In advertising and marketing, you always have to be one step ahead of your consumers. This might mean you’ve been planning for Christmas ever since the last Easter egg left the shelf – or even before. There is one seasonal event left in between, though, as Halloween rolls around again this month. The day isn’t an official holiday in the UK, yet it’s celebrated with the same enthusiasm as any other.
Halloween is yet another great time of year to focus on clever copywriting, as the opportunities to use puns, metaphors and words that rhyme with ‘pumpkin’ are seemingly endless. There is, however, the danger of using too many clichés and ending up with copy that looks as grotesque as a zombie’s face. Our advice on writing for Halloween isn’t too far removed from our previous advice on Christmas copywriting, as it’s easy to fall into the same tired traps.
Try not to overdo it. We’re not talking about the haul of sweets from a night spent trick-or-treating here. Use your Halloween copy sparingly, in the same way that horror movies limit the shocks and build tension for maximum impact.
Stay on message. Whether you’re having a sale, promoting a new product or opening another store, make sure that’s the message that readers take away from your copy. Shoehorning Halloween references into every sentence will make the meaning less clear overall.
Make the tie-in appropriate. When we covered this point for Christmas copy, our advice was to promote a relevant product or service. There admittedly aren’t as many for Halloween, but you should attempt to keep the connection as believable as you can.
Keep it SEO friendly. The traditionalists might frown at you for not using an apostrophe in Hallowe’en – but how many people will remember to add it in their search? Similarly, changing the names of products to include spooky words and phrases might adversely affect your rankings.
There’s no magic or witchcraft involved in creating effective copy and other online content – we know, because we’ve been doing it for decades. For powerful copywriting at any time of year, get in touch with the Stratton Craig team.