It is the rules of the fall season, once Starbucks releases their Fall line with Pumpkin Spice, it is fall time. And during the fall season, the spookiest time of the year starts! 
 

Halloween is a billion-dollar industry, and even with the changes of 2020, consumers spent a spooky amount of cash on the holiday, $2 billion on Halloween candy alone to be exact. So while it seems a bit early to be speaking about social media marketing for this gruesome holiday, most consumers start their Halloween shopping in September and peak into the beginning of October! 

Source: National Retail Foundation 

For companies who are searching for an effective Halloween marketing strategy, here are great ideas! 

Reese’s Cup Robotic Halloween Door 

It is no secret that 2020 was a year of challenges, and with each holiday came its own set of challenges. With Halloween is known as a predominately family holiday with everyone going door to door, the CDC set safe guidelines for all Halloween lovers. 

In an effort to market during their biggest season and follow guidelines set in place by the CDC, Reese’s Cup took their Halloween campaign to social media to bring a one-of-a-kind experience to their fans. 

Their biggest fans were tasked with going to Instagram, tagging Reese’s Cup in their posts, and 

using the hashtag #ReesesDoor to see what cities would get Reese’s Door in their neighborhood! 

Source: Reese’s Instagram

Source: Reese’s Instagram

While most companies might not be able to provide this type of immersive experience to their Instagram followers, this shows a number of valuable marketing strategies that all companies can use during their Halloween marketing campaign. 

1. Be original 

COVID-19 switched the entire digital marketing industry and it was either adapt or die. This provided companies with the ability to create new experiences and be original like Reese’s cup. While originality can be difficult to achieve, think of ways that you can be original. 

What are some new campaigns that can be launched? What about a PPC campaign? Or a promotion that provides a certain percent off on products? There are plenty of ways to be original and keep it simple. 

2. Use hashtags

Hashtags, our Denver social media experts will scream from the witches broom that hashtags are one of the best ways to engage with your audience and reach an even wider audience. 

Hashtags have come a long way since their introduction on Twitter in 2007. They help to create a conversation around specific topics and between brands and their consumers. 

It is important to research, monitor, and use the right hashtags to ensure that it is relevant to your content. 

If you are posting about SEO and use the hashtag #SocialMediaMarketing or #SocialMediaManagement, those hashtags are not relevant to social media marketing. 

Hershey’s #HalloweenIsHappening hashtag brought in generated a 25 percent increase in candy sales. Just the right hashtag that helped with engagement and traffic!

If you are speaking about trick or treat, use #TrickOrTreat #HalloweenIsHere #Halloween(year) and other hashtags!  

3. Plan ahead

While it seems as if there is plenty of time to worry about Halloween marketing campaigns, our Denver social media experts will always tell everyone to over-prepare. This provides the time to create, develop and execute a marketing campaign that brings in the sales or leads that a company is searching for! 

It can provide some fun in the middle because who doesn’t love making cheesy marketing visual and copy that changes the traditional marketing campaigns.

These are the three ideas for social media marketing during the Halloween season from our Denver social media experts!  Whether you are ready to launch a Halloween campaign or need help expanding your social media marketing presence and strategies, contact our Monsters today!