• by David Baker , Op-Ed Contributor, October 26, 2015

Did you carve a pumpkin? Buy a costume? Load up on candy? Decorate the house? You aren’t alone, according to Statista. Last year consumers in the U.S. spent over $6.84 billion in Halloween expenditures, with $2.79 billion  in costume sales alone.  

To draw on the Halloween theme, what better way to prepare for the week than provide a few themes that you can play with?

Halloween is on a Saturday this year and we’ll see traffic this weekend we haven’t seen in a few years.   First, social communications soar during the holiday — not to mention the day after, with the largest volume of photo uploads for the year.  Second, mobile traffic will be the default as more people are on the run, so think little device before and big device after.   

A few ideas for this week:

1. Offer something unique and valuable.   You know the problem when the kids come to your door and then mumble, “They didn’t have any good candy.” This doesn’t mean you have to give away iPads, but be creative with your approach, and do something to stand out.   Develop themes, tips, stats and sharable content — but do something besides using BUY NOW as the lead.

2. Prepare, even if you aren’t home.   Don’t be that one house in the neighborhood that has the lights out.  The holiday is a branding opportunity and could offer opportunities to talk about more than what you have to sell.  Be the cool neighbor that leaves a bucket of candy on the porch with a nice sign: “Take One and Have Fun.”  As a matter a fact, that would be my subject line. If anything, it will keep you from getting egged. This is a great time to automate a sequence Saturday and Sunday.

3. Learn from your competition.   Much like Christmas season, you want to be a little better than your neighbors.  Time to look at your competitors and find ways to create an edge.  Put up the cobweb, put on that mask and be creative — you’ll be remembered. You want to stand out — and with mobile-optimized content at a premium, think simple and small whatever you do.

4. Be original.  If Halloween is anything, it’s the time to express your inner creativity.  Every year you see some mild-mannered person come out of the closet with a crazy costume that you wouldn’t expect. Can you do something similar for your brand? This is prime time to use curated content and humor.

I can’t reinforce enough the value of this type of holiday falling on a weekend.    There will be the week-long build up, a separation of work (office dress-up) and personal lives.  Those with kids will need to be really creative not to let them burn out before the trick-or-treating that night — so expect parents to be on the run Saturday and recovering Sunday.  Match that pace, and try to make things better for them.

It’s a prime time to foster a holiday spirit for your brand — a social bonanza where folks actually see their neighbors outside, and everyone is sharing virtually every moment digitally.  Why not ride the wave and create something unique? It’s not too late!