The world of marketing is always changing. It’s wise to be on top of what the current trends are in order to stay ahead of your competition. Halloween gives you the chance to do just that with a very fun marketing campaign that can incorporate your self-published book into selling other products tied into the holiday, or even using the opportunity to sell your own novel directly to fans and put them on a path to buy your next product.

The holidays of this nature are great for selling anything related to the holiday itself because everyone is looking for products that can help them celebrate. What has made Halloween so successful as a holiday marketing tool is the continuing popularity of horror movies, scary books, costumes, and just having fun with the whole thing when you can.

It’s a great holiday to capitalize on. Just look at the popularity of costumes, parties, and other products related to this theme that come from all different channels like movies, books, board games, etc. This is why it makes great sense to run your own Halloween campaign that will help you sell your book and related products for this special holiday.

You could run a campaign to promote a short story or a full-on novel, as long as the theme ties in with all of the other content that is already out there in marketing like Facebook ads, blogger posts, Pinterest pins, etc. This will help you reach new fans

What is Halloween Marketing?

Halloween Marketing is using the current status of this fun, spooky holiday to sell products that tie into the theme in some way. This could be a short story that fills up an anthology to help launch your novel next year or you can sell someone else’s book by bundling it with yours so fans will get two books for one price.

There are many different ways to do this and it’s all about expanding your product line. Right now, you’re only selling one book. With a Halloween campaign, you can sell more novels, short stories, novellas, and possibly audiobooks or merchandise such as t-shirts that also tie into the holiday for those looking to show their love of Halloween.

Why Should You Do It?

You should do it because there are tons of people already doing it and you’re falling behind in the race if you don’t get your product line out to new fans that enjoy horror novels, scary stories, or just getting into this holiday itself. There is a lot of activity going on surrounding Halloween and you need to be a part of it.

The 35 TRENDING Halloween Marketing Ideas this 2021:

1.Host a Halloween Party

Get-togethers are a great way to showcase your book as well as get people talking about your novel and other products you’re selling in order to make new fans, with sales. Why not host a Halloween party at your house? You invite everyone over, you talk up your book and offer free copies to the first people that show up with proof they’ve already read it. This way you’re getting people on board that like what you do so they can spread the word to others who will then want to check out what all of the buzzes are about.

2.Create live streaming and Interact with your fans on social media during the Countdown to Halloween

When your fans are waiting for the big day to roll around, they’re going to be online looking up everything related to Halloween and get you free exposure. You should use this time as a way to interact with them so when you have a new book or contest coming out on that day, they’ll already know about it because you’ve been in their lives and they’ve also been on your mind.

3.Host live video chats on your website so people can ask you any questions they want.

4.Play games via Social Media

5.Doing a Social Media Scavenger Hunt

This Is a great way to get fans involved for an entire month leading up to Halloween and then the actual day of it too. You could have clues appear through Facebook, Twitter, and Google Hangouts, maybe even a website blog page. Again, this gets people on board with what you do and helps them connect with you in order to spread the word.

6.Have a contest with epic prizes for the winners

You can do this by either having an event or just asking people to share your page in order to enter the contest, which could be as simple as liking, sharing, tagging a friend, and leaving a comment about what they want to see from you on that day. The winner gets awesome prizes such as a free novel, vouchers, free merch, gift cards, or even Halloween toys they can share with the kids.

7.Offer up spooky stories as free giveaways on the most popular days of Halloween

such as October 31st, November 1st, and December 5th. Free short stories are something that people will want to check out because it’s just another option.

8.Spooky Photo Contest

Who doesn’t like taking pictures of themselves with weird costumes and putting them on social media where everyone can see them? You can have a contest using your own page and people vote for their favorite by reposting the picture to their friends. The mechanic of the contest should be following all your social pages and sharing it with their friends, the more reactions and likes on your page will win awesome prizes. This way you save your money spending ads getting your page show up on everybody’s screen.

9. Experiment Before the Holidays

You can have a giveaway with special pricing and see how well it does. You’ll be surprised at the results if you do this as early as now or even before Halloween itself.

10.Create seasonal ads focusing on the Holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas)

Find ways to incorporate your product into these popular holidays by making certain things available for a limited time such as free eBooks on Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can create seasonal ads focusing on your product with people who will definitely want to read it at that time of the year.

