Treats! Not Tricks!

When I was a kid, there was this one house in the neighborhood that always gave out alternatives to candy…like pennies or dental floss. While one can appreciate their altruistic motives of trying to spare children from cavities, it’s still Halloween and children want candy.

I remember hearing children warning others to skip that house. Each year it’d be the same thing until eventually I stopped trick r’ treating at that house.

How does this relate to marketing? In this case you need to think of candy as great content. You need to give your customers and audience what they want. You need to provide them with answers and solutions to their content. If you give them thin, useless content, you’ll probably scare them away and lose a possible sale.

Old Favorites

One of the reasons that I always get excited for the Halloween season is because of the scary movies. Each year when I see commercials for ABC Family’s 13 Nights of Halloween, I instantly get into the holiday spirit. Despite having seen movies like Hocus Pocus or The Exorcist countless times, I still tune in every year to watch.

Why is this? First, the nostalgia factor is at play. But more importantly, it’s because these were really great movies!

Marketer’s takeaway: there is nothing wrong with reusing content, especially if it was very popular. If it worked before, chances are it will work again. But keep in mind it’s always good to add a new twist to it so that your content doesn’t become stale.

Avoiding Black Cats

Perhaps one of the most popular Halloween icons is the Black Cat. For centuries, black cats have been associated with the occult, witches, bad luck and countless other evil things. Are these myths and superstitions true? Should you avoid black cats?

Personally I say no because I’m not superstitious…and I like cats. But you know what you should fear and avoid? Black Hat SEO!

Black Hat SEO tactics temporarily improve your search rank, but they manipulate the search engines’ terms of service. Common Black Hat SEO techniques include:

• Content Automation
• Keyword Stuffing
• Hidden Texts & Links
• Buying Links
• Producing Duplicate Content

If your SEO agency suggests any of these techniques, it will do a lot more damage to your brand than any black cat could. It can result in losing your SERP rankings or, in extreme cases, having your website banned from appearing in search results overall.

A Visual Goldmine

Halloween is arguably the most visual of the annual holidays. Think about it! People are decorating their houses, wearing outrageously hilarious costumes, attending parties and marching in parades. I can guarantee they will be taking pictures and videos along the way.

These images and visuals are perfect for content and engagement in social media! You can hold costume contests or even ask your followers to send in their spookiest outfit. You can decorate your office or even change up your logo. Remember, don’t underestimate the power of visuals.

The Best Decorated House

When I was a kid, there was always one house in my neighborhood that got really excited about the holiday. Each year, they would cover their house in fake cobwebs, place about a dozen scary dummies throughout their yard and even make their own miniature graveyard. People would come from all over town to come see their house and they were even featured in the newspaper a few times. Needless to say they always got the most visitors on Halloween.

The reason why their house was so popular was because they took the time and effort to put detail into their display. In the same manner, business owners need to put effort into their website design. They need to make their website standout and give visitors a reason to want to come back.