If you’re anything like me, you’ve been running around the house putting pumpkins everywhere, baking fall treats with allll the pumpkin spice flavors, and delighting your kiddo with a few extra-spooky house décor pieces.
I hope you also spookified your brand!
Halloween is a major holiday in the U.S. – even with all the crazy events of this year, American shoppers will still drop a whopping $8 billion in Halloween shopping.
Around 53 percent will still decorate their homes.
Dressing up your brand for Halloween isn’t just fun, it’s smart business!
Here are 13 creative content ideas for Halloween marketing this year. From blog posts to social media and even a few extra treats, there’s something for everyone. Let’s get haunting! ?
[bctt tweet=”Dressing up your brand for Halloween isn’t just fun, it’s smart business! ?♀️ Here are 13 creative content ideas for your Halloween marketing this year via @JuliaEMcCoy ??” username=””]
13 of the Best Halloween Marketing & Content Ideas to Try This Year
Coming up with Halloween marketing and content ideas is a lot like coming up with a costume. People tend to either throw one together last minute or spend months meticulously planning and assembling it.
But when it comes to content, you don’t really want to do either. Halloween is one of our most beloved holidays, and a great opportunity to grow your brand with some creative content marketing. Here are 13 of my best ideas to pumpkin spice things up this season.
1. Creepy Craft Campaigns
According to Gallup, customers who are fully engaged with a brand are 23 percent more profitable than those who aren’t. So, give your audience something to do – literally.
With everyone stuck at home this year and Halloween cancelled in many places, things like clever crafts can inspire festivity and customer engagement. Have your readers tag you on social media to create a gallery of user-generated spookiness.
Target created this Instagram to share instructions for a craft project. Users then made it and tagged @Target. Source: Target
2. A ____’s Guide to Halloween
Are you in a profession not commonly associated with Halloween festivities? It’s time to get a guide written on it. Leverage your content differentiation factor and give your readers insights into what unique things you might do for Halloween. Consider including:
Tips on surviving a zombie apocalypse from the perspective of your profession
3. Halloweenify Your Products
There are plenty of Halloween products floating around every year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your own spin on it. You don’t even have to go all out with redesigned product packaging – a little bit of clever copy will go a long way. Consider getting some expert product descriptions written that play into the holiday. Or, add a splash of scary into your next email campaign to summon the Halloween spirit.
It’s not just fun to “Halloweenify” your products – it’s also smart. Americans spend about $8 billion alone on Halloween every year. Source: Statista
4. Spooky Scavenger Hunt
This works best if you’ve got a large site chock full of resources that you want readers to find. Hide Halloween themed images in your pages, then create a list of hints for your users and encourage them to poke through your content. You can even gamify it with a giveaway or other freebies for those who finish the hunt.
Pro tip: Pair this with a lowkey product or resource launch and delight your fan base when they stumble on it.
Office costume contests have long been a thing, but in the era of social media, so are customer costume contests. Much like the craft campaign above, encourage you readers to share pictures of their best costumes then tag you via social media or post it to a Facebook page. Then, encourage people to “vote” on the best costume – the top three with the most likes can win a prize.
Kia did an IG Pet Costume Contest one year, which can be an adorable alternative. Source: Kia
6. Share Spooky Local History
Does your brand operate in an area that’s known for hauntings – or a place with a lesser-known but equally eerie past? Get some content created around it! An expert writer who knows how to really dig deep into a topic to find the most interesting facts can create thoughtful, interesting articles that attract eyeballs (and hopefully no ghosts).
Also, content like this can serve as valuable real estate for local SEO. (Do this for every major holiday all year round and you’ll rank at the top for local SEO keywords in no time.)
7. Give Your Readers a Behind-the-Scenes Look
Does your company do anything special for Halloween around the office? Do you have any festivities going on, or are you making any special holiday products? Share a behind-the-scenes look!
Readers love behind-the-scenes content because of the sense of exclusivity and emotional closeness that it creates. Your readers are curious about you and they want to see the people behind the brands. With Halloween being widely celebrated and a favorite, it’s a great time to connect with your readers on a topic they already love.
Dunkin Donuts won the internet with this behind-the-scenes look. Source: Dunkin Donuts
8. Spooky Listicles
Listicles are one of the most popular forms of content out there – according to SEMrush, they get about twice as many shares as other blog articles. Take advantage of this by creating some Halloween-themed listicles within your specific industry. For example:
5 Haunting Blouses From Our Fall Collection
Health & Wellness: 9 Types of Halloween Candy That Are Totally Paleo
10 Terrifying Houseplants That You’ll Never Kill
… you get the idea.