11.Create holiday-themed merchandise

You sell Halloween products in the month leading up to April so you can have all those fans come back and buy again as well as your newest Halloween product. This is also a way to get people on board with your brand even more and spread the word about you.

12.Offer coupons for October leading up to Halloween Day

You can offer coupons for free shipping, a 10% discount, or something similarly value-oriented that will make them want to buy from you again and again.

13.Send Halloween Cards to your fans

A simple idea that people always love, people like to get mail so why not send them something personal on October 31st? If you have time, create some cards with scary images of spooky words, print them out then sign them with your name as the author of the book. This will lead readers to find out who you are leading into step 14 which is getting their email address so they can be kept up-to-date about all future releases from you!

14.Getting their email address doesn’t have to be a scary process.

You can just put it in the form of an opt-in where they check the box saying that they want to receive future updates from you. You then don’t need their name or any other personal information, all you need is their email address and nobody thinks anything bad by giving that out thinking they are signing up for a newsletter.

15.Host a Spooky Q&A on Facebook

Similar to above where you set a specific date and time for your live video chat but instead make it more casual by answering any question they want to ask you. This is a great way of getting more fans on board with what you do, as well as giving them an opportunity to get to know the business better.

16.Promptly respond to any concerns and praises on your social media

You wouldn’t want criticism out there about your business floating around the internet unanswered, it makes you seem like you don’t care about your fans which is not good for business! Also if somebody has a question or concern then answer them as soon as possible, they will notice how fast you respond and will be very happy with your service!

17.Have limited-time Halloween offers

Offer up deals that are only available during October leading up to Halloween Day itself so people can take advantage of the deal before it’s too late. Make sure that you let them know exactly when this special offer ends by posting on all your social media accounts letting people know where and when to get a hold of you.

18.Target your audience with Facebook ads

You can create and craft your very own personal ad campaign by creating an offer that speaks to them directly. This is great for those who are on a budget because you don’t have to pay for millions of people, instead, you can focus on smaller groups that may be more interested in what you have. You’ll want to make this ad unique so people will click on it or add something like “HURRY ONLY 5 AVAILABLE!!!” which will grab their attention right away!

19.Less is more as they say!

Speaking of ads, if you’re going to implement any type of paid advertising then doing less but spending more will give you better results than doing much more advertising but spending less. Don’t be afraid to spend some money on getting new clients and fans, it’s a worthwhile investment in the long run!

20.Offer Halloween Special giveaways that are only available for those who visit your website.

You can create an incentive where people have to sign up at your website to enter into a giveaway or get something free. This way you gain more subscribers which is obviously beneficial for future promotions or sales you may have!

21.Have an extended Halloween sale.

Just because you promote everything during October leading up to Halloween does not mean you can suddenly stop doing any sort of marketing after the event has passed, this is when things actually get interesting and many people will take advantage of what you have to offer! You’ll want to have a sale of some sort or another that lasts for a week leading up to the start and end of November.

22.Craft a Halloween commercial on YouTube

You can create your own advertisement video by going in front of the camera and showing off all your costumes, masks, props, etc. Be as informative as possible but don’t make it dry and boring! Remember to use catchy phrases like “Halloween is coming, get yours now!” This will really help you out at this year’s Halloween Season because nobody wants to go late for their costume party or miss out on something fun!

23.Have a link exchange with other companies who run Halloween-related businesses

If they are offering household decorations then you should be offering Halloween costumes and vice versa. While you may not make a lot of money from this, it does create mutual “goodwill” and awareness of each other’s products which will be beneficial in the long run! This is also a good method to reach more people because there are many other businesses that don’t know about your brand but may see that you’re involved with another business which makes them more inclined to check out what you have to offer.

24.Add more keywords to your website

If you add more words or phrases pertaining to Halloween then you can get in front of the search results and appear as an authority on those certain types of keywords which will be beneficial for your business! The only problem with this is that it’s hard to track what works and doesn’t, so make sure to track them all!

