Halloween is a great opportunity to generate leads, reconnect with clients, and build local visibility, if you have the right plan. That’s why I’ve put together a list of ten real estate marketing ideas you can use to grow your real estate business and have fun doing it.
Spooky season, sweater weather, pumpkin spice time — whatever you call it, the dog days of summer are a thing of the past, and cooler weather is creeping in. It’s the perfect time to add energy to your business, tap into your community, and turn costumes, candy, and events into meaningful client touchpoints.
Why is a Halloween Marketing Strategy Important?
- Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year; however, involving them in holiday marketing shows you want to connect with them in non-real-estate-related ways and are not just after winning their business.
- Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
- Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you to get a head start on some deals for the following year.
- Brand awareness: Fun campaigns and events are a way to show off your creative side while familiarizing people with what you do and where you work.
- Client nurturing: It’s important to stay in touch with clients throughout the year; however, involving them in holiday marketing shows you want to connect with them in non-real-estate-related ways and are not just after winning their business.
- Community involvement: Showing your business is a part of the community, not just working in it, will help strengthen your brand image.
- Pipeline preparation: Getting in front of existing and prospective clients could help position you to get a head start on some deals for the following year.
- Brand awareness: Fun campaigns and events are a way to show off your creative side while familiarizing people with what you do and where you work.
How to Choose a Halloween Marketing Strategy
To choose a Halloween marketing strategy, start by deciding whether you want to host an event. That one choice will shape your entire Halloween strategy and determine which ideas on the list are for you.
Once you have decided, determine your goal. Are you looking to re-engage stalled clients, generate more leads, or show your client appreciation? Once you have decided, come up with a simple, well-executed plan that you can comfortably execute. Keep it realistic, keep it aligned with your brand, and focus on showing up in a way your audience will actually remember.
10 Fun Real Estate Halloween Marketing Ideas
Open houses are a great way to get some face time with homebuyers and showcase your marketing skills to homesellers. That’s why choosing an open house theme, whether holiday-related or offering specific food and beverage options, is a great way to stand out from the competition. Let’s take a look at some fun ideas for a Halloween open house theme.
1. Host a Haunted Open House
- What to do: With the seller’s permission, decorate the inside and outside of the house with Halloween decorations. Strategically place spooky stuff around the house to lead people from one room to another. If there’s something awesome about the house, consider decorating around it to make it stand out even more.
2. Organize a Pumpkin Carving Contest
- What to do: Promote your pumpkin carving contest through email marketing, direct mail, and social media. Give instructions on how to submit their entry. In the instructions, ask people to tag you on social media to get even more exposure since their followers will see you tagged in the post.
3. Give Out Branded Candies or Halloween Bags
The holiday season is a great opportunity to plan pop-bys, especially if you have trouble coming up with ideas. Candy is a central theme during Halloween, so it’s extra easy to zone in on a gift. Pick up some of your favorite treats or get branded trick-or-treat bags to give to your clients.
- What to do: Choose between branded stickers to put on candy or little gift bags, or opt for custom trick-or-treat bags that kids can use as they run around the neighborhood. Either option will help to get your name in front of more people and keep you top-of-mind.
4. Sponsor or Host a Trunk-or-treat Event
- What to do: If you’re not sponsoring the event but instead organizing your own, consider partnering with a local business, church, or school. This way, you can utilize their parking lot and gain access to their network of people. Gathering your business partners, such as local lenders, attorneys, home inspectors, and title companies, will also help fill the spots and educate people about the individuals involved in a real estate transaction.
5. Host a ‘Spooky’ Homebuyer Seminar
Homebuyer seminars are a popular and effective way of getting new business. At this time of year, get creative by incorporating Halloween-themed treats and beverages, and decorate the space a little to give it the real holiday feel. Create your event flyers by using a design platform like Canva that has holiday templates to help enhance your marketing.
- What to do: Give yourself enough time to get everything ready and spread the word about the event so that people actually show up. Create a presentation that won’t spook your buyers, and prepare handouts for attendees to take with them. Put together a Halloween basket with some tricks and treats to raffle off at the end of the event.
6. Throw a Harvest Party for Past Clients
- Host a bonfire: Roast marshmallows, make s’mores, and tell spooky stories while you enjoy the company of your clients and their families around a fall fire pit.
- Offer hayrides: If the venue allows, offer hayrides while attendees sip apple cider.
- Make costumes: There’s a special kind of magic in creating a unique and original costume for Halloween. So, gather some supplies from your local craft or thrift store and let everyone get creative with their own designs.
- What to do: Curate your list of clients with enough time for them to save the date so you will have a head count. Once you know how many people to expect, ask some of your favorite vendors to sponsor the event to raise funds and provide supplies. Don’t forget to take lots of pics on the day of the event and share them on social media.
7. Put Together a Costume Donation Drive
- What to do: Ask family and friends in your community to bring new, unworn, or lightly used costumes to your office. Offer a drawing for them to enter while they’re there. Have the drawing after Halloween and announce the winner on social media. In fact, do a live video to draw the name.
8. Host a Halloween Movie Night
- What to do: Decide if you are going for more of a family vibe or true horror. Once you have decided, run down your list of current clients and send personalized invitations to those who fit the audience. Reach out to local businesses and see if you can hang flyers for the events in their windows, post about it on social media, and send targeted postcards. To make it easier to RSVP, include a QR code for registration, which automatically captures leads.
9. Organize a Halloween Scavenger Hunt
- What to do: If you’re hosting your own scavenger hunt, determine what you will be hiding and the locations where you will be hiding them. Create or purchase the scavenger hunt cards so you can give them out on the day of the event. Have a meeting point before the event at a local coffee shop or your real estate office, if it’s nearby.
10. Create a Ghoulish Social Media Campaign
- What to do: Plan a campaign for the month of October, including a mix of fun, spooky, and educational content. Schedule posts on various platforms, allowing you to take a “set it and forget it” marketing approach. Just don’t forget to engage with your audience after the posts go live.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Do You Market a Halloween Event?
To successfully market any event, you first need to identify your target audience. Once you have determined whether you will be targeting close contacts or the general public, you can develop your Halloween real estate marketing strategy. This may include utilizing direct mail marketing, online promotions, emails, or good old-fashioned phone calls or texts. It’s best to use a combination of these marketing strategies, but the approach ultimately depends on your event goals.
What is the Busiest Month for Real Estate?
The spring and summer months are typically busier in the real estate market. The weather improves after winter, and summer allows families extra time to move when their kids are done with school. However, this usually causes home prices to rise due to increased competition in the market.
What is the Slowest Season for Real Estate?
The slowest season for real estate varies depending on the market you’re in. Generally speaking, real estate markets tend to slow down during the winter months when the weather gets bad. This is because, in many states, the colder weather makes it less ideal for people to move. Additionally, the holiday season keeps people busy. That said, January is actually an ideal time to buy since there is typically less competition.
How Do You Increase Sales at Halloween?
Utilizing creative marketing is one of the most effective ways to boost sales during Halloween. Implementing the marketing ideas outlined in this article will provide you with a competitive advantage, keep your business actively engaged with clients and the community, and help promote your business.
Bringing It All Together
These are just a few of the many Halloween realtor marketing ideas you can use this year and beyond. Halloween is a ghoulishly good time for extra marketing that incorporates mischief and mayhem.
