Halloween Marketing Ideas to Help Grow Your E-Commerce Business

Halloween offers a variety of opportunities for e-commerce businesses and brands to engage customers and close sales! From fun videos and social media campaigns to spooky website effects, Halloween themed promos, email marketing campaigns, and limited time offerings, virtually any business can benefit from a well-planned, well-executed Halloween marketing blitz.

While different businesses may benefit from different promotions, these Halloween marketing campaign ideas may be tailored to fit your brand’s needs so long as you:

• Embrace the Halloween theme: Halloween is top of mind this time of year to engage customers by adding a festive theme or skin to your e-commerce website. Not only does this capture attention but also gives your online store a fresh look that improves the shopping experience.
• Sell relevant products: If your company sells candy, decor, paper goods, stickers, apparel, or any other tangible good, adding some Halloween themed products may help you increase sales. Also consider ways to leverage the holiday to sell any existing inventory by simply rebranding your “Sale” items as “Spooky Good Deals” or some other holiday themed grouping.
• Have fun: Engaging customers can be as simple as sharing Halloween content on your social media. Consider some fun ways you can align your brand, products, or any forward-facing staff with the holiday theme.

Here are a variety of Halloween-themed marketing ideas to help spark your creativity:

1. Give Away Branded Treats and Halloween Candy
E-commerce businesses can enjoy trick-or-treating events and Halloween festivities by “passing out” branded candy or swag at in person events or by including them in orders placed in the days/weeks leading up to the Halloween holiday.

2. Host a Halloween Costume Photo Contest
Invite both existing and prospective customers to share their Halloween photos on your website or social media accounts and offer prizes or discounts to the winners. To encourage broad participation, consider having a variety of categories that align with your brand (For example: If your brand caters to pets, offer prizes for best dog costume, cat costume, etc. If your brand has a wider reach, consider categories like scariest or most creative).

3. Sponsor a Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Decorate or carve pumpkins that feature your company’s logo, branding, or products, share them to your social media accounts, and invite your customers to join the fun by submitting photos of their decorated pumpkins. Similar to above, consider creating various categories and award the winners with free goods, gift cards, or discounts.

4. Get Creative with DIY
Halloween inherently seems to spark creativity so embrace the spirit of the season by finding creative ways for people to integrate your products and/or brand into their Halloween festivities. For example, if you sell clothing, create your own DIY costume featuring a few of your pieces and share it online. Then encourage your audiences to do the same!

5. Entice Audiences with Spooky Product Names
A simple way to engage customers and draw attention to your products is by making simple tweaks to your product names. If your products names feature colors, consider changing “white” to “ghost white,” “black” to “black cat,” or “orange” to “pumpkin.” You may also consider rebranding sales items to “Scary Good Deals” or using other spooky monikers to describe your products.

6. Refresh Your Website with Halloween Elements
Adding Halloween imagery to your website is a fun, affordable way to attract customers. On your website’s homepage, consider featuring some spooky elements like black cats, Jack-o-Lanterns, spiders crawling across the page, or scary eyes blinking. You may also want to create Halloween themed landing pages for people who visit from various holiday-themed ads or campaigns.

7. Create Halloween Bundles
Increase your sales by creating Halloween-themed product bundles.  

8. Design Limited Edition Halloween Products
Offer limited edition Halloween-themed products to attract customers looking for unique seasonal items. For example, if you have an apparel company, create special Halloween-themed shirts or socks. If you have a print-on-demand business, consider designing special Halloween stickers or paper goods. Once you’ve created your limited-edition Halloween designs, promote them on your social media platforms and website to generate excitement and encourage quick purchases.

9. Create a ‘Trick or Treat’ Loyalty Program
During the Halloween season, create a special ‘Trick or Treat’ loyalty program where customers earn ‘treats’ or rewards for making purchases or visiting your store. For example, for every purchase, customers could earn a ‘treat’ stamp on a loyalty card. After earning a certain number of stamps, they could redeem their card for a special treat, such as a discount, free item, or exclusive offer.

For more fun, festive Halloween marketing ideas, please see the table below!

Types of Halloween Marketing Ideas

Type	Ideas
Event Based	– Hold a Pumpkin Carving Contest – Host a Halloween-themed Scavenger Hunt – Host a Halloween Party – Offer a Haunted Experience – Host a Spooky Storytelling Event – Run a ‘Monster Makeover’ Contest – Sponsor a Local Halloween Event
Decoration Based	– Change Your Storefront Windows – Add Halloween Elements to Your Website – Offer Halloween Photo Opportunities
Product Based	Give Away Branded Treats and Halloween Candy – Feature Unique DIY Projects – Create Spooky Product Names – Bundle Relevant Products – Design Limited Edition Halloween Products – Collaborate with Other Local Businesses – Create a ‘Trick or Treat’ Loyalty Program
Social Media Engagement	– Make Spooky Video Content – Encourage Employees to Dress in Costumes – Create a Halloween Themed Hashtag

We hope your Halloween holiday sales are scary good!

*Header Image by Freepik