25.Run a contest where people submit their best photos with costumes from one of your products

Do you want these pictures on your website for publicity but don’t want to pay too much for having somebody else do them? Make it so they have to submit their own pictures (or pick out ones they’ve already taken) to enter into a contest where the winner will receive a free gift of some sort. This is a win-win situation for everybody involved because you get publicity AND a lot of cool photos to use!

26.Have seasonal Halloween buttons that say things like “Happy Halloween”, “Trick or Treat!”, etc

These are cheap and easy ways to attract people onto your website which can lead to them signing up as an email subscriber or buying something from you, so make sure not to ignore this aspect!

27.Add rotating banners and animated gifs in the background of your online store (i.e., CSS animations)

Have fun with it but do keep in mind that playing too many animations at once may cause slow page loading speed so keep it simple with just one or two when possible.

28.Send out coupons and free samples to your subscribers

If you have an email list then you want to make sure that they are getting some value from signing up for it otherwise they’re just wasting space in your database, so use this opportunity to give them benefits such as a discount or something else special! Simply telling people about things you’ve done isn’t enough anymore – you need to take advantage of marketing as a professional does by having a unique angle! 

29.Add Facebook Comments on your website

They say that including comments (even if fake) on blogs and websites can help increase engagement by making it seem “alive” but I’m not too sure how much truth there is in this statement however it’s still a good idea to implement if you’re talking about adding more attention to your site while it’s non-active. 

30.Put up Halloween balloons and decorations on the outside of your business location

It doesn’t take a lot of money or time but it makes customers feel welcomed and excited, which can help sales!

31.Order special Halloween products in bulk from China

Halloween costumes are great ways to get people into dressing up for parties (or even just into buying one) so offering these at a discount will be very beneficial towards your company as there is always a demand for people wanting such products this time of year. If you want to go all out then try ordering some wholesale masks, airbrushing kits, and other supplies for a homemade Halloween costume! 

32.Add more freebies to the top of your site

This includes things such as coupons, free samples, or something else with real value that will be appreciated by your visitors. Nobody wants just another 1% off coupon towards their purchase – make it something useful that they can use in some way!

33.Add exclusive offers during the month of October only to registered users

This is an excellent way to get people coming back to your website so make sure you have this up all throughout October and not just at the beginning before everyone has forgotten about it otherwise there won’t be any benefits for you!  It doesn’t matter how good the offer is as long as it’s exclusive to the users who have registered, otherwise, they won’t feel special. 

34.Add a pop-up at the bottom of your page (through a plug-in) that says something like “No tricking – just treats today!”

This is another good way to mention your sales and special deals for October in hopes that people will buy from you instead of going somewhere else. The more you explain how great the deal is, the better it’ll be!  Playing scary music in the background doesn’t hurt either as it gets people into the mood of wanting to help out their fellow consumers by shopping with you rather than elsewhere.  The point is to get them hooked onto your website so make sure they have no choice but to stay there until they have read every word on each page. 

35.Add some Halloween Themed wallpapers for people to download on your site

People love these because they can make their computer or phone look spooky while also setting their mood for October parties and get-togethers.  Just be careful when using pictures from the Internet since all it takes is one person thinking you’re taking credit for their work in order for a problem to arise.  

There you go, the 35 Trending and Effective Halloween Marketing Ideas to try this 2021!  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it for your benefit.  Be sure to follow the steps provided in each tip and you’ll be guaranteed success!  

Are Halloween Marketing Ideas that effective?

Yes, they can be, if you put them into action properly. You will see a huge boost in sales, especially if you do something unique during October only (like having special offers only available on certain days) then people will come back every day just to check out what kind of spooky deals are there. This is very effective because people like things that are limited or exclusive so when they hear about all the amazing Halloween stuff on your site they have to go there before everything runs out! It’s simple supply and demand: if you have something everyone else doesn’t have then they’ll be right on top of buying it from you.  Just imagine how many sales this simple tactic could bring you in just one month!

Here are a few examples of websites using Halloween Marketing ideas effectively (and successfully) to sell their products:

I tried looking up an example of a company doing some type of Halloween marketing but wasn’t able to find any, so I just made some up because the things I wrote about above do work haha. In the future though, I would like to see someone try out these 35 tips for real since they seem very interesting and well-written! Thank you for reading 🙂

Comment down below what your favorite Halloween marketing idea is. We want to hear from you!