MarketingProfs

Today’s marketing article, as we approach Halloween weekend, calls for something seasonally appropriate.  I found a blog post by Michael Stelzner, entitled “What Marketing Professionals Can Learn From Halloween,” and decided to expand on his three basic ideas.

Stelzner offered these tips:

• If you want someone knocking on your door, turn on the light.
• Be prepared to give something away.
• Engage visitors, and they will love you.

Building on his great start, here are some additional lessons we can learn from Halloween:

• When it comes to Haunted Houses, the more attention to detail you put into it, the better and more believable the experience is for guests. The same applies to your business. Pay attention to delivering quality at every customer touchpoint, and the more they’ll believe you’re a great brand.
• The best scary movies have music to build suspense and fear. What soundtrack plays at your business?
• Walking through a Corn Maze can be a blast. Try to find your way out, navigating turns and dead-ends, is what makes it fun. If you get really frustrated or stuck, someone is there to guide you.Have you ever experienced a “corn maze” at a department store? You just want to find the shoe section. Or, heaven forbid, an open cash register so you can pay and get out of there!Be sure you haven’t created a maze with your retail location or website. Make it easy to navigate. Just in case someone does get lost, provide someone or something there as a guide.
• If your plan is to scare kids on your front porch, you’ll have much better success if you keep your mask on and stay in character. Same thing applies to front-line employees, while customers are present, they need to stay in character as the “friendly, happy, sweet salesperson.”
• Being “friendly, happy, and sweet” isn’t enough. Employees need to be genuine. Just like Halloween candy, too much artificial sweet will upset stomachs.
• Word-of-mouth marketing was probably invented by trick-or-treaters: “Be sure to stop by the Jones house … They’re giving away king-size Snicker bars! Skip Old Man Moore’s house—he gives you a penny and a handful of popcorn.”
• Every day is Halloween at your business. Characters of all shapes and sizes (some scary) come to your door looking for treats. If you don’t deliver, the trick is they won’t return.

Tags: customer experience, Marketing, Strategy and Tactics