Grab a Bigger Share of 2013 Canadian Halloween Sales (Statistics)

As Canadian businesses begin to focus on the holiday season, Halloween is often overlooked.  It’s a lucrative holiday that warrants more attention than theme sales, however. The opportunities presented by Canadians searching for Halloween topics can make it well worth promoting online.

Halloween is a Big Deal in Canada

“Halloween has quickly become one of the largest shopping seasons of the year, with individuals spending upwards of $60 just on their costumes,” says Jeffrey Schwartz, Executive Director of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada.

Halloween Statistics from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada:

  • Seven out of ten Canadians celebrating Halloween planned to spend more in 2012 than the $1.5 billion they spent in 2011.
  • More than 40% of Canadians will decorate their yard for Halloween.
  • Almost half of Canadians will dress up in a costume.
  • 11% of Canadians will spend up to $59 to dress up their pet for Halloween.
  • $8 will be spent on Halloween greeting cards in each residence.

If your target market is households with children, note that 3,734,401 Canadian kids were at prime trick-or-treating age (5-14) in 2012, according to Statistics Canada.

Grab that Traffic

You don’t have to sell Halloween-specific items to cash in on the number of people hitting the search engines for Halloween topics.  Half the battle is getting people to your website, where your brilliant seasonal sales tactics can grab their cash. One of the best ways to find creative ideas for this is to ask your employees.

Following are a few ideas to get your spooky creative juices flowing:

Information is a big traffic draw.  Virtually any sector can come up with related topics that bring in searchers.  For example, if you sell electronics you could have an article explaining how to set up a DIY Halloween light show,  or fashion businesses can feature orange and black products in a Halloween fashion tutorial.  You can also come up with unique costume ideas that are related to your products or services, such as a computer repair guy or organic chef.  Your blog is your best friend when it comes to creating Halloween content. If you don’t have one, consider adding a holiday section to your website.

Freebies are one of the most popular searches on the web and they don’t have to cost a fortune.  Try offering an original, free printable pumpkin carving pattern that somehow relates to your products or services, for example.  Dig up some clipart, and blow up the picture to pumpkin size for the template. Use the example you carve to decorate your office.

Halloween contests are always popular and it’s easy to stay within your business budget.  Have contests on your website, promote smaller contests on social media, or do both.  Keep the cost low and the interest high by using truly unique prizes, such as Halloween decorations made by local crafters or a trick-or-treat bag full of sugar-free candy.

Affiliate programs offer two opportunities.  If you don’t carry Halloween-specific products, you can promote a non-competing affiliate that does and create a new revenue stream.  If you’ve been thinking about launching an affiliate program of your own, this is an awesome time of year to put the plan in motion. Opting for a network like Share-a-Sale gives you immediate access to hundreds of thousands of affiliates who want to promote your products and services on their website.  You’ll have visitors who are ready to buy landing on your website through links all over the Internet.

Charities are always present in search terms revolving around holidays.  Promote their Halloween campaigns on your blog and include great images for social media & photo sharing sites.  For example, I designed several branded digital posters for All Natural Pet Care, all revolving around black cat adoption and superstition.

Adopt a Classy Black Cat

Keyword tools can help you create content around popular search terms.  You can find ideas and keywords by using the free keyword planner offered by Google Adwords.

  1. Select “Search for Keyword and Ad Group Ideas”
  2. Type “Halloween” in the “Product or Service” section.
  3. Select your product category from the drop-down menu.
  4. Click “Location” under “Targeting” and type in “Canada” or your service area.
  5. Click the “Get Ideas” button.

Grab a Bigger Share of 2013 Canadian Halloween Sales (Statistics)

I used the Health sector and it gave me Halloween contact lenses…brilliant!

How do you snag Halloween sales online?  Please share your ideas in the comments below.

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Melody McKinnon
Digital Business & Marketing Manager at Online Business Canada | Website | + posts

Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business education and enhanced by training and mentorship. She has owned or managed both educational and ecommerce websites. Her book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home, is available from all major ebook retailers.

Melody has worked with many businesses & brands in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadianDigitalMedia.com, CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net, and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.

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Big Mac

Every year we have Halloween contests and they always get a lot of interest. It’s a good way to move slow selling or last season’s stock. Speaking of that we also do very well on the clearance sales. They bring people into the store in droves. We just talk about it on social media.

Rob

One of the best sales I saw gave 20% off if people shopped at the store in a costume. They did it all Halloween week and took pictures to put up in the store. They gave out candy too. It was a lot of fun for us staff.

Veena Achille

Businesses don’t do Hallowe’en unless they sell Hallowe’en products. They might have a sale in October and call it a Hallowe’en sale but that’s about it. That’s the difference between you and an average marketing person…..you’re creative. BOOtiful!

Seeking Susan

I love halloween! We carry costumes in our store and we’re planning to sell them online next year. I’ll let you know when the website is online because it’s thanks to you we’re finally doing it. Thanks for the help.

Julia

Halloween is HOT!! It’s one of our best seasons for sure and it grows every single year. We do have an affiliate program and it exploded our online sales. Shareasale lets us choose to approve affiliates manually and we are quite selective without being too picky (we hope). Happy Halloween!!