Halloween may not be the most important time of year in terms of sales but according to Pepper.com, a global network of social commerce platforms that includes HotUKDeals in the UK, it’s a good opportunity to be creative with your marketing and engage with customers prior to the important sales season of Black Friday and Christmas, and get footfall in-store.
To establish what activities consumers react well to at this time Pepper.com has analysed deals from its eleven platforms to reveal what contributes to a successful marketing campaign for Halloween.
Treat, don’t trick
Halloween is only a few weeks before Black Friday, which officially kick-starts Christmas shopping for consumers and a last chance for retailers to show their generosity to their loyal customers to keep them interested throughout Q4.
Giveaways are a great way to do that, especially those that involve two companies, which is also a great way to increase brand exposure at this time – as long as the content is relevant.
One competition that did well on PromoDescuentos, Pepper.com’s Mexican social commerce platform, was a co-branded operation between Uber and Hershey’s Kisses. Last October 30th between 11am and 7:00pm Uber customers could simply press KISSES on the app to receive two packets of limited edition Hershey’s Halloween chocolate Kisses sweets. Members posted their sweet delivery and voted the deal almost 200º hot, showing other members of the community that it was a worthwhile deal.
Consumers are savvy and if they’re not happy about something they will share it with others, so always think before you launch a campaign especially if you’re trying to get something extra from it. One year a company was offering a free Halloween gift but members of HotUKDeals soon realised it was just a data collection exercise and made sure that other members of the community were aware of it.
Promote competitions that get footfall in-store
Whether online or in-store, competitions are a great way to engage with your audience. If, in the past, Halloween has not attracted as many consumers through your doors as you would like to see, create competitions that encourage shoppers in-store where they are more likely to purchase something – whether Halloween related or not.
Last year, the Dealabs community, Pepper.com’s French platform, voted a competition as over 300º hot for a deal by a retailer who gave customers who purchased Haribo’s Tagada sweets from their store a 100 percent refund if they took a funny face selfie in their shop.
Celebrate a good cause
According to Walsworth.com (Feb 2016), “incorporating charitable involvement in your marketing strategy will demonstrate that your company cares about more than just business, and can attract like-minded followers whose brand loyalty could bring tremendous benefits.”
One such example that was successful on HotUKDeals was when Microsoft launched a special Halloween Minecraft Xbox 360 Skinpack, which was released for a limited time with all the proceeds being donated to four charities – Macmillan Cancer Support, Sands Lothians, Child’s Play and Block by Block. This deal post received almost 400º heat from the community of deal hunters, where members voted it a hot deal.
Source: Pepper.com