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We’re approaching the end of October and that means Halloween is on its way! The spooky season presents lots of great opportunities for brands to market their products and services in fun ways, and is an excellent time to get creative with themed imagery, graphics and content.
Halloween spending in the UK is projected to reach over £1 billion this year, with more than half of Brits planning to make a purchase for the occasion. Gen Z are predicted to be the biggest Halloween spenders, with 87% of this group planning to spend an average of £46 each on celebrations, decorations and costumes - followed closely by Millennials, of whom 76% are planning to spend an average of £41 each.
Let’s take a look at some Halloween ideas that you can incorporate into your social media marketing plan to make the most of the event.
Decorate Your Social Media Pages
The first thing you can do to get into the Halloween spirit is to swap your brand’s regular profile pictures and headers for spooky versions adorned with pumpkins, cobwebs and spiders. If you’re releasing a line of products or menu items especially for the occasion, showcase these in your cover photos and inspire urgency by adding a banner or callout reminding your audience that they’re only available for a limited time.
Just remember that some social media platforms display cover photos differently on desktop and mobile devices, so check that nothing important has been cropped out of view once you’ve uploaded them - and don’t forget to change them back to your usual ones when Halloween is over.
Special Offers, Deals & Discounts
Halloween is a great excuse to run an exclusive deal that will excite and engage your customers. 55% of consumers agree that money-off deals are their favourite kind, so offering a discount on a Halloween-related product or collection is a good option to try. However, customers are also 4-5 times more likely to make a purchase from brands that offer free shipping, so launching a free delivery period for the Halloween season is worth considering too.
Once you’ve decided on a deal, promote it on social media - either with a paid ad campaign or organic content. Don’t forget to generate a Halloween-themed discount code for customers to enter at the checkout!
Competitions & Giveaways
Everybody loves getting the chance to win an exciting prize, so why not run a Halloween-themed competition or giveaway to encourage engagement, new followers or UGC (user generated content), or to grow your reach and impressions.
• For restaurants, the prize could be a free meal, a free course or free drinks
• For hotels and other accommodation providers, the prize could be a free overnight stay or mini break
• For eCommerce stores, the prize could be a free product, bundle, or year’s supply of a specific item
• For all industries, the prize could be a gift card, voucher or cash, or a prize supplied by a partner brand or collaborator
As a form of entry, you could ask people to:
• Like your competition post
• Follow or like your page
• Share a photo or video of them using your product or visiting your location
• Share a photo or video of their Halloween costume or decorations
• Share a photo or video of a pumpkin they’ve carved
• Complete an activity, such as a wordsearch, spot the difference or quiz question
• Comment their favourite thing about Halloween
To celebrate the 1st of October, we’re giving away a Spooktacular treat! 👻🦇🍂 This entire Halloween Look! 💀🖤👻
— Poundstretcher (@Poundstretcher1) October 1, 2023
To enter, simply RT & FOLLOW @poundstretcher
Good luck, everyone!
ENDS 10.10.2023 pic.twitter.com/k5L3BWzQzJ
If you ask people to share photos or videos as a form of entry and you want to use these as UGC on your page in the future, remember to ask for permission first and give credit to the customer when sharing.
You can learn more about running social media competitions in this blog post.
Use Halloween Hashtags
Incorporate relevant hashtags such as #HalloweenVibes, #SpookySeason and #Halloween2023 into your posts so that other people can find your content when browsing through these tags. If you decide to run a competition as mentioned above, consider asking entrants to use a hashtag that relates specifically to your brand, such as #Halloween followed by your brand name or the name of the campaign, so that you can collect all of their entries in one place and generate a buzz surrounding your brand.
Posts on X that include 1 to 2 relevant hashtags have a 55% higher chance of being reposted, while Instagram posts that include at least 1 hashtag get an average of 29% more interactions (for accounts that have less than 1,000 followers). Additionally, bigger brands (those with over 100,000 followers) have found that they’ve been able to increase their reach by 15.9% by placing their hashtags in the first comment instead of the caption.
Halloween Recipes
If your brand is in the food and drink or hospitality industry, sharing Halloween recipes is another fun way to engage your social media audience. This could either be in the form of an instructional graphic, a text post with a photo of the finished product, or a how-to video, which could then be broken down into bitesize clips for TikTok or Instagram Reels.
• Pubs, bars and beverage brands could share a spooky cocktail recipe
• Baking brands could share a cake or cookie recipe
• Restaurants and cafés could share a recipe for one of their Halloween menu items
• Sweets or chocolate brands could share a recipe for trick-or-treat candies
• Pet food brands could share a recipe for a treat or biscuit for dogs or cats
Don’t forget to encourage your followers to share photos or videos of themselves trying out your recipe and how theirs turned out - you could even combine this with a competition and give away a prize for the best-looking Halloween dish.
TikTok Halloween Effects
TikTok has launched a range of special effects for the occasion, including ‘random Halloween eyeliner’ and ‘random Halloween face’, both made by @tetedetamere, to help you decide your next Halloween look. Or, try out ‘horror Halloween filter’ by @zaza_handmade to create thrilling horror-inspired content.
Plus, if you’re one of TikTok’s Effect House creators, you can enter the app’s Spooky Halloween challenge, which will give you a chance to win up to $2,500. Use the platform’s AR builder to create a spook-tastic face effect, background or character and submit your entry before 1st November to be eligible for a cash prize.
Behind-the-Scenes Content
If your team members are dressing up for Halloween or you’ve decorated your office, store or restaurant for the occasion, share photos and short-form video clips on social media to humanise your brand and give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at your business. Instagram and Facebook Stories are a great place to post this kind of content, as they’re designed for sharing everyday moments and spontaneous, unfiltered snapshots of what you’re up to.
88% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support, which is why it’s important to show your audience all sides of your business in order to build connections and trust. Behind-the-scenes content reveals more about your product or service, team or location to your customers, enhancing the value of their experience in the process and helping tell your brand’s story.
Summary
No matter your industry - or whether you’re hoping to increase your reach, engagements, followers or sales this Halloween - we hope that our suggestions have given you the inspiration you need to create a series of fun social media posts for the spooky season! Let us know what you’re planning to share for the event or tell us about your favourite Halloween campaigns from previous years on X - you can find us @3sixfivepro.
