Halloween Marketing and Print on Demand Design Idea

Bewitch Your Customers and Spook the Competition

Ah, Halloween. A time for spooky costumes, pumpkin spice everything, and…marketing? You bet!

As soon as the calendar flips to October, retailers large and small start gearing up for the Halloween season. And why wouldn’t they? Halloween is among the most anticipated holidays of the year and is celebrated in different parts of the world for almost all month long.

This also means that while you scroll through this article on your phone, chances are your favorite brands are already working on their Halloween marketing campaigns. So, if you own a business and haven’t given much thought to how you can market your products or services for the season, now is the time!

And in this blog, we’ll give you some devilishly good Halloween marketing and print on demand design ideas that can help you boost sales and spook the competition. 

Orange-you excited? Let’s begin!

Why Gear Up for Halloween?

Alright, before anything else, here are some more reasons that can give you that extra push to start working on your Halloween marketing strategy.

Halloween is a Big Moneymaker

Last year, the projected consumer spending for Halloween rose by over 125% with Americans being estimated to shell out more than $10 billion from only $8.05 billion in year 2020 (National Retail Federation). And with more and more people returning to their pre-pandemic routines this year, it’s safe to say that the numbers are going to be equally spook-tacular this year as well.

This makes Halloween an excellent opportunity for businesses to increase their revenue and reach out to new customers. Not to mention, print on demand products are the perfect way to capitalize on this season as you can create unique and customized products without having to worry about unsold inventory when the hype dies down since your production partner handles all fulfillment!

It’s the Perfect Opportunity To Engage With Your Customers

Apart from creating and selling products, Halloween is also an excellent opportunity to engage with your target audience and create a deeper connection with them.

You can do this by organizing Halloween-themed contests and giveaways or by simply creating social media posts that are related to the season. Because lots of people actually look forward to this time of year, they’ll be more likely to interact with you and your content—that’s more UGC (user-generated content) for your feed and more brand awareness!

It’s a Unique Marketing Opportunity

It’s not everyday you’ll see kids in full costumes knocking on your door and people actually looking for “scary” stuff. Because of this, Halloween provides a unique opportunity for businesses and marketers to get really creative with their campaigns. Not to mention, the Halloween characters and elements we’ve all come to know and love (think: witches, ghosts, black cats, etc.) are constantly being reinvented, which means there’s always room for new and innovative ideas.

Halloween Product and Design Ideas

Now, on to the fun stuff! Here are some print on demand product and design ideas you can start preparing for your online store:

Trick or Treat Bags

Speaking of trick-or-treat essentials, every kid (and let’s be honest, adult) needs a good bag to store all their candy in. Hence, another great idea is to sell canvas tote bags that feature fun and festive Halloween designs. You can also personalize them with the child’s name to make it extra special.

If you’re marketing to an older audience, you can also design reusable grocery bags with Halloween-themed designs or puns like “Trick or Treat, Give me Something Good to Eat!” and “Creep it real.”.

Cartoon Face Masks

Trick-or-treating will always be a favorite Halloween activity, especially for kids. However, despite the threat of the pandemic slowly subsiding, many people, especially parents, are still hesitant to let their children go door-to-door and collect candy from strangers.

This is why selling Halloween-themed face masks is a great idea as it offers a fun and safe way for kids to enjoy the holiday while also staying protected. You can create spooky yet cute mask designs that feature popular Halloween characters like ghosts, witches, and zombies. You can also pair them with your Halloween shirts or bundle with other trick-or-treat essentials.

Halloween Hoodies

Both kids and kids at heart will love wearing a cozy hoodie as they go about their Halloween activities. You can be playful with your designs and go for cute and spooky characters or go for more subtle ones with Halloween-themed colors and patterns.

Couples’ Halloween Shirts

Halloween can be a fun time for couples too! And what better way to show off your #RelationshipGoals than by matching in cute couples’ Halloween shirts?

You can design shirts with puns like “You’re my boo” or “I’m a (blood) sucker for you” along with iconic Halloween characters like ghosts, bats, and vampires. You can also sell pairs with matching designs but in different colors or with one person dressed as the “treat” and the other as the “trick.”

