snif snif... do you guys smell that? Smells like cinnamon, pumpkin spice and baked apples. Which can only mean one thing... Halloween is around the corner 🎃
Halloween is arguably more beloved in the Western parts of the world, the United States, Canada and the UK ranking highest in terms of spreading the festive spirit. However, in recent years, this holiday has seen a rise in popularity across the Eastern parts as well. Countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and Japan are all hopping on the bus to Spooksville.
And let's not forget countries who celebrate it alongside their own traditional holidays, like Ireland and Scotland, who also celebrate Samhain, or Mexico and a few other South American countries who also celebrate Dia de los Muertos.
No matter where your target audience is at, this ghostly season is the perfect opportunity for businesses to drive engagement and sales with fun and creative Halloween themed campaigns.
In this article, we'll give you:
This celebration dates all the way back to as early as 600 B.C to the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. The Celts, or Celtic peoples, celebrated their new year on November 1, and so the 31st of October marked the end of many things; the end of the year, the end of summer and the end of the harvest. In turn, it was the beginning of the dark, cold winter - a time of year that was typically associated with death back then.
The Celts believed that on the night before their new year, the veil separating the realm of the living and the dead was thinnest, making it easier for ghosts and all manner of dark creatures to pierce through and walk among the living. During the celebration, the Druids would build huge sacred bonfires, where people gathered to burn crops, and everyone wore costumes typically made out of animal heads and skins.
When the celebration was over, they would re-kindle their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire as a means of protection from the coming winter and its darkness.
It wasn't until after a mass immigration of Irish and Scottish to America in the 19th century, that it became a major holiday there, too. The English word "Halloween" is derived from "All Hallows' Eve", which is the evening before the Christian holy day of "All Hallows' Day" (All Saints' Day) on 1 November.
From there it branched out to the rest of the world, becoming an ever more popular time of year to host themed parties, go trick-or-treating, decorating homes and streets and carving out pumpkins.
Now that you have a broad idea of the history, let's look at some cool Halloween marketing ideas that will get your customers and followers in the mood for the spooky season.