Halloween is an excellent holiday that happens to be nestled right before, well, the official holiday season. It’s also tons of fun for everyone, a time when you can cater to whacky and spooky costumes, lots of candy and some truly wild decorations.
But what makes Halloween really great is that marketers and businesses can cash in on the festivities to do some witchy marketing. Not witchy as in donning a black dress, pointy hat and broomstick – witchy as in magical. It’s a great time to let your freak flag fly and get super creative!
On that note, here are some spooktacular marketing stats that everyone should use to their advantage:
1. Decorations Are Ghoulish, Even After October 31st
Decorations land almost as much as Halloween spending on costumes and candy, generating about $2.7 billion from themed goods. You can take advantage of this by introducing your own Halloween themed decor, including streamers, lighting, toys and more. If you’re looking to spruce up your inventory, just know it’s not only about the candy and costumes!
This is also a great time to introduce promotional codes and exclusive offers. Try running a dynamic campaign with varying deals to keep customers coming back throughout the month. Around 57 percent of shoppers will go online after the holiday to find costume and decor discounts for the next year. Use this to your advantage immediately proceeding October 31st to garner some additional success.
2. Prepare Before HallowsEve
About 40 percent of people begin shopping for the holiday well before it’s time, almost four weeks before the big night — most shop during the first two weeks of October. What this means is that you want to have your marketing and promotions in place at least before the last couple weeks of the month.
3. Furry Friends GetDressed up Too
Costumes for children and adults are, of course, highly popular. But did you know that many families dress up their furry friends too? 10 percent of consumers dress their pet as a pumpkin for Halloween. Other popular themes include Star Wars, superheroes, various foods such as hot dogs and the staple characters — a ghost, witch, devil or pirate.
Marketers can capitalize on this by including the pet theme in their marketing materials such as newsletters and social media posts. Why not encourage other team members to share their pets in costume to see what kind of fun ideas come out?
4. Toys, Gadgets andGoodies, Oh My!
General sales for toys and gadgets spike up to 63 percent higher the day before Halloween when everyone is doing their last minute shopping. The day of sales will drop, but it’s obvious that’s because everyone is out having fun instead of visiting their local stores. It’s worth noting that retailers and eCommerce bounce right back with the jump into Black Friday promotions.
5. Consumer Confidence Isat an All-Time High
According to analysts, consumer buying confidence is at its highest level in the past ten years, despite the uncertain state of the global economy. People aren’t just spending more, they’re willing to take bigger risks in regards to what they purchase or invest in, and that’s always good for retailers and marketers. This is an excellent time to think outside the box and get a little creative with your offerings.
6. Throw a Graveyard Bash
Sure, lots of people will go trick-or-treating or take their family. Others might stay home and hand out candy. But there are a lot of people hosting or attending events too. About 35 percent of consumers will throw a Halloween-themed party or attend one. An additional 23 percent will visit a haunted house or theme park. This is a great thing to note if you have the desire to host your own promotional party or event. It’s definitely a promising opportunity.
7. Season’s Greetings!
When you think of holiday and greeting cards, it’s likely you immediately think of other major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. But did you know that nearly four in ten consumers will purchase Halloween-themed greeting cards? Yep, people love to send spooky and ghoulish greetings to friends, family, colleagues and neighbors.
Incorporating greeting cards and Halloween materials in your promotions can go a long way with customers, especially if you include something usable. For example, including something like a cutout greeting card in your email newsletter will keep people coming back again and again to find new ideas or things they can use.
8. DIY Costume Ideas Are Trendy
Looking for a great video idea for holiday-themed content? Want to run a new advertising campaign that generates a lot of interest during October? According to Google, there’s a 200 percent growth in web searches for DIY Halloween costume ideas on YouTube. This means every one in three searches conducted on YouTube is related to DIY costume ideas. Put together a video for your audience and customers explaining how to make a popular costume, or simply host a giveaway with supplies and great Halloween-themed prizes.
9. Looking for Some FullMoon Inspiration
YouTube is a great place to find DIY costume ideas and general inspiration, but people use a variety of other channels to find ideas too.
The most popular channel is an online search with 35 percent of consumers preferring this method. Other channels include brick-and-mortar store displays, friends and family, social media, pop culture trends and current events.
10. Geographic Trick-or-Treating
You may be surprised to know, different brands and types of candy are popular across the United States, as consumers in select states prefer one type over another.
In New Hampshire, for example, people love Tootsie Rolls. In Washington, people prefer juicy Airheads. In Texas, they adore candy corn. Try to plan any candy-themed marketing or promotions based on the popular sweets in a local region. This also expands to popular places to spend Halloween, many of which have a spooky theme.
Some popular locations include Transylvania, North Carolina and Tombstone, Arizona. Skull Creek, Nebraska is also a hotspot, with many towns and locations that incorporate Halloween-themed items in their name — Cape Fear and Pumpkin Center, North Carolina are also great examples.
With 69.5 percent of surveyed respondents planning to celebrate or participate in Halloween, there are a lot of people getting involved this year all across the country — and the world!
11. Pumpkin Things Up!
Despite a market that is completely saturated with pumpkin scents, tastes and themes, people still have a positive affinity for them. In fact, during October 2017 the phrase “pumpkin spice” was used over 300,000 times.
You can blame some of this on a weird event that occurred — students at a high school evacuated after a strange smell was detected, which turned out to be pumpkin spice related.
But even with the hubbub surrounding this silly event, the popularity of pumpkins still shines through, much like a candle inside a carved out pumpkin.
About 45 percent of Americans will be carving pumpkins this Halloween, with an estimated $575.26 being spent on the activity. It is incredibly popular, but also incredibly lucrative for marketers.
Try incorporating pumpkin decor, designs and graphics in your campaigns. You could host a pumpkin carving event at your business or sponsor a competition. The pulp’s the limit!
12. Join the Experience!
After studying the shopping trends of Millennials and younger generations, it’s evident they prefer to invest in experiences as opposed to material objects or things. What this means is that younger generations are willing to spend more, for instance, on tickets to a single night’s event, as opposed to a piece of daily attire.
Give them the opportunity to have a memorable experience, and they will throw money at you — or candy.
There were an estimated 41.1 million trick-or-treaters in 2017 with more than 120 million potential stops to residential units. Join in the fun by giving out candy to customers and visitors during the week of Halloween. You could also participate the night of by making appearances around your community, which would be an excellent time to further your marketing campaigns.
Have a Howl of a Holiday
Make proper use of the stats and insights listed here, and you will surely have an incredible Halloween season this year. This is a great time to take advantage of greater-than-normal consumer spending, especially since everyone is in high spirits.
The trick is to get in on the action early, as early as possible, and really hone in on what people love about this time of year.