Trick or Treat: Halloween Copywriting & Content Tips

"It's as much fun to scare as to be scared" - Vincent Price.

The late actor was known for many macabre performances is classic horror movies, from The Raven and Theater of Blood, to Edward Scissorhands. Michael Jackson fans will remember his voice from the music video Thriller. His name was synonymous with horror - and charm. He has two stars on the Hollywood walk of fame, and even published his own cookbook.

So: How how does a great actor like Vincent Price relate to copywriting?

If this man would walk into your meeting room, it's a guarantee everyone would put down their phones.

Close your eyes. Imagine Halloween...what do you see? Perhaps a neighborhood draped in darkness and glowing lights? Jack-O-Lanterns scattered everywhere? Kids in costumes, swarming the pavements, filling the air with talk, laughter, and shouts of 'trick or trick?' And of course, what's Halloween without a Halloween party for the adults and topping it off with frightfest-a-thon of movies all night long.

Or perhaps, with marketing content in the back of your mind, it's all the Halloween-themed banners, ads and promotions and social media posts, all draped with with orange-and-black, decorated with images of cats, witches, strange brews, skeletal figures, and other gruesomely fun images?

Graveyard shift happy hour...courtesy of Guinness

Once again, the winds of the holiday season are slowly picking up, with Halloween just around the ghostly corner. The leaves are slowly changing color, and, having cleaned the closets from spiderwebs (oh, the irony) the jackets are out (windbreakers first, of course - the heavy ones are reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas); storefronts are stacked with candy of varieties that would make Willy Wonka gasp, and newspapers (or online publications, as more people know it these days) are filled with Halloween-themed promotions (aka advertisements).

Halloween "unofficially" kicks off the holiday season, and if you're a content person, be it a copywriter, content writer (or both), content specialist, etc., it's a great time to get creative, because from a technical standpoint, you have plenty of channels: Print, television, social media, banners, and long-form content such as blogs, articles, etc.

Four words...but good ones.

This is what Halloween is about: Spooky...and fun. And this is the element, or chief ingredient, that your copywriting and content should contain: whether it's a banner, print ad, Tik Tok or Snapchat clip, Instagram story, Facebook post, and yes, even LinkedIn: Even 'suited' businesses can partake in Halloween festivities. Vincent Price, in person and in voice only (especially voice!) could make anything sound elegant and spooky - at the same time. As copywriters and content creators, for Halloween, we want to create something that's both scary/spooky and elegant/funny while effective. Interactive games and contests are always a good way to get the crowd into the 'spirit' of things; trivia(what was the origin country of Halloween? Did you know women had a Halloween tradition to help them find husbands? Can't get scarier than that)) and how about a blog about 'that time a Freddy Kruger lookalike walked around the block and scared the bejesus out of everyone' or some other creative, spooky tale from real life.

Now this is creepy...for a number of wrong reasons.

This is a great time to get creative when it comes to copywriting and content that's informative, useful and entertaining. All you need to do is a quick Google of "Halloween ads," and you'll get an endless array of creative print Halloween ads. And there's nothing like classic Halloween TV ads that's good not just for a fun hour with a bucket of popcorn (or candy) by your side, but could be an excellent source of creative inspiration. Halloween is an extremely visual holiday, so your promotions and content overall should be visually strong, eye-catching. If your business has an Instagram account, you can use this to great effect: Decorations. Costumes. Banners. Signs. Email/Newsletters? Perfect to distribute Pumpkin Pie and other Halloween recipes (eyeball candy, anyone?). And don't forget filters, of course.

I started with a Vincent Price quote, and I think it's only apt that I end with one... "To be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. This is the only way that you will be truly rich."

Now's the time to join the Halloween copywriting and Halloween content party with copywriting tips, tricks, even little-known anecdotes and images that can all be easily shared and get you noticed.

Need copywriting for Halloween? Let's chat!

Happy Halloween!