Halloween is coming – and fast. Soon your customers will be trading swim trunks for cactus costumes (our prediction for the most popular costume of the year). As a best practice, your content marketing strategy should mirror this seasonal shift. From fall decorating ideas to party recipes, your customers will soon have Halloween on the brain. (Pumpkin) spice up your life and drive content engagement with these four Halloween marketing content ideas.

We published this post in 2018 and are resurrecting its killer content with a few more tips for driving Halloween-themed content marketing. 

Why Is Themed Marketing Content So Important?

The most powerful content pieces in your marketing strategy hit the trifecta of being entertaining, informative, and relevant. The more relevant a piece of content is to your audience, the more likely they are to interact and consume that content.

When thinking about creating seasonal content, start with these questions in mind:

• What is everyone focused on right now?
• What are they looking for online?
• What is an urgent question they have that your brand can help answer?

Use the answers to these questions to help formulate your content strategy, then bring that strategy to life with these Halloween marketing content topics.

Halloween Marketing Content Topic Ideas

Ready to kick your Halloween content marketing plan off? Consider these topics to get your started.

1) Mark Your Calendar

Halloween is October 31. A single day. But, lucky for us, the entire month of October is filled with other “National holidays” perfect for supporting your Halloween marketing content strategy. Holidays like National Pumpkin Seed Day and National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day that can help spark your content creation. Here’s a short list of our favorite officially unofficial days:

October 1st-15th

• 8/3- National Pumpkin Seed Day
• 8/10- National Cake Decorating Day
• 8/13- National Costume Swap Day

October 16th-25th

• 8/16- National Liqueur Day
• 8/20- National Sweetest Day
• 8/21- National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day
• 8/25- Chucky, The Notorious Killer Day

October 26th-31st

• 8/26- National Pumpkin Day
• 8/26- National Frankenstein Friday
• 8/27- National Black Cat Day
• 8/30- National Candy Corn Day
• 8/31- Halloween
• 8/31- National Caramel Apple Day

When choosing which of these auxiliary holidays to pepper into your Halloween marketing content mix, opt for those that have a connection to your brand. While some will, not all days will make sense for your brand, so don’t try to cram a post in for every “National” day.

2) Fall in Love with the Flavors of Autumn

‘Tis the season to eat, drink, and be scary. Autumn is full of rich and delicious flavors. From food to beverages and everything in between, the flavors of fall can provide mouth-watering inspiration for any content marketing plans.

Favorite Fall Flavors

Beverages

• Apple cider (hot or cold)
• Pumpkin beer
• Chai tea
• Pumpkin spiced lattes

Food

• Pumpkins (and other squash/gourds)
• Apples and Peaches
• Soups
• Spooky Party Appetizers

While recipe blog posts are the staple for this kind of content, don’t be afraid to think a bit outside the box with ideas that lean on the food or beverage as inspiration rather than the entrée.

3) Trick-or-Treat with User Generated Content

Nearly 76% of individuals trust user generated content (that is content created by everyday people versus content created by brands or marketers) over any other shared message published on any given channel. Transparency is a major factor when it comes to people trusting brands. User generated content (UGC) typically sees a 28% increase in engagement when compared to other standard brand posts.

Why?

Because people love to have their photos shared on large platforms by their favorite brands or personas! There are tons of Halloween-themed user-generated contest content ideas:

• Costume Contests
• Pumpkin Decorations
• Party Setups

For more information on how to leverage the power of user-generated content to support your Halloween marketing content strategy, check out our in-depth blog post 4 Halloween Themed User-Generated Content Contest Ideas to Boost Your Social Engagement. You’ll find tons of inspiring, holiday-focused ideas for your audience and followers to engage with and, most importantly, have fun with

Pro Tip: Managing a UGC contest can be a little more complicated than you might realize if you’ve never done one before. It can be a lot of spreadsheets, data collection, and endless searches on Instagram. With the right tool, you can make it quick and easy to advertise your contest, solicit entries, moderate posts, and select a winner. SocialToaster is a fan engagement platform that can take your social media contests to the next level. With SocialToaster, you’ll have the opportunity to create a long-term relationship with your audience where they can become marketing advocates for your brand; sharing posts and other content on to their platforms, long after Halloween is over with.

4) Create Fall Inspo-Boards

In the age of Pinterest and Instagram, it’s always a competition to see who can be the most ‘grammable. Fall, just as much as summer, is a huge time for audiences to be doing it for the ‘gram. Of course, no one wants to be caught totally copying someone else’s style.

Fall inspo-boards are the perfect way to share all your favorite things about fall and Halloween. You can use Pinterest to create boards, Instagram to create collages, or even Facebook to create albums, then share those works on your blog and with your audience.

A fall inspo-board is a great way to get your audience interacting. Create collections of your favorite seasonal treats and food, as well as favorite fall activities, colors, and fashions (let’s not forget that Halloween season is the start of ankle bootie season).

5) Make Use of Relevant Hashtags

Hashtags are a fantastic way to reach new audiences and get your content seen by more people – especially on newer social platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

And fortunately, when it comes to Halloween, there are plenty of great hashtags to choose.

Here are some of our top Halloween hashtags to use:

#Halloween

This is the most obvious choice, but it’s also the most popular hashtag on social media during Halloween. And for a good reason – it’s a great way to reach people interested in Halloween and looking for ideas.

#HalloweenDecor

If your content features a decorative callout, this is the perfect hashtag. It will help you reach people looking for décor ideas and may be interested in buying what you’re selling.

#HalloweenCostume

Group costume, solo fashion show, whatever the case, if your content highlights individuals dressed up for the spooky season, then use this hashtag! It will help you reach people seeking out costume ideas and who may be interested in engaging with your brand.

#HalloweenParty

If you’re throwing a Halloween party, this is the perfect hashtag to use. Use this hashtag to showcase your company and brand culture or promote how your product can help elevate a consumer’s Halloween party.

These are just a small example of the powerful Halloween hashtags that you can use to boost your content visibility and drive engagement. Experiment and research new hashtags to uncover what would work best with your audience.

 6) Produce Halloween-Themed Video Content 

What’s the best way to get your audience into the Halloween spirit? By creating some spooky, festive video content, of course! Whether it’s short-form content (looking at you, Reels) or long-form YouTube videos, video content can be a powerful medium for engaging with your audience during this celebratory season.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Make a Halloween-themed music video.

2. Create a spooky short film.

3. Produce a how-to video on making Halloween-themed props and decorations.

4. Share your best Halloween costume ideas with the world.

5. Put together a compilation of the best (or worst) Halloween fails.

6. Give viewers a tour of your Haunted House (if you’re brave enough!).

7. Offer up some tips on how to survive a horror movie marathon.

8. Teach viewers how to make Halloween-themed treats and snacks.

9. Share your scariest Halloween story (or urban legend).

Get creative and have some fun with it! There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating Halloween content. Just let your imagination run wild, and remember to create content for your fans – not for your brand.

If You’ve Got It, Haunt It

To get the most out of your Halloween marketing content, consider using an advocacy marketing platform (SocialToaster) to help distribute your content through your biggest fans. The right platform can make it simple for you to leverage the social-sharing power of your best customers and brand supporters to help increase content visibility and engagement. You can even reward your audience for participating in your advocacy marketing program.

If you’re ready to take your Halloween marketing content to the next level, let’s talk! SocialToaster can help get your advocacy marketing program started today. Just give us a call at 855.62.TOAST, send us an email, or request a free demo today!