5 Spookily-Successful Halloween Contest Examples Critiqued

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Leaves are falling, nights are closing in, and it’s time for your business to get into gear.

Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re going to take advantage of the opportunities it provides you’ve got to get started as soon as possible.

Halloween offers one of the best opportunities for lead generation and social media growth, particularly for businesses marketing to families. That said, a creative marketer can successfully make Halloween appealing for any target market.

This article will dissect five successful real-world halloween contests from last year to inspire your success in this one.

Need a hand running your Halloween contest? Get started by talking with a marketing expert today!


Halloween Contest Example #1

halloween contest examples

This contest had 8,933 views and generated 2,211 emails (a 24.8% conversion rate).

Actionable takeaways from this Halloween contest example:

  • Include Wishpond’s “Facebook Like Prompt” popup, as requiring entrants to Like your Facebook Page to enter is now against Facebook regulations. The popup is a great way to encourage Likes without breaking the rules!
  • Emphasize important information with bright colors or bold/larger font. The last thing you want is for your entrants to miss a vital piece of info because you had too much boring text.
  • Make it clear your contest is Halloween themed. It’s what your prospective entrants and Fans are thinking about, so don’t miss a beat. In fact, the more Halloween-y, the better!

Halloween Contest Example #2

halloween contest examples

This contest had 778 views and generated 314 emails (a 40.4% conversion rate).

Actionable takeaways from this Halloween contest example:

  • Keep it simple to optimize for conversion. If you have extensive contest rules and regulations, post them on your website and link to them from your contest’s page.
  • If you’re an ecommerce business offering a product, feature your prizes clearly. Not only does this make your contest page a bit more exciting, it also shows entrants the value of engaging.
  • Don’t offer something unrelated to your business. All of the successful contest examples in this article offer either one of their products, gift cards/credit, or something related directly to their business. Offering something unrelated (like cash or another company’s product) might get you email addresses, but it severely reduces the chance of those people ever buying from you, as they’re not actually interested in your business, just your prize.

Need a hand running your Halloween contest? Get started by talking with a marketing expert today!


Halloween Contest Example #3

halloween contest examples

This contest had 3,831 views and generated 990 emails (a 25.8% conversion rate).

Actionable takeaways from this Halloween contest example:

  • Combine social media platforms for maximum success (as Fairy Pajamas has done above with Facebook and Instagram). People more active on Facebook will engage there, while people more active on Instagram will engage there (win-win for your business).
  • If you’re offering a gift card or store credit, put the dollar value big and bold in the contest header, and again in the headline if possible. There’s nothing more subconsciously valuable than money, so don’t hide it.
  • Feature your business’ previous customers to encourage future customers. People like seeing that people like them have already engaged and trust your business. It’s the same reason customer testimonials and reviews are so effective.

Halloween Contest Example #4

halloween contest examples

This contest had 1,708 views and generated 770 emails (a 45.1% conversion rate).

Actionable takeaways from this Halloween contest example:

  • Team up with another business if yours doesn’t yet have brand name recognition (as Brentwood Mall has done with Purdy’s above). This will increase the chance of someone engaging with a business they don’t quite recognize.
  • If you’re going to offer something less-valuable (a $50 gift card for instance), keep your barrier-to-entry low. That said, $50 for 770 emails is a pretty amazing deal.
  • Remember to optimize your contest page for mobile as well as desktop. I’ve shown this contest page as it would look on a mobile phone to show you how it stacks in an appealing way.

Note: Wishpond’s contest templates are all fully mobile optimized.


Halloween Contest Example #5

halloween contest examples

This contest had 5,222 views and generated 1,086 email addresses (a 20.8% conversion rate).

Actionable takeaways from this Halloween contest example:

  • Put time and energy into creating a header image which snaps. Your header is, really, what encourages your contest visitor to engage (the rest is just paperwork).
  • Offer a first, second, and third-place prize to increase the feeling that an entrant can win.
  • Remind photo submitters to get their friends to vote with a call-to-action (like “remember to enlist your friends, colleagues and family to vote for your winning photo!).

Need a hand running your Halloween contest? Get started by talking with a marketing expert today!

Conclusion

Hopefully these five real-world halloween contests have given you a bit of inspiration to try (or optimize) your own.

When you consider how much time and energy was put into building these contests, compared to the return these businesses got, you can’t not try it out.

Have any questions about contests or how to run a Halloween-specific promotion? Let me know in comments below!

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