[bctt tweet=”Need some fun ideas for Halloween marketing? ? Post spooky listicles & Halloween-themed infographics, go behind the scenes at your biz festivities, hold a costume contest on social, plus 11 more scary-good ideas via @juliaemccoy ?” username=””]
9. Halloween Themed Infographics
Video may be the dominant form of media these days, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still love a good infographic. Halloween is a perfect time to create product-related infographics that entertain and sell at the same time. And if you’re extra clever, that asset will be floating around while people start thinking about holiday shopping. Consider:
Essential gear for trick or treating ?
How to survive a zombie apocalypse ?
The anatomy of a haunted house ?️
A guide to Jack o Lantern faces ?
REI has everything you need to survive a zombie apocalypse. Source: REI
10. Host a Digital Halloween Party
Ah, one more way to leverage the interactivity of social media and user-generated content. Host a digital Halloween party! Start by posting some pictures of costumes and dishes (with recipes) that your office or family is doing. Then encourage others to share what they’re up to. You can even create a whole Facebook group around it or have a dedicated page on your site.
11. Celebrate Auxiliary Holidays With Themed Content
Who says Halloween is only one day? With the bounty of auxiliary holidays in October, you can have Halloween all month long! ??
Create themed content around the various national days that occur in October. Here are a few to get you started:
12. Share Your Fall Favorites
Everyone loves pumpkin spice but not everyone has a blue-ribbon pumpkin pie recipe handed down for three generations. Swapping recipes with your readers and customers can be a great way to get people engaged while promoting a sense of community.
Plus, you might discover your newest favorite fall-flavored latte that you didn’t know you loved. ☕
13. Set Up a Digital Trick or Treating Experience
Last but not least, consider setting up a digital trick or treating experience for your audience. Target did it a few years ago on Instagram and it was a major hit. While you don’t have to do it exactly like below, you can still have fun by creating a digital trick or treating experience to get your audience interacting with your website, social media, or other digital presence.
Way back in 2014, Target used its Instagram to create Halloween Hills, and it was a major hit. Source: Target
Don’t Get Tricked! Treat Yourself to Expert Writers Now
Marketing for Halloween – it can be done, and hopefully these 13 examples have gotten your creative juices flowing. I’ve shared a number of Halloween marketing ideas that are not only a lot of fun but can prove powerful for things like tapping into seasonal spending or leveraging local SEO.
But creating content around the holidays can get tricky, which is why you should treat yourself to some expert writers to get it done for you! Rather than rushing around last minute trying to pull together content (never mind your costume), work with a vetted writer today to get clever, crafty content that treats your readers and grows your brand.
So, you want to drive traffic to your business website, generate new leads, and build solid relationships with prospects. Great! Have you tried writing a blog or two?
According to the 2020 CMI benchmark findings, 89% of B2B marketers use blog posts in their marketing strategy. But what if you’re not a solid writer? Or you’re not an expert on the topic at hand? What if you simply don’t have time to focus your efforts on writing fresh content? How can you be expected to create current blog posts while maintaining a position of authority and overseeing all the other responsibilities for your business? ?
Simple. Invest in and buy blog content.
Purchasing content is a great way to keep your website fresh and current while providing meaningful information to your readers. As someone who has written several books, created more than 1,000 blogs, and has pioneered a writing agency in the completion of 30,000 projects in under a decade, I know all about the game of investing in consistent blog content for success.
Not all content is created equal, so it’s good to know when and how to buy blog content for your business.
Let’s dive in.
[bctt tweet=”Purchasing content is a great way to keep your website fresh and current ? while providing meaningful information to your readers. ? Learn when and how to buy blog content for your biz from @JuliaEMcCoy, a veteran expert.” username=””]
Why is Blog Content Even Necessary?
This year, more than 6 billion daily searches have taken place on Google, with 1.74 billion global websites vying for prospects’ attention. To bring your business to the top of search results, you should optimize your website with information that meets their needs and alleviates their pain points.
The best way to do this is through content. And the most effective content is blog posts. ✏
Search engine optimization is extremely important to your marketing success. It’s all about realizing what people are searching for online. By understanding the keywords they’re using to find that information, you can develop content for your website that search engines will recognize.
