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Halloween is right around the corner, so you should start planning for it as soon as possible. Any business should get on board with seasonal marketing, but cafes can particularly do a lot with it. There is a lot to play around with, such as food, decor, online marketing, and much more.
However, you need to plan things out in advance. This way, you’ll be ready when the time comes. There are many Halloween marketing ideas you can incorporate into your cafe. Here are a few to get you started off in the right direction.
Make a special Halloween menu
Think up some themed recipes for Halloween. Make sure you figure these out in advance, and then create a special Halloween menu. This can include special drinks, food with Halloween-like ingredients, and spooky-looking desserts. Depending on the vibe of your cafe, create a menu your patrons would love.
Then, design a special menu and market it on your social media before Halloween. Use the Halloween menu templates on PosterMyWall to find the right design. Then, just enter the names and descriptions of the items. Make sure you don’t veer too far from the general spirit of your food. For example, if your cafe is known for its pasta, you can make Halloween pasta with squid ink to dye it black, and a tomato sauce to add bright red to fit the theme. You can even incorporate pumpkins into your dishes or desserts.
Put up decorations
When Halloween comes nearer, start putting up decorations. You can find these well ahead of time and think up a theme. Stick to a coherent color scheme to make sure your cafe doesn’t look tacky. However, remember that Halloween is a dramatic day, so don’t hold back too much.
Get a few streamers with Halloween icons, and also make a special corner for people to take photos in. This can have items like a skeleton, witch’s hat, a couple of pumpkins or other such props. This will also let your visitors have some fun.
Curate a fun playlist
Get into the Halloween spirit with a fun playlist! Play some music appropriate for fall and spooky season. There are a number of tracks out there which reflect the Halloween theme without being too over the top.
Curate a nice playlist, and have it playing in your cafe when Halloween is coming near. This will help diners at your cafe get into the festivities. It will also fit in with your themed menu and decorations. It is important to make the experience as immersive as possible, and music will really help with this.
Arrange Halloween-appropriate activities
This is especially good if families frequent your cafe a lot. Prepare some fun activities for Halloween. These can be bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving stations, cookie/cupcake decoration, or whatever captures your fancy.
There are hundreds of ideas out there, and you can pick out a few to include in your cafe. Make sure your activities fit in with your general audience. You can even have people like tarot readers or magicians come in.
Host a costume contest
Market a costume contest on your social media and other marketing platforms. Have patrons come in wearing costumes throughout October. Then, after Halloween is over, you can announce a winner and give them a prize. This prize can be a free meal, gift basket, gift cards, or whatever you want.
This will serve as a way to market your cafe as well. Share photos of your visitors in costume on your online platforms. Base the winners on social media likes to push traffic and engagement to your pages. So, this will not only help you with Halloween marketing, but also get you more followers in general.
Make seasonal packaging
Make your Halloween marketing more fun by even changing your packaging for a while. Your takeaway and leftover boxes and bags should reflect the Halloween theme. Market these as limited time packaging options, so that people are tempted to visit or place orders.
This packaging will also give you a chance to increase social media visibility. If your packaging is particularly good, your visitors will be more likely to talk about it on social media and in general.
Put out treats for children
Keep aside treats for children when they come with their parents to eat at your cafe. Make sure you have a variety of options, keeping allergies and diet restrictions in mind as well. Ask the parents which treat their kids would like, and then give them.
You can also make little gift bags to give away on the day of Halloween. These can include both food and non-food items. Make sure these giveaways fit in with the Halloween theme. This will make the diners remember your efforts and be more likely to frequent your cafe.
To sum up, there are numerous Halloween marketing tricks you can use for your cafe. Make sure you plan these in advance, and keep your cafe’s general aesthetic and vibe in mind, and you’ll be good to go.
