In 2024, Brits were predicted to spend a massive £776 million on Halloween. Spooky season is a big deal in the UK – and a big opportunity for small businesses. Just starting out, or marketing with a tight budget? Don’t worry. Halloween is still a chance to boost visibility and spark customer interest.
There are creative (and spooky) promotion ideas for every type of business, not just those selling fancy dress, party food, or pumpkins. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of affordable and effective Halloween marketing ideas for small businesses of all kinds. Plus, discover a fangtastic range of clever marketing strategies and tips to make your efforts even more impactful.
Key takeaways
- Add Halloween themes to your website and shop to increase visibility and make your business feel lively to customers.
- Create limited-run bundles and themed packaging to raise order value and drive shareable unboxing moments.
- Run user-generated competitions and countdown email offers to engage the community and bring back loyal customers.
Spooktacular digital marketing ideas
Digital tactics like website updates, email offers, and social competitions are highly effective for seasonal campaigns.
Update your website for Halloween
Revamping your homepage with autumnal colours, cheeky seasonal puns or phrases, or Halloween icons makes your website more inviting. Just a few tweaks can boost time on site and increase conversions.
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Try giving your checkout pages a Halloween twist. Consider swapping ‘Add to cart’ with ‘Bag these treats’, or using glowing buttons. It could be the little nudge that gets more people to hit “Buy”.
Don’t have a website yet? Check out our guide on website builders.
Create a seasonal Instagram hashtag competition
Hosting a Halloween Instagram competition with a branded hashtag can boost engagement and increase awareness of your brand through user-generated content.
Encourage your customers to showcase their costumes, spooky creations, or Halloween-themed setups. Choose ideas that connect to your products and create a Halloween competition by:
- Setting a theme (costumes, pumpkins, pets)
- Creating a custom hashtag
- Promoting across social media and newsletters
Lots of businesses run pumpkin carving competitions. Take Exotic Fruits, for example. The online fruit shop invited its followers to share their pumpkin creations, tag @exoticfruits.co.uk and use the hashtag #ExoticFruitsPumpkinCompetition to win a box of fresh produce.
Run a Halloween countdown email series
Sending Halloween countdown emails creates urgency and rewards subscribers. Consider experimenting with themed subject lines like “3 Days of Treats – You’d Be a Ghoul to Miss Out!”.
Try sending a teaser email a week before, a flash sale countdown starting on the 28th, and a last chance offer on 31 October.
Think your list is too small? The opposite is often true. Smaller audiences tend to reward seasonal exclusives with higher open and click-through rates, so pay attention to email marketing as a key growth channel during this seasonal period. An exclusive offer will make your subscribers feel like Halloween VIPs.
Fang-tastic physical and in-store marketing ideas
Creative decorations and inspiring promotions will bring in foot traffic and engage local customers.
Decorate for the season
Decorating your shop for Halloween can attract shoppers. Pop a few pumpkins, paper bats, or DIY cobwebs in your shop. It’s amazing how much a little decoration can make passersby stop, smile, and come inside.
The UK saw a huge 17.7% rise in foot traffic during Halloween 2024 compared to the previous year. To make the most of this lively buzz, why not put up some fun and affordable pop-up displays, like a charming, spooky window design? Eye-catching decorations are sure to draw in crowds.
If you do decorate, snap a photo and share it on social media for extra reach. It’s free publicity.
Offer treat vouchers
Calling your discounts or freebies ‘treats’ adds a playful Halloween twist to your promotions.
In a physical shop, make a spinning wheel where customers land on ‘Trick’ or ‘Treat’. The ‘Trick’ might be that they spin the wheel again until they win. As a ‘Treat’, offer free items or a discount on their next purchase. It’s a fun experience and encourages repeat visits.
Embrace cross-promotion with local Halloween events
Partnering with local businesses and community events can increase your exposure at Halloween.
Look into offering themed services at charitable events or co-creating promotions with nearby shops. Perhaps a charitable group is organising a local family fun day. If you’re a hairdresser, flex your skills by offering themed braiding.
Even if you don’t team up with other small businesses for an event, it might be worth joining forces on co-branded flyers to promote your Halloween products. Sharing marketing expenses is cost-effective.
Run a pet costume competition
Engaging customers with a pet costume competition is a popular marketing tactic for pet shops, groomers and vets. Even if you don’t run an animal-related business, cute pets always attract attention.
Where to host
- In-store event
- Instagram (or other social media platform)
How to run it
- Host an in-store pet catwalk (or dog walk)
- For an online competition, encourage followers to tag you in photos of their pets in costumes
- Arrange a vote (customers can pick their favourite costumes through comments or likes)
What to give away
- Free product bundle (e.g. a gift basket with pet treats and toys)
- Store credit (for winners to use on future purchases)
Frighteningly good product-based ideas
Seasonal bundles and themed packaging can drive sales, create excitement, and make your brand memorable.
Offer limited-run Halloween bundles
Having a few limited-run Halloween bundles will make your products feel special. Try offering Halloween-limited bundles, like a home decor “Haunted Hamper”. They spark urgency and boost average order value. Limiting bundles also gives customers a reason to grab them sooner rather than later.
Consider how your products relate to Halloween. For example, you could combine gothic eyeliners, spider hair accessories, and orange press-on nails for a Halloween makeover bundle.
A limited-run bundle saves customers both money and time, as they receive everything at once. Bundles also benefit you by increasing your average order value.
Use themed packaging
Try wrapping things up in Halloween-themed packaging. It’s a small touch that makes customers smile and creates social-share moments.
Think low-cost items such as pumpkin tape, glow-in-the-dark labels, or orange tissue paper that both lead to Instagram-worthy moments and make opening the order feel like part of Halloween.
3 effective Halloween marketing strategies for startups
If you’re running a startup, take advantage of these straightforward Halloween marketing strategies to generate buzz, connect with your community, and increase seasonal sales – even on a small budget.
Here are three things to consider when putting together your Halloween promotion ideas:
1. Plan your lead time
Start planning 3 to 4 weeks early. That gives time to prep stock, train any staff you may have, and promote your products without the last-minute panic. Ask yourself ,“Will supplies arrive on time?” and “Can I manage increased interest?”. Planning early avoids last-minute challenges.
2. Focus on customer experience
Creating fun and memorable interactions can leave a lasting impression on your customers without requiring a large budget. Halloween is all about surprise. Consider dressing in a playful costume, offering themed sweets, or including a “mystery ghoul gift” with every order.
3. Mark your calendar with a pumpkin emoji or fun reminder
If you want to maximise recurring seasonal opportunities (like Halloween), include them in your annual marketing plan.
When you’re mapping out your plan for the year ahead, think about how to use Halloween to hit your business targets.
Embrace the spirit of Halloween and fuel your business growth
For small businesses, Halloween is all about expressing creativity and boosting visibility, which are just as important as making sales. A simple seasonal marketing campaign can make a big impact. Even if Halloween doesn’t seem directly connected to what you offer, embracing that community spirit shows everyone you’re open for business.
Pick your favourite one of our Halloween marketing ideas and use it to test what connects with your customers. Halloween’s playful energy makes it the perfect chance to experiment and build momentum for bigger campaigns in the future.
If Halloween marketing lights a fire under your long-term plans – maybe turning your side hustle into a fully registered business – Rapid Formations can help you make it official. Take the next step today and put the foundations in place for every seasonal campaign to come.
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