Relevant, meaningful information attracts people who are interested in your offerings. This drives traffic and increases ROI.
Blog posts are a great way to generate leads and drive sales for the following reasons:
Allow you to target specific keywords: You can develop content based on topics your company specifically wants to address. Or you can research trending phrases. Either way, you’re able to customize your content to meet the particular needs of your audience.
Keep your website active: Fresh content lets people know your business is current. This helps build trust and confidence among your prospects.
Provide more valuable material: Search engines have more information to analyze when ranking search results. The more content you provide, the more keywords you can use, and the more useful your site can be. This leads to higher rankings.
Enable you to link to other pages: By sharing information with other valuable resources, you expand reach, solidify your credibility, and secure a higher position in search results.
Blogging is obviously an important aspect of content marketing. It needs to be done well, and it needs to be done right. Which is why you should consider outsourcing this valuable piece of your marketing strategy.
Content is key to the success of your marketing plan. Unfortunately, it takes time and resources to create high quality articles that benefit your SEO. When you buy blog content from a reputable service, you’re sure to amplify your efforts. Here are five reasons you should buy blog content for your website.
1. Saves Time
We can all agree that blog content must consist of quality articles. However, it takes time to write content that will generate leads and drive sales.
The average blog article takes about three hours to complete. Articles involve research, identifying keywords, and following SEO best practices. Then, once they’re written, their impact should be tracked and analyzed.
If you’re not able to commit that kind of time to a quality piece, you may wind up with sloppy articles. Poorly written blog posts can actually do more harm than good.
Information that offers no value can result in disgruntled readers. This can yield negative results, like blocked emails or poor reviews. To ensure success, buy blog content and leave the writing to the professionals.
2. Saves Money
Not only does it take a lot of time to create a blog article. The time it takes for topic research, keyword research, strategizing, analysis, and writing all equates to cost. Someone has to get paid for all that work! ?
The average salary for an in-house content writer is nearly $82,000. This doesn’t include taxes, equipment, software, or office space.
By outsourcing content writing, companies can save significant money. Additionally, when you buy blog content, you’re less likely to need edits or rewrites, which also saves you time and money. Plus, you ensure you’re getting quality articles written by SEO experts who will create effective content that yields results.
3. Increases Productivity
There’s only so much a person can do in a day. As we’ve noted, a single blog article takes time. You’ll only be able to produce as much content as your schedule allows. To create the amount of content that would be optimal for marketing success, as they said in Jaws: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” ?
When you buy blog content, you’re accessing a large team of writers who can all be working simultaneously to bring you quality blog articles. As a result, you’ll receive more articles more quickly, allowing you to generate leads and satisfy your readers more efficiently and effectively.
4. Improves Online Authority
Maybe you’re not the best writer. Perhaps your expertise is limited when it comes to creating meaningful content for readers. Or maybe the needs of today’s consumer are outside your wheelhouse.
Remember those 6+ billion daily Google searches we mentioned before? Last year, top searches included Disney Plus, Hurricane Dorian, and Baby Yoda. This year, as we face a global pandemic, top searches include how to make a mask, recipes for homemade hand sanitizer, and how to cut your own hair.
It’s a weird time for everyone. Consumers are navigating a new way of life while businesses scramble to find ways to meet unprecedented needs. For content marketing, to remain relevant, you now need to provide information that addresses these unusual circumstances.
You’re most likely unfamiliar with writing about how to file for unemployment or how to create the best virtual conference environment. But this is the kind of information people need right now.
This is just another reason why it’s a good idea to buy blog content.
When you hire a writing service, you’re reaching a pool of talent with vast experience and a fresh perspective. You’re accessing a variety of writing styles and proficiency in industry knowledge. You’re sure to receive a collection of articles that will be appealing to consumers and search engines.
5. Increases Your Chances at Ranking
When you buy blog content, professional writers know how to create articles that are optimized for SEO. They understand how to strategically place keywords that search engines will notice. They know how to write meta tags and descriptions. They use appropriate style and formatting, like bullet points and headers.
Articles written from an SEO standpoint will be more effective in targeting search engines and earning higher rankings in search results. Optimized content helps increase your visibility, generate more leads, and boost your ROI.
