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As soon as October comes in, we all know (and yes, feel!) that Halloween is just right around the corner. It's one of the best seasons for brands to be creative, funny, and witty in their social media posts. During this time, businesses pour in a lot for their marketing efforts to make sure they become relevant and go trending. And that means you have to step up, stand out, and be effective in your online campaigns to grab people’s attention and get them to notice you. Here are nine tricks (and treats!) for you to create spook-tacular and fang-tastic Halloween social media posts for your brand.
Boot-tify Your Pages
Do you remember how, as a kid, you would get excited when storefronts were spookily designed when it was almost Halloween? Well, nowadays, the same feeling happens to almost everyone (not just kids) when they see creative Halloween social media posts that are fit for the holidays.
Catch your followers’ attention by donning the famed Halloween colors of violet, orange, and black in your profiles. Make it even more festive and go extra with designs like spiderwebs, skulls, skeletons, vampires, and other season-themed decorations. Show off your brand’s Halloween spirit by adding bats, haunted houses, and pumpkins to your cover photo, profile picture, and logos.
Be sure you’re still recognizable and memorable even with your scary-yet-fun designs, just like how Google is with its Halloween doodles. Do you also have an app and website? Tap your team of developers so they can also create similar designs across all your social media platforms. Remember, your profile says a lot about you, and this is your chance to become a top-of-mind brand.
Get Your Content in the Halloween Spirit
Creating great content is definitely important in getting people to know and talk about you. And what better time to get people hooked with your brand than during special occasions like Halloween?
Choose a theme and color scheme that’s perfect for your brand’s personality. Go kid-friendly with bright-colored candy-and-carnival designs or be fall-off-your-seat scary with dark ghoul-like art. Create boo-tiful images by adding fright-worthy elements like insects, wizards, and witches. Post not just the day of but also leading up to the Halloween festivities to get people wondering and buzzing.
Make spook-tastic GIFs that showcase blinking lights, smoke and fire, or evil laughs, or show off your wicked and witty side with season-themed memes. Incorporate ghostly and ghoul-like illustrations in your product layouts like Heineken. Explore using famous Halloween characters in your content to make it more haunting and unforgettable. Who wouldn’t want to see Morticia Addams wearing your fashion line or Frankenstein eating your baked goods, right? Just remember that social media comments are important so encourage your followers to comment away!
Give ‘Em Pumpkin to Talk About With Viral-Worthy Videos
Everyone loves a good scare during this season. That’s why big brands always share their creepy stories and capture their audience through videos. This is your chance to show off your brand’s personality while joining in on the famed Halloween tradition.
Curate subtly-branded videos that bring mystery to your products and services. Use spooky music or suspense-filled effects to get people excited. Make it short and shareable using Instagram Stories and Snapchat, or impactful with 30-second teaser-type contents, or even two-minute-long forms like a web show. As we know, snap chat ads can be very effective!
Burger King did this extraordinarily well and went viral with their Scary Clown Night and Nightmare Burger videos.
Create suspense and pique curiosity by releasing parts of the mini web series one at a time. This will spark interest and keep your audience guessing. Not big on dark, scary videos? Make it more upbeat and personal with behind-the-scenes videos of your employees getting into their costumes or dressing up your workplace. Disney did this exceptionally and went the extra mile to wow their guests.
Treat Your Customers
Offer more treats during this tricks-filled season with special deals, promotions, and giveaways. Send ahead a newsletter to your email list that includes exclusive coupon codes or upcoming promos from your brand. Post and promote ads for limited-time campaigns a few days before the launch to get people pumped for your surprise.
If you’re already feeling the season of giving, go on a one-day-only, all-out sale or give out huge discounts to online purchases. Offer free shipping to your loyal customers or give out Halloween-themed freebies that will help boost up your sales. Food brands like Wendy’s and Applebee’s are amazing at giving out these special deals and getting people to remember them during the holiday.
Oh, and make sure your promo posts are spook-tacularly designed by adding elements like black cats, sharp fangs, or even eerie cockroaches.
Offer Gourd-geous Halloween Items
What better way to make people remember you (even when it’s no longer spooky season) than Halloween-themed gift items? And no, it doesn’t have to be just about pumpkin spice. Create and boost dynamic ads that will keep people guessing about the big reveal of your special offer. Be sure to make your items visually-exciting but at the same time useful and practical for everyday use. Running this promo for a limited time only will also get the customers eager to have it and your sales to skyrocket.
Starbucks spooked us with their tumblers designed with moths, candles, and webs. IHOP excited us with their Addams Family Menu.
Halloween interaction posts
Halloween is the time when people become outrageously creative, silly, and excited about their creations. Engage with your online followers by setting up unique events that will encourage their active participation and foster healthy competition.
Whether it’s to post photos of homemade costumes like Threads, share their spooky-looking room designs, or submit entries of their personal scary stories, there are a lot of social media contests that will help you interact with your patrons. Spice things up by offering exciting prizes like special gifts, coupon codes, or discounts to winners by the end of the contest.
If competition isn't your thing, go for season-themed pop quizzes, polls, surveys, and trivia games. Make sure your online events are relevant to your business and are linked back to your social media accounts. Stay on top of the likes, comments, and shares, and respond to these when necessary. Now, this is surely one of the best opportunities to connect with your customers.
Create Spook-tacular DIY Content
People get extra resourceful and innovative during this time of the year. This is your chance to spark their interest and to influence them to try (and of course, to buy) your items. Take a good look at your products and think of all the fun and exciting ways these can be used for the Halloween festivities.
Like L’Oreal Paris, makeup brands can curate step-by-step instructions on how to use their items to create the perfect trendy-yet-spooky look. If you’re in the food business, go for adorably creepy videos or recipe guides on how to make frightfully cute Halloween treats like Hershey’s. Keeping your DIY content informative, enjoyable, and easy-to-understand can get love from new customers and loyalty from old ones.
A creative way to design Halloween social media posts, indeed.
Make a Howl-oween Guide
If your business is more of providing service, put together a guide that’s helpful and entertaining for your followers. Go traditional and offer one-of-a-kind DIY Halloween designs like Country Living or mouthwatering Halloween-themed desserts for the festivities.
Of course, a jaw-dropping list of makeup ideas will always go a long way. Your guide can go from a collection of creative costume ideas to artistic room decorations, to crafty homemade projects, to season-themed party-hosting tips. It can even be a list of upcoming Halloween events, must-visit haunted house tours, and can’t-miss trick-or-treat spots within your area.
Bring things up a notch by offering bundled items and special promo codes to your customers when they use your product guide or events list. And make sure to include the needed links of where they can find and buy the items needed for the DIY projects, or where they can learn more about the tours and events.
Creep it Real and Be Remembered
Get spooky with your product names and content by adding some Halloween twist. Play with the words in your posts, captions, photos, and videos to make these creepily funny. Make use of Halloween puns, rhymes, and jokes to bring some light and laughter during this dark-themed holiday. Your hashtags should be imaginative and relevant that say something about the Halloween season while promoting your own brand. Encourage engagement from your followers by inviting them to post their own content and use your hashtags.
Chipotle had “Boorito,” Starbucks had #ITFrappuccino, and M&M’s had #MMSkeletonWarContest. Time to make your own trending line today!
