If you’re frightfully late getting started on Halloween planning, then here are some easy tips to take advantage of the holiday.
Hand out treat bags.
Wrap up some miniature candy in a few layers of black and orange tissue paper, tie it up and attach your business card or a coupon to the ribbon using a hole puncher. Keep the bundles on hand for visiting clients and customers.
Host a costume contest.
All week leading up to Halloween, suggest customers drop in on Saturday in costume. Then, that day, snap a photo of each ghost, witch and kitty cat that walks through your door. Upload the photos to your company’s Web site and encourage visitors to vote for their favorite costume in the Comments section. (If you’re not enabled for Comments, then suggest your customers e-mail you directly, but really, check into allowing them to comment, because customer engagement is itself a great marketing tool!) Then award the winner free service at your business.
Stay open late.
Stay open later on Friday or Saturday, make some Halloween punch (orange sherbet and lime soda), play some scary sound effects and welcome customers to shop. Just the darkness sets the spooky mood, and you’ll need little in the way of decorations.
Hold an online contest.
Don’t have a storefront? You can still mix up your homepage by hosting a trivia contest. Ask questions about Halloween legends (Wikipedia is your friend for this type of research) and have your clients e-mail you answers. Or have Web site visitors submit their favorite ghost stories. Post the best and have other customers vote for the scariest. Make the prize free services that you provide. Procrastination is often the enemy of the small business – there always seems to be too much to do! But it pays to get a jump on marketing ideas early. Check out PsPrint’s Resources section for tips on making the holidays pay off for your company. Start thinking about Thanksgiving marketing NOW!
[...] Hand out treat bags. [...]