing on your offerings, with Halloween themed decorations and memorable messaging, to give your users a (good!) fright.
- Horror-Themed Email Campaign
Don’t forget your email newsletter. Add some Halloween graphics, strategic product placement and event-based messaging to your emails. This could be as simple as adding a theme-based section or creating an entire newsletter segment. Personalise it to make sense for your brand.
From user-generated content, interactive themed posts and event-based hashtags; there are a range of ways to incorporate spook-tacular ideas into your digital marketing efforts. Drawing on popular trends, evidence-based data and past campaigns for a good and well-rounded source of inspiration. Allowing you to successfully curate a frightful marketing campaign that increases your conversions, just in time for the spooky season.
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