As Halloween approaches, marketers and affiliates are about to gear up to take upon this golden opportunity. If you wish to join this boat, grab a coffee and enjoy your next reading on how to create spectacular Halloween ad campaigns that fill your pockets.
Whether you’re targeting costume enthusiasts, candy lovers, or Halloween-themed services, join in on the Halloween frenzy and discover how capitalizing on trends and seasonality in advertising can elevate your brand to new heights!
Table of Contents
Halloween spending trends
Over the years, Halloween has evolved from a niche holiday to a major marketing opportunity, with consumers eagerly seeking themed promotions and experiences. Seasonal promotions during this time are a proven way for brands and affiliates to boost revenue while creating emotional connections through the festive spirit.
But Halloween campaigns need more than just a pumpkin added to your ad creative to make an impact. Halloween-themed ads have the potential to increase engagement, drive conversions, and significantly improve your return on investment (ROI) IF you are leveraging the right strategies.
But first things first!
Top-selling item on Halloween
From carving pumpkins and decorating to trick-or-treating and giving out candy, consumers engage in Halloween festivities in many different ways.
🎃 Halloween costumes & accessories
Spooky costumes, face paints, masks, wigs, fake blood, makeup kits, and other props. These items can be targeted for both adults and children, as well as pets, since many people include their pets in the celebrations.
🎃 Halloween decorations
The item portfolio here is pretty much unlimited. Think of pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, and inflatable decorations for homes and yards, spooky lighting, cobwebs, tombstones, themed tableware, banners, Halloween-themed balloons, tablecloths, candles, fog machines and the like.
🎃 Seasoned food & beverages
Think of speciality items like festive cocktails, spooky snacks, seasonal baked goods, Halloween-themed baking kits, pumpkin carving kits, and all sorts of Halloween candy for trick or treating.
🎃 Halloween experiences
Tickets to haunted houses, escape rooms, and Halloween-themed amusement parks. Don’t forget about the VR options during this season and even Halloween-themed photo sessions for families, kids, and pets to capture festive moments.
Peak Halloween advertising
Consumers will generally start planning for Halloween as early as September, doing a lot of research on costume ideas, decorations, and party supplies. As October approaches, buyers’ interest will intensify, leading up to the final days of the month where last-minute shoppers will be avid for deals.
- Afternoon and evenings are peak times to advertise since most people will browse the web after work or school.
- The weekend is also a prime time to promote since consumers have more free time to research and shop for their beloved celebration.
- On the week before Halloween, increase your ad frequency and budget for last-minute shoppers.
💡 If your audience spans multiple time zones, ensure you account for these differences in your ad scheduling.
💡 Don’t forget to limit your ad impressions based on the duration of your campaign as well. If you are running a one-week promotion, an increased frequency cap might help with exposure, however for month-long campaigns, you might want to stick to a lower number, to keep your audience engaged.
💡 Experiment with different time slots and monitor performance metric as the Halloween season progresses.
Trick-or-Treat around the world
The target audience for Halloween advertising is diverse, spanning various age groups and interests. From adults aged 18-45, families with children, and young adults planning Halloween events, primarily from regions that celebrate the holiday. Halloween is celebrated in many countries, though the level of enthusiasm and the traditions associated with it vary.
Countries with large markets for Halloween traditions and high consumer spending.
– United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia
Countries with increasing popularity toward Halloween celebrations and a growing market for seasonal advertising.
– Germany, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, New Zealand
Countries with Halloween celebrations, but with a smaller or less developed market.
– Brazil, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Argentina, Netherlands, Sweden
💡 We recommend thinking more granularly about the offer you are promoting and customizing your approach on it.
Ultimately, for buyers, Halloween is about creating lasting memories, sharing fun experiences with friends and family, and expressing creativity through costumes and decorations.
How to slay your Halloween campaigns
🎃 The good news is that Halloween marketing works across industries. With its broad appeal across age groups, Halloween allows businesses to create catchy, themed content that stands out in a crowded market
🎃 What comes to your mind when you think about Halloween? Isn’t it fun, fear, and fantasy? Spooky visuals and eerie sounds? Tap Into the Spirit of Halloween by incorporating the essence of the holiday into your ads to make them more relatable thus engaging to your audience.
🎃 Use Halloween colors like orange, black, and purple, and thematic elements such as ghosts, pumpkins, and witches in your creatives to stand out in crowded ad spaces.
🎃 Everyone loves a good deal, especially around holidays. Consider launching discounts on Halloween-themed products, exclusive deals, limited-edition items, or bundle packages themed around the holiday.
🎃 Halloween ads are all about playfulness, mystery and eerie imagery with a pinch of FOMO(fear of missing out). Use time-sensitive offers like “Get 20% off if you order before midnight on Halloween!” to create urgency.
🎃 Do you know what Halloween is also about? FUN! Create interactive contests, polls, and quizzes customized around Halloween and the product or service you are promoting. Now more than ever, buyers will be eager to play the mystery card, especially if they can win something in return, where it’s palpable or a great memory.
🎃 Since we’re talking about all this visual tips, let’s note that your ad creatives should not necessarily be the only ones to receive a Halloween makeover. Your landing page, your social media, your email signature and other elements involved in your conversion funnel can be customized as well if they relevant to your strategy.
🎃 Since attention span is only getting shorter, Halloween campaigns must be attention-grabbing and memorable to make an impact. Also take into consideration the market saturation since you won’t be only one trying to sell something using this thematic. Creativity is key but so is your approach based on your target audience.
Best Halloween ad format pairings
Since native ads blend seamlessly with the surrounding content, you can less intrusive but still catchy creatives to engage your audience. During the Halloween season, this format works particularly well for product discovery and affiliate marketing offers like costumes, decor, or seasonal treats.
For a more in-your-face approach, push notifications are a direct and personalized way to reach your ideal buyers. For Halloween campaigns, it’ll be easy for you to create attention-grabbing notifications with spooky language and icons, not to mention their compatibility with using time-sensitive offers like flash sales or limited-edition Halloween products.
Popunder ads would also be effective for your Halloween campaign, especially if you need more space to illustrate your message or if you want to approach a less interrupted method of showcasing your ad. If your audience prefers to engage with your offer when they are done browsing, this is the ad format for you.
There can’t be a Halloween without banner advertising. This versatile ad format remained popular over the years for a good reason. Create Halloween banners to stand out with eye-catching visuals like spooky graphics or dark colour schemes. Playtest with different sizes and placements to find the best reactions from your people.
Honestly, there’s no black-or-white choice when it comes to configuring your ad campaign. Take these tips with a grain of salt and focus on creating your own voice that make your ads stand out.
Don’t let this hauntingly profitable season pass you by!