[bctt tweet=”5 benefits of buying blog content: 1️⃣ Saves time 2️⃣ Saves money 3️⃣ Increases your productivity 4️⃣ Improves your online authority 5️⃣ Increases your chances of ranking ?” username=””]
How to Hire Writers
So your blog is up and running and you’ve got some good content out there. But then you start noticing a drop in engagement. Quality is lacking and deadlines are missed.
You’re finding it harder to make time in your busy schedule to maintain a current, relevant blog. And even worse, you’re starting to dread it.
Do some research. Find a reputable company with good reviews and positive results (hint: I know a great one! ?). Ask for writing samples. If you don’t already know a writer you’d like to use within that company, they can assign one based on information you provide about your project.
For a successful and efficient blog purchase process, communication is key. You should provide detailed information that clearly expresses your needs and goals for each article. Valuable information includes:
Outline: This should provide a general idea of what the client needs, as well as any specific requirements.
Reference piece: Examples of articles you like give writers an idea of what you’re looking for in terms of style, word count, and delivery.
General details: Let the writing service know what your business is about. Explain the topic of your article. Mention tone of voice, focus keywords, and target audience. Give writers some background about who they’re writing for and what they’re writing about.
By providing clear instructions, you set your level of expectation and start the writers on a clear path for success. But beware of putting too many restrictions on your team.
Our Content Manager, Korilynn, says it’s important for writers to have a clear understanding of your needs. But writers should be encouraged to use their creativity to provide articles that resonate with your audience.
Too many parameters result in lackluster content that has been jammed into an overly specific outline. You want to buy blog content that engages your readers and keeps them coming back for more.
Express Writers Can Help
I know maintaining a fresh, relevant blog isn’t easy. That’s why I started this company. I want to provide businesses like yours with resources to help you succeed. Our professional writing team is standing by to provide you with quality content that yields results.
I can’t believe we’re here, announcing our new ecommerce platform launch!
Specifically, our 3-in-1 launch just happened: a brand new, faster website with new design and UX implemented; a new ecommerce order platform that we’ve built; and finally, a new internal project management teamroom system for our writers and team.
Everything you see has been built by our company — led by Josh, our CTO, and his team of developers.
We had some consulting help in design along the way, and a great developer.
The migration began on Saturday (10/9) and as of today, Express Writers is officially on our new site, a new ecommerce shop, and a new internal writers’ teamroom. ?
We began this journey of investing massively into developing a new system more than three years ago.
Over time, one of the biggest and only complaints we have had through time is the lackluster UX in our client account area. However, in my entrepreneurial journey I’ve learned the hard way that people come before platforms — and that’s why we focused first on building a team of the right people.
We know there are some hiccups right now… and don’t worry, our development team led by Josh, our CTO, is hard at work on all of them. We’re confident we’ll have the kinks figured out by end of week. (Input forms was one hiccup that didn’t work correctly on launch, and as of this morning, they do! ? )
You could say we truly started on the trajectory nine years ago, when we began from scratch.
Read a summary of what’s new, and the short story of arriving at today’s launchpad below.
Our Brand-New Site, System and Content Shop at Express Writers
We’re so proud to announce the launch of our new site, system, and ecommerce Content Shop!
It’s taken years — almost a full decade to build this system.
This is our #1 goal with this launch:
Finally having an all-in-one system that talks to each side: the client side, the management side, and the team side.
This has been a dream of YEARS!
We’re also in a place where our clients have a better dashboard, with more accessible communication and project status updates. (After launch hiccups are smoothed out.)
Important: We plan to continue to develop the client account area, and teamroom, based on feedback we receive over the course of the next month or two.
Today’s version is called “MVP,” which you know if you’re in development at all.
MVP: “a minimum viable product is a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development.”
We had to strip away other features to focus on building the systems, inner workings, code, and functionality of the core features we launched with today.
In the new Content Shop, it’s much easier for you as a client user to:
Configure, see, and add the service you need to cart & checkout from the new ecommerce Content Shop.
Our “industry services” are gone–you now simply choose the format or service, and then tell us your industry in the input form! ? This removes about 15 “products” and an entire category from our Shop, making it simpler to choose and buy. This doesn’t mean our industry expert writers are gone; on the contrary, we’ve hired more this month! It means you simply tell us after you choose the format first (blog, web page, etc.) what your industry is.
Know and see more detailed statuses about your project. (Assigned vs. Working, etc.)
