To begin with, for many, Halloween is a feat that revolves around each October, especially, on the 31st. But, a controversial Christian question is: “Should we celebrate it or not?” With no direct references to Halloween in the Bible, resolving the debate can be a challenge. How should Christians approach it, is there a biblical way to observe this secular holiday?
Well, Christian perspectives on Halloween are sharply divided. Some feel complete freedom to observe the holiday, while others run and hide from it. Meanwhile, many choose to boycott or ignore it, but a number of believers still celebrate it through positive and imaginative observances. While others go for Christian alternatives to Halloween in the same fashion.
On the same note, some even take advantage of Halloween’s evangelistic opportunities (we’ll discuss more later on). Realistically, during this festivity, the main symbol is the jack-o’-lantern, which represents an American holiday custom. Thus, just like different types of Christmas trees, a hollowed-out pumpkin lantern is usually displayed to mark Halloween.
In reality, the surface of the pumpkin is carved to resemble a face. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o’-lantern’s cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetables rather than just a pumpkin. So, what more does this Autumnal fest offer?
What Halloween Celebrations Really Entails
As per Britannica definition, Halloween, — a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve — is a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. Perse, the celebration marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide — which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day.
In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely non-religious. Halloween is celebrated on Monday, October 31, 2022. Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year began.
That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. During the Samhain festival, the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the other world.
People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day.
The period was also thought to be favorable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century CE, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
What The Celebration Activities Usually Involve
Back in the 1800s there developed festivals that marked the harvest and incorporated elements of Halloween. When large numbers of immigrants, including the Irish, went to the United States beginning in the mid-19th century, they took their Halloween customs with them, and in the 20th century, Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays.
Having said that, as a secular holiday, Halloween has come to be associated with a number of activities. One is the practice of pulling usually harmless pranks. Celebrants wear masks and costumes for parties and for trick-or-treating, thought to have derived from the British practice of allowing the poor to beg for food, called “soul cakes.”
Trick-or-treaters go from house to house with the threat that they will pull a trick if they do not receive a treat, usually candy. Halloween parties often include games such as bobbing for apples, perhaps derived from the Roman celebration of Pomona. Along with skeletons and black cats, the holiday has incorporated scary beings.
Such as ghosts, witches, and vampires in the celebration. Another symbol is the jack-o’-lantern, a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally turnips, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside.
How Halloween Celebrations Can Benefit Web Content Marketers
In some parts of the celebrating countries, the festivity of Halloween is right up there with Christmas and the Fourth of July. It isn’t just for kids, either. Adults and teens alike decorate their homes and walkways, vie for the best costume, and use the occasion to party with friends. It’s even for those just counting how many Stranger Things costumes ring the bell.
But, Halloween continues to offer ever more opportunities for retailers. Whether you’re an ecommerce retailer or a physical store, it’s easy to capture your share of fall shoppers with Halloween promotions. Including your latest deals and promotional offers across your website and social media can drive traffic to your website and increase sales.
For those who celebrate it, Halloween brings people from around the world to their doorsteps. It brings your neighbors out into the streets. Therefore, it’s a great opportunity to develop new relationships, share new faith, and market ourselves. Chiefly, since the mid-20th century, even UNICEF has attempted to make its cash collection programs a part of it.
Resource Reference: 25 Halloween Marketing Ideas Retailers Can Use To Boost Revenue
Whether sad, scary, thrilling, jovial, or much more, we can clearly say that: All Hallow’s Eve is full of entertainment and a variety of new life experiences. By the same token, it’s also a great time for content marketers to invest in a Halloween marketing strategy that helps them use the season to the best of their advantage. But, there’s one truth worth mentioning.
Eventually, some small to medium businesses think they have to actually sell Halloween paraphernalia to get in on the fun, but that’s far from the truth. When you let your business get in on the fun of Halloween, the marketing piece is an organic benefit. There are some marketing strategies to use during this spooky season to boost engagement and convert leads.
1. Get Ready To Roll Into The Mood
One of the very starting points in which Halloween can benefit your business is by setting your mindset up for the task. It seems like Christmas Creep happens earlier every year, and you might be tempted to spend most of the fall season concentrating on the end-of-year holidays. However, by skipping out on its promos, you could be missing out on revenue.
Although its spending declined during the pandemic, it has grown substantially in the last decade and is expected to continue growing in the future. An estimated 28% of shoppers will start buying decorations, costumes, gifts, and more in September, so start your promotions early to capture every Halloween shopper from the early birds to the last joiners.
Make sure that you are all ready to draw these shoppers into your retail business with some of the best Halloween promotional marketing ideas that you can find. As an example, if you operate a brick-and-mortar store location, you can bring in Halloween-loving customers with a themed window display that also showcases merchandise.
On the other side, if you operate an online store, you can shift this idea to your website by adding a Halloween theme to your landing page. Add animation, images, and other decorations to make your website more festive, or add a Halloween-themed splash page announcing sales for anyone who signs up for your email list.
