Are you taking full advantage of Halloween, the second-highest most profitable holiday?
Not only does the scariest day of the year generate huge revenues, it is also one of the most popular themes in marketing. Don’t be afraid to include thematic elements from this spooktacular opportunity in your email marketing. Halloween email marketing campaigns can be eerily effective.
With nearly 70% of the population planning to celebrate Halloween, smart marketers know that their target audiences will respond positively to spirited messaging. Halloween is relatable. Halloween is fun. Halloween is lucrative.
The National Retail Federation has reported that:
- 68.5% of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween
- Consumers will spend over $8 billion on Halloween-related activities, products and services
- The average amount spent on Halloween per person is $83
According to the Data & Marketing Association (formerly the Direct Marketing Association), email marketing earns an ROI of 2850%. With the popularity of Halloween, you could potentially increase that ROI even more.
Here are 7 freakishly fantastic tips to help you maximize your Halloween email marketing campaigns throughout October and earn a supernatural ROI.
1. Maximize the entire holiday month for the biggest ROI
Don’t limit your campaign to the week of Halloween only. Utilize all of your channels for month-long promotions. Email demonstrates the highest effectiveness when used in conjunction with other strategies.
2. Incorporate thematic seasonal elements into your email’s look
Let the colorful season inspire you as well as the Halloween theme. Add autumnal flavor to your logo, include photos of your staff dressed in costume, and create a festive, moody Halloween feel.
3. Target your audiences
Write bulls-eye specific messaging and combine with list segmentation to create hyper-targeted Halloween email campaigns. Use geographic locations for specific offers and messaging or split up your emails by type (client, referral source, prospect), or by industry or service area interests.
4. Offer Halloween-appropriate goodies
Treat your clients and prospects to extra, free goodies that they might not get outside of the Halloween season. Give a whitepaper a “wicked” overhaul, fully utilizing Halloween’s popularity to engage readers.
5. Dress up your product promotions in the spirit of Halloween
Ghoulishly creative subject lines and copy can add that Halloween flavor to your messaging. Tell a “real” horror story (case study) and use terrifying descriptors to present the client’s nightmare. Reveal the horrifying consequences for prospects who don’t buy your service or product.
6. Mix-and-match promotional with educational content
Use Halloween to create a bond with and relate to your audience, but remember not to shove sales pitches out every time you send an email or newsletter. Take advantage of the opportunity that Halloween provides to share engaging and interesting stories, perhaps from a new perspective, as help your readers learn something new. The point of your email marketing campaigns is to strengthen relationships with your audience.
7. Offer seasonal alternatives to scary messaging
If your audience might be turned off by a campaign that is too frightening, focus on the beautiful aspects of the fall seasons – the changing of the leaves, the cooler weather, and quality time with family and friends.
The folks over at GetResponse put together this freakishly delightful infographic to help you visualize these 7 spooktacular tips. Share these strategies with your friends and colleagues.