Respond to and communicate back with us in easier ways in your dashboard.
Manage input forms easier.
Watch our client walkthrough video for our new system below:
FAQs for the New System
I don’t see my old orders. Where do I go?!
This is by far the biggest question. To access your orders from Friday, October 9th and backwards, from shop.expresswriters.com, go to Legacy Account Access in the menu. You can also save this link directly: http://legacy.expresswriters.com/
You’ll need to go there to access old orders from Friday, October 9th and going backwards. We weren’t able to import 20,000 projects into the new system — it simply wasn’t feasible. However, after the bumps in the road are over, we promise the new system will be much better. (It should take hours of error-prone manual work out of our workflow.)
Our Team is a Story of Hard Work, Passion, and Perseverance Despite the Odds
Many of you already know the story, so, I’ll keep today’s campfire tale short. ⛺️
In 2011, Express Writers was born. In 2012, my partner Josh joined my team, and the tech enhancements began. He asked why I was still sending PayPal invoices, and shortly after we began to build our own client platform. The first version of our ecommerce Content Shop launched in 2014, built from scratch in WordPress for a little less than $12k. Unfortunately, we had to have separate systems; the one we built in WordPress was for our clients, and for our team, we settled on a modified version of a CMS called Active Collab. These two systems didn’t speak to each other, but we had to figure out something to get off of email and miscellaneous invoicing — so we did.
Today, our new system is quite the massive endeavor. It’s taken over three years, and truth be told, more than $200k to develop. All of which came directly from our business revenue — we’ve never taken a penny in outside funding. It’s been my scrappy little team, all along. We’ve built everything. After testing out 50+ CMS systems, and realizing none of them would ever fit the content creation pathway we’ve built internally nor would it ever seamlessly talk to the teamroom and management side unless it was all one, we decided to build our own all-in-one writer teamroom.
And, of course, that meant building a brand new and improved Content Shop platform, too.
Which naturally led to “hey, let’s build a new site too”– so we built a beautiful, clean new site to go along with all of it.
All of this launched today. ?
It’s great timing, 10.10.2020 — because we have a truly amazing team. People that really care. A management and talented editorial staff I’m proud to have on our payroll — that 100% care about our clients and projects. Writers with talent.
Care is the secret ingredient, and people have always come before our tech for me.
That’s why I knew we had to have the right people before we could ever launch better tech and hope to be successful. While we have had the misfortune of hiring people in the past that didn’t care, thankfully, they don’t stay here long. Today, we’ve cultivated an awesome team. And every day, we strive to maintain our high standards — because we believe that success is never taken for granted, here at Express Writers.
People > platform.
Today’s launch is a beautiful addition and improvement to what we already have.
This goal of an all-in-one “workstation” for us has been years in the making, and multiple failure-after-failure in development and developers before today’s massive success shift. I’m glad we kept persevering, and didn’t give up too early. It reminds me of the diamond miner meme.
Final Thoughts as We Launch
You may be looking for some pithy thoughts on our ultimate launch-of-all-launches launch day.
But truth be told, I have none.
Put in the work and make REAL effort.
Care about your team and your clients.
Show up every day.
Put. In. The. Effort.
You will experience results.
Don’t expect it to be easy.
Just keep going.
It is that simple…yet, that hard.
So many miss this simple truth. It’s a 2+2 thing… you show up, work hard, every day — and don’t give up — you’re bound to get somewhere.
You try to shortcut; go around the goal; do everything but the actual hard work required, and you won’t get anywhere.
You don’t need to copy your competitor.
(Today’s shoutout goes out to all of our competitors and business copycats that like to constantly copy everything I do, good luck this time. ? ?)
You don’t need to do anything other than be you.
Find what you’re good at, and love doing — persevere at it, and strive to be the best in your industry. Greatness will find you along the way!
[bctt tweet=”Try to do everything but the actual hard work required, and you’ll quickly find you won’t get anywhere. ? – @JuliaEMcCoy on the #launch of @ExpWriters 2.0 ? ” username=”ExpWriters”]
[bctt tweet=”Just be you: find what you’re good at, and love doing, and simply persevere at it. Greatness will find you along the way! ? – @JuliaEMcCoy on the #launch of @ExpWriters 2.0 ? ” username=”ExpWriters”]
That’s it!
To your success (and perseverance!),
Julia
P.S. Don’t forget to go experience our new Content Shop.