2. Brace Yourself And Dress Up Your Business
According to Baker Public Relations, using the holiday to decorate your company’s building can draw in customers. You can also ‘dress up your social media page to draw their attention. You can do this by creating Halloween-themed posts or just editing your biography section. For instance, you can transform your Instagram profile to match the festivity mood.
Particularly, by using a similar dark-colored template for all of your graphics and photos. You can even jazz it up by adding a post description that follows the Halloween theme. (This can be used for all holidays). Halloween-themed charity runs and other events have become more common in recent years. In the first place, see what local charities are doing in your area.
Also, consider sponsoring your business products or solutions. You can either set up a booth at the event or even send some coupons to be included in participant gift bags. Who doesn’t love a good Halloween party? You can also try and Host An Adult Halloween Party Event, especially, with a local non-profit geared towards meeting more potential clients.
Well, on that note, a smart way to market your business is by teaming up with a local non-profit to host a themed event. You can put together activities like bobbing for apples or crafts for the kids. Market your business by having your public relations team design posters and signs with your logo. And the best part of it all, you’re helping out a great cause!
3. Try To Dive Into The Fun And Encourage Others
Specifically, your email subscribers list is one of your best resources for spreading the word about holiday-related promotions to your existing customers. Send Halloween-themed emails to those on your list to let them know that Halloween is looming, and they need to act fast to get in on the deal. Constant Contact offers cute, well-designed Halloween email templates.
That you can use to tie your promotion into the holiday. Some of these templates include eye-catching animation, while others are simple and straightforward. Find a template that fits your business and fill in the details of your promotion. In the build-up to your major Halloween promotions, use an email series to start drawing in customers right from the word go.
Offer a combination of promotional emails and interesting content, like costume and decoration ideas. This email template features a clean layout with muted colors that lets the reader focus on your messaging. The email copy plays on the spooky theme, reminding readers to act on the deal before it turns into a ghost. You can even reorganize your templates further.
For your information, all the topmost best marketing campaigns are successful because they happen organically. If you can find some way to enjoy the day, then the marketing campaign piece will take care of itself. That said, below are a few notable ways to enjoy this Halloween celebrations season and help your customers do so, too.
Consider the following technical steps:
- Decorate your space. It may seem obvious that you should hang ghouls and spiderwebs around your office, but decorating your digital space is just as important as the festivity itself. Ask your web designer to include spooky elements.
- Offer a seasonal special. No matter what kind of business you run, you can use Halloween as a time to get customers in the door with a special spooky doorbuster sale. Or entice them with a one-time discount when they wear a costume.
- Give out some custom treats. Whether you have lollipops, dental floss, stickers, or pencils, Halloween is a great time to offer a little giveaway – with your business’s name on it. Make it seasonal by offering your treats in a Halloween-themed bowl. The great thing about doing this is that you never know where the product with your name on it will end up.
If you don’t sell anything that can be tagged in a Halloween-related post, simply run a contest that people can enter by signing up for your email list. Offer a gift card or a discount to the winner, and choose one or more winners at random.
A day – filled with goblins, ghouls, and ghosts – is a way to get creative. This ultimately can grow your outreach and success. For more Halloween ideas, check out the ‘Which Halloween Candy Could Use A Little PR?’ blog post.
4. Invest In A Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan
In this case, you can use your social media presence to build content around the Halloween theme, with hashtags to help customers find you. You might showcase how some of your inventory can be used to decorate for a party or show off some last-minute costume ideas made with your products. Jump on Halloween-related hashtags and pair them with your own.
Like branded hashtags — to help you build brand awareness in your area. Even if you don’t have Halloween-related merchandise, social media posts with factoids about the holiday can drive interest in your shop and build brand awareness. Unfortunately, most businesses know they need to post on social media, but they often fail at a very crucial time.
Obviously, because they don’t always understand the Social Media Marketing (SMM) side of it. For this reason, you know you should always have strong social media content that helps you engage with your audience. Halloween gives that marketing effort a focus. Reinvent your logo to capture a spooky vibe – like a jack-o-lantern.
Whereby, the O would, for example, be a spider in the corner of the image – and use it to create fun social media posts. At times, some sponsorship levels may even include the chance to have your logo and shop linked to charity organizations’ websites. Use your social media and other content marketing tools such as email and videos to promote events.
Other proven examples might be as follows:
- A silly Halloween joke, like: “Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? Because he didn’t have enough guts.” End it with an emoji sticking out its tongue to let your audience know you are in on the silliness of the joke.
- A past image of you or an employee in a costume with a simple, “Enjoy All Hallows Eve!” or just “Happy Halloween!” Images get a lot more attention on social media than text alone.
- Connect Halloween to your product or service. This piece may take a bit of imagination, but there’s always a way to tie in your marketing strategy with the season. Even if your business is too serious for silly Halloween antics, you can invest in autumn themes and pumpkins.
- TikTok Trends. TikTok has millions of young buyers, so learning a Halloween dance to promote your business is an easy way to get in on the fun.
But, all in all, make sure your social media marketing campaign is appropriate to the platform. For instance, a silly joke will work better on Facebook than on Twitter, and old Halloween photos are perfect for Instagram.
