6 scary good ideas to dress up your business for Halloween

In 2016 Americans spent 8.4 billion dollars on Halloween shopping. It was the most ever spent, and that number will be even higher this year. That’s really good news for costume stores and candy distributors, but it can also be good news for your small business. Infuse some spooky fun into your operations to create an unforgettable Halloween experience for your clients.

Here are 10 ideas to dress up your business with Halloween spirit:

1. Hold a costume contest

Have you ever seen a taco complete a round of snatches and double unders? Have you seen Wonder Woman rock out on a guitar solo? Halloween is your big chance. In 2016 nearly 40% of that 8.4 billion was spent on costumes, and it’s not all for kids.

Encourage the Halloween spirit in your clients by holding a costume contest. The prizes for the best costumes could be a free class or a piece of merch. It’s a fun way to promote your business and offer something special to your clients. And you’ll get some great photo content for social media. Maybe you’ll capture a zombie nailing a perfect jeté. I’d like to see that picture.

2. Dress up your facilities

It’s not just people getting dressed up for Halloween. We’re still more than two weeks away from Halloween but many homes and businesses are already full of the holiday spirit. Maybe it feels too early, but we don’t get to decide when the holiday season begins. So embrace it. Join it.

Dressing up your space feeds into your clients’ holiday spirit and encourages community. It can also be a bonding activity for your staff if you all work together to decorate. And it doesn’t need to be extensive if you don’t have a ton of time to put into it. Simple fan favorites include pumpkins and fake cobwebs, but there are lots of other ways to get creative, too.

3. Host a pumpkin carving contest

Ah, the Halloween classic. Similar to the costume contest, this is a great way to engage your clients and produce great content for social media. You could choose host the contest at your facilities, but you could also ask clients to submit photos of their carved pumpkins. Make sure you have a prize for the winners, like a free class or merch. You might even have a special category for pumpkins that promote your brand.   

4. Give your classes spooky themes

The client experience encompasses all parts of your business. If you decorate for Halloween and host Halloween themed events, it also makes sense to incorporate the holiday into your regular rotation of classes. You might include “The Monster Mash” or “Thriller” in your class soundtrack. Or your WOD could prepare your clients for dealing with the impending zombie apocolypse. Even something small can shake up the client experience with a bit of spooky fun and make for an unforgettable class.

5. Hand out branded treats to your clients

Your clients probably won’t appreciate it if you play a trick on them, so it’s safer to stick to treats. Have something at your front desk that clients can grab on their way out, or that parents can snack on while their kids are in class. This admittedly won’t do much for you in terms of bringing new clients into your business, but it’s a nice gesture to the clients you already have, and it won’t go unnoticed.

6. Incorporate Halloween into your marketing

Do you do any kind of marketing for your business? Consider these stats from Kissmetrics about marketing during the holiday season (October-December):

Through traditional marketing methods, ad impressions typically increase 50% during the holiday season. Click-through rates rise 100%, direct traffic increases 150%, the average order value grows by 30%, and conversion rates go up 60%.

Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at. Holiday marketing works. Consumer spending peaks during this time of year, and there’s no reason for your business’s classes or merch to be left out. Start capturing attention now by adding some Halloween themed content to your advertising. Then switch it to Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years–you get the idea.

Have fun with the holidays

There are so many ways you can embrace Halloween at your business, so take the time to consider what makes sense for your business. If you embrace the holiday spirit, your clients will feel the freedom to embrace it too–and that’s where the real fun begins. It becomes something you and your clients can do together.

And social media is so important that I’ll mention it one last time. All of the season’s holidays, but Halloween especially, are social media gold. Invest in the experience and then document it. Don’t miss your opportunity to take advantage of the Halloween spirit and share, strengthen and grow your community.

What fun holiday-themed activities are you planning for your business this year? Let us know in the comments!