Skeleton Baby Onesies

Babies can get in on the fun too with these skeleton baby onesies! You can design them to be spooky, cute, or both—it’s up to you. You can also use other Halloween elements like zombies, mummies, and even aliens in your designs.

And to make things more interesting, you can design matching adult shirts so parents and kids can twin on Halloween!

Zombie and Pumpkin Ornaments

Another thing people spend money on during this season are Halloween home decorations. And if you want to make your collection stand out, then go for unique items like ornaments with cutely drawn faces of Halloween characters like zombies, jack-o-lanterns, and ghosts. You can also add a personal touch by engraving the family name on it or the year.

Your customers can hang these ornaments on their Christmas trees, their windows, or even their front doors to show off their love for all things Halloween!

How You Can Market Your Halloween Collection

Figured out which products and designs you’ll include in your collection? Great! The next step is to start marketing your products so you can get them in front of your target audience.

Here are a few ideas:

Create Your Own Halloween Instagram Filter

If you really want to generate more UGC and get people talking about your brand, then you should give your followers a reason to tag and mention you in their posts. And one way to do that is by creating your own Halloween Instagram filter.

Your filter can be something simple and spooky like a black and white color scheme with bats flying in the background or it can be something more elaborate that transforms your followers into zombies or ghosts. Either way, make sure your filter is on brand and easy to access so people will actually want to use it!

Host a Halloween Costume Contest

Another great way to get people talking about your brand is by hosting a Halloween costume contest. You can ask people to submit photos of themselves wearing your products and then pick a winner (or winners!) who will receive a prize.

Not only will this get people talking about your brand, but it will also give you some great content to use in your marketing efforts. So it’s a win-win!

Make a Spooky TikTok or IG Reel Series

If you want to be a little more extra and your niche allows it, then you can also make a spooky TikTok or IG reel series leading up to Halloween. For example, you can create found footage style videos featuring your products with a scary twist that will get your viewers hooked and encourage them to comment or interact with your posts.

Just make sure that your videos are on brand and in line with the rest of your marketing efforts. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of random videos that don’t fit with your overall message.

Launch a “Countdown to Halloween” Email Marketing Campaign

You can also straight up tease your Halloween collection in your email marketing campaigns leading up to the big day. This is a great way to generate hype and get people excited about what you have in store.

In your emails, you can include sneak peeks of your designs, coupon codes for early access to the collection, or even a giveaway for one lucky subscriber. Just make sure your emails are creative, on brand, and will actually get people excited about your products!

Some More Tips for a Successful Halloween Marketing Strategy

Quite exciting, right?

But before we wrap things up, here are a few more tips to help you create a successful Halloween marketing strategy:

Be Cautious of Using Copyrighted Images and Characters

While most iconic Halloween characters are in the public domain, there are some that are still copyrighted. So if you’re planning on using any images of copyrighted characters in your marketing materials or even the products themselves, you need to be careful and do your research.

You don’t want to end up getting sued for copyright infringement!

Keep Tabs on the Trends

Nowadays, there’s so much to keep track of when it comes to trends. Whether it’s the hashtags, TikTok audio or music, or aesthetics, you need to make sure you’re up to date on what’s popular so you can use it in your marketing efforts.

But that doesn’t mean you have to use every single trend out there. Just pick and choose the ones that make sense for your brand and that you think your target audience will actually respond to.

Partner with a Local Business

You can make your whole Halloween campaign much more effective by partnering with a local business. For example, if you’re a clothing brand, you can team up with an escape room or a haunted house business in your area and ask them to offer your products to their customers while you promote them on your social media page.

This is a great way to reach a new audience and get people talking about your brand. Plus, it’s always good to support local businesses!

Have Fun!

The most important thing to remember when creating your Halloween marketing strategy is to have fun with it. This holiday is all about being creative and embracing the weird and wonderful. So let your freak flag fly and see what you can come up with!

And That’s a Wrap!

For marketers and business owners especially in the more creative industries, events like Halloween can truly be a fun and effective time to showcase their products, skills, and overall brand. And you too can get in on the action with the help of your print on demand partner and your awesome design skills that will surely charm your customers!