5. Offer Some Discount On Your Fall Merchandise
It’s a great time for offloading fall merchandise to make room for your holiday inventory. Arrange a subpage on your website for fall products, and create small in-store displays of fall products. Dedicate a smaller section to Halloween decorations. If you run a clothing store, make a display with lightweight sweaters and scarves that can be for the fall.
Decorate the display table with pumpkins, leaves, and other fall-related items. Next to the sweaters and scarves, you can set up a smaller display with spooky decorations and Halloween-themed jewelry. Suffice it to say, other online retailers can also take this concept and shift it online, creating fall-themed subpages to highlight end-of-season merchandise.
Always remember, that Halloween promotions can also be run in-store. Many parents find it easier to take their kids out to retail locations for trick-or-treating because it’s safe and convenient. If you decide to hand out candy in your shop along with your Halloween promotions, notify people through your email list and your social media pages.
Make the event fun for parents by working with other local businesses in the area to create a scavenger hunt. Each store can offer gift cards and coupons hidden in different locations throughout the local area. Use your social media feed to send clues to people in the neighborhood. Likewise, offer coupons to parents who visit the shop for your trick-or-treat event.
Along with candy for the kids. And, if you have smaller items that aren’t selling, offer them as free gifts with purchases, and encourage people to give these items to their friends for the season. Also, consider ordering some small, Halloween-themed inventory — that you can offer along with a promo code to drive traffic to your website and into your shop.
6. Hand Out Branded Promotional Products
You can create seasonal promotional products with a Halloween theme. Products can be as simple as redesigning your business card for the month of October or handing out trick-or-treat bags with your logo on them at specific events. You can always team up with Baker Public Relations to come up with a creative item that makes the most sense to your company.
Be that as it may, if you’re running an online store, focus on driving traffic to your website and highlighting promo codes and discounts. Create festive subpages on your website to highlight sale merchandise, and send out Halloween-themed emails notifying your customers of killer deals and other promotional events. Encourage people to visit your website.
In particular, try hosting a Halloween-themed contest, and then promoting it through social media. If your shop sells merchandise that fits in with fall décor, have customers use your products to decorate their homes and tag you in their photos. You can drive participation by letting clients vote for the winner, or you can pick the winner yourself.
Equally important, you can also have a Creative Contest Strategy in place. To enumerate, you can combine all of these ideas by having a contest that spreads your message, boosts your reach, and increases traffic. The great thing is, it doesn’t have to take up real space – consider a digital contest.
Below are a few more ideas to consider:
- Best Costume (judged in-store or online through pics)
- Spookiest Home Décor (online pictures would be another great option)
- Most Inventive Digital Campaign for Halloween (a great option for digital agencies to play with customers)
Ultimately, once you’ve decided on a contest that works with your business, decide on a prize, then use all those images to spread your name across social media. Ghosts and goblins will be trying to impress you, hoping for a win, and you can use all those images to get some Halloween attention and increase engagement.
And now, with that in mind, if you’re struggling to find the right words to promote your Halloween marketing campaign, you are free to Contact Us and talk with our team. So that they can craft a great marketing plan for Halloween and beyond. But, before we conclude, should Christians celebrate the Autumnal Festival really? You can share your thoughts down below.
Learn More: Christians Perspectives On Halloween: Treat Or Retreat?
For your information, back in the 7th century, the Noble CE Pope — Boniface IV — established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13. And, in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween.
By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged. The Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain especially Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along with other festivities, the celebration of Halloween was largely forbidden among the early American colonists.
Takeaway Thoughts:
Halloween may not seem like a golden opportunity for catching customers — it’s not often associated with major shopping seasons like Christmas or back-to-school. But, even with lingering pandemic-related restrictions in place, the National Retail Foundation reported that the average American spent $103 on candy, costumes, and decorations in 2021.
And, they also estimated that the country spent a total of $10.6 billion on the holiday. This means that good Halloween promotions can help you tap in on this spending and be advantageous to your overall business marketing strategy. Of course, you might feel intimidated competing with large corporations for Black Friday and other holiday shopping revenue.
But, Halloween gives you the chance to cash in on holiday spending with less hassle. Even if you don’t sell Halloween-themed merchandise, you can still take advantage by creating themed branding around this popular shopping season. Build your website, and make sure it’s optimized for mobile so that people can access your promos on their phones.
As you can see, marketing your business products or services with Halloween-themed promotions doesn’t have to be difficult. Now you have some ideas to help you prepare for when the ghouls start coming out of the woodwork.
Related Events:
- Black Friday (Occasion)
- Earth Day (Celebrations)
- Christmas Day (Christianity)
- Thanksgiving Day (Holiday)
- All Saints’ Day (Christianity)
- Veterans Day (Commemoration)
That’s it! A general overview of what the Halloween Celebrations really entail. So, what’s your take on this festivity? Is there something else that you’d like us and other web readers to know? Please feel free to share your additional thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, or even contribution questions (for FAQ Answers) in our comments section below this blog.
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