Seasonal Tips

Host a Halloween-Themed Contest

Looking for an influx of visitors or comments? Consider hosting your own Halloween-related contest. Depending on the type of website you run, ask people to submit a picture of their pumpkin carvings, Halloween-themed cupcake or themed costume idea. Be sure to secure a good prize and promote your contest online!

Point to Other Halloween Contests

Don’t have the time, prize or decent following to host your own pumpkin carving contest? Find out who else is and use your site as a one-stop directory for online contest seekers (especially if you find contests that are relevant or have a tie-in to what your site normally offers).

Provide Halloween-Related Tips

Companies in nearly every industry can find some way to contribute to readers’ interests in the spookfest. A tip center or blog are great ways of doing that. Have a health and fitness site? Give tips on which candies in the Halloween bucket are the lesser of all the evils. Have an online fabric shop? Talk about great costume ideas or safety-minded ways to add light reflections to get-ups. Own a cleaning supply company? Blog about ways people can get out various Halloween-related stains (fake blood, melted chocolate, that egg that got thrown at your house when you ran out of candy …).

Create a Halloween Top 5 List

Similar to the tips idea, you can provide your audience with entertaining and helpful info through relevant lists. Have a site that features hand tools and woodworking? Give your top five axe-murder horror movies. Own a graphic design company? Show the top five spooky fonts. Blog for a dating website? Give the five best costumes couples can dress up as.

Give People a Real-World Treat

Can you offer something online that readers could use for Halloween? Think about what you have at your disposal, what would be of value (even short term) and go from there. If you have the skills, consider sharing printable unique templates of Jack O’Lantern carving patterns (you can even make them industry specific).

Develop a Halloween App

Have any fantastic programmers on your team? Build (or point to) a cute application that places a Halloween mask on Twitter avatars or Facebook profile pictures. If you’re in the business of mobile marketing, develop a free iPhone or Android app that gets people in the Halloween spirit (like spooky wallpaper, a Halloween-themed “flashlight” or an index of horror films searchable by cool features).

Hand Out a Halloween Trick

Sure, people like treats – they like tricks too. Put together a video that features a freaky zombie popping up when you least expect it (I hate those – some people love them, and love tricking others with them too).

Capture the Halloween Party

People like companies that encourage their employees to have fun. Host a Halloween party (or just support people to dress up during the day) and post pictures or videos of the crew on the company’s blog, YouTube or Flickr site.

Be a Community Caper

Halloween is great for the kid at heart – but it’s also a fun time for kids themselves. Does your team volunteer with any children’s charities? Blog (with pictures) about how the team had fun with the kids they work with (be it a party or taking them out trick or treating). Companies that show how they give back to the community deserve a little good PR!

Put Your Landing Page in a Costume

Whenever there’s a holiday or special day, Google’s logo is changed to reflect this – and this often gets it a bunch of comments and attention it wouldn’t normally. Think about giving your site a Halloween “costume” for the day – be it an injection of orange and black, some cobwebs around the corners or a few ghosts appearing here and there. If you’re really proud of the job you’ve done, think about sharing instructions on how others can get the look.

Treat Them to a Thanksgiving Contest

People love prizes, free stuff and pretty much any opportunity to win something cool. Ask people to comment in your blog post what they’re thankful for, ask for their best stuffing recipe, or ask them to submit a picture of their holiday centerpiece – whatever makes sense to you. Put together a fun prize that will get attention.

Gobble Up Some Thanksgiving Tips

Provide Thanksgiving tips for your readers that relate to your business. There’s something for everyone – let us show you: Run a daycare? Provide how-to’s on some easy kids’ crafts for centrepieces. Do you make soaps and lotions? Tell people how to put together a nice collection of bathroom goodies for guests coming over for dinner. If you’re an accountant, now may be a good time to show people how they can budget for Christmas purchases this month.

Trivia: Thanksgiving Style

Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean people aren’t keen to learn something new. Have a bookstore? Promote a new American history book by providing snippets. Are you an aromatherapy guru? Let people know how the traditional smells of Thanksgiving (like pumpkin, apple and cranberry) can impact their mood. Sell movies? Put together a list of the biggest “turkeys” out there (hint: Battlefield Earth).

Get on a Recipe Roll

Along with being a time to reflect on gratefulness, Thanksgiving is also about the end-of-harvest feast. If your business has anything to do with food, you’ll undoubtedly think to share recipes that include ingredients you sell or specialize in. But what if you’re not known for being foodies? The truth is – we all like food. Share favorites from members of your team – be it’s Byron’s Turkey Brine, Carolyn’s Maple Carrots or Amanda’s Apple Pie. You can even try coming up with dishes that have tongue-and-cheek names related to your business.

Give Thanks – Your Way

Take a moment to send a special message to your clients or readers to thank them for their business and interest. Be sure it’s done in a style that suits your corporate culture. Maybe your team is known for being a bit goofy. Any chance your CEO is willing to dress up as turkey for a Thanksgiving video? Or maybe just a heartfelt blog post? A little good will goes a long way!

Ideas for Thanksgiving Apps

Give your customers something to be thankful for. If you have the means and if you can find a tie-in to yoru business, consider developing a mobile app or a widget people can use this time of year. How about an iPhone or online calculator that lets you select a menu and time the cooking of your food so it’s all ready at the same moment for serving? Maybe an app that lets people "Pilgrim themselves” – a quick online program that allows people to place pilgrim hats and garb on Facebook and Twitter pictures.

Give Back

Your company probably has a lot to be thankful for. Surviving (or even thriving) in a down economy is a major accomplishment and feat. It’s even more reason to think about those who are having a tough time. If your business is involved in a local charity or would like to, now is a good opportunity to lend a hand. Document and share your company’s contributions (financial or volunteer) and do what you can to inspire others to join you.

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