Last year, total Halloween spending reached a record $12.2 billion, exceeding 2022 spend of $10.6 billion. Importantly, a record number of people (73 percent) participated in Halloween-related activities last year, up from 69 percent in 2022. The top ways consumers typically celebrate this fun-filled holiday include:
In other words, Halloween is a prime opportunity for marketers across many verticals to tap into the festive spirit and drive sales. With consumers eager to celebrate, leveraging audience data and the right Halloween audience segments can help create targeted, effective, and engaging campaigns that stand out in the spooky season. Here are five tips for using audience data and segments to fuel frightfully strong Halloween campaigns. (To learn more and see all available segments for targeting Halloween campaigns, check out the Eyeota “How to Target Halloween Audiences” guide.)
Connect with Halloween Celebrators
To effectively connect with Halloween celebrators, it’s essential to identify individuals with a passion for all things spooky. These individuals revel in costumes, decorations, and Halloween events. By segmenting data to identify those who have shown interest in Halloween-related activities and purchases in previous years, you can tailor your ads and campaigns to highlight the latest trends in costumes, unique decoration ideas, and exclusive events.
Halloween Targeting Tip: If you’re looking to connect with Halloween enthusiasts, you can supercharge and bring scale to your campaigns with pre-built segments like “Acxiom - Ninth Decimal - Interest - Seasonal - Fall – Halloween.”
Connect with Halloween Shoppers
While plenty of consumers like to celebrate Halloween, a select group specifically revels in the Halloween shopping experience leading up to Oct. 31. These Halloween shoppers are on the lookout for the best deals and unique finds and can often be influenced by promotions and limited-time offers. To capture their attention, start your campaigns early to catch them as they begin their search for fun Halloween items and deals.
Halloween Targeting Tip: If you’re looking to reach Halloween shoppers who like to browse in-store, segments like “Facteus - Intent - In-market Purchase - Debit Card Purchase - Halloween Store Frequenters – Halloween" can help you reach Halloween audiences with established seasonal shopping patterns.
Connect with Party Planners
Party planners are pivotal to the Halloween season, organizing everything from intimate gatherings to large-scale events. They need supplies, decorations, and food and beverage options to make their events memorable. By focusing your message on party-planning Halloween audience segments, you can provide them with valuable content such as party planning checklists, theme ideas, and DIY decoration tutorials.
Halloween Targeting Tip: If you’re looking to reach the individuals who take the lead on putting together Halloween seasonal gatherings, tap into Halloween audience segments like “33Across - 33Across AudienceID - Hobbies - Party Planner” to ensure you’re reaching known party planners.
Connect with Parents
Parents are the key decision-makers during Halloween, seeking costumes, candy, and safe, family-friendly activities for their children. This means they represent a vital audience segment to prioritize. To connect with this audience effectively, emphasize the safety and enjoyment aspects of your products, from non-toxic face paints to age-appropriate costumes. Offering bundled deals or family packs can make it easy and cost-effective for parents to get everything they need in one go.
Halloween Targeting Tip: If your brand wants to connect with parents looking to make their kids’ early Halloweens as fun-filled as possible, consider Halloween audience segments like “Affinity Answers - Interest - Lifestyle - Parents with Young Children.”
Connect with Confectionary and Candy Buyers
Candy is a Halloween staple, and those buying confections are looking for quality and variety. To win over these consumers who prioritize the sweet side of Halloween over the spooky, showcase a wide range of candy options, from traditional favorites to new and unique treats. Promoting limited-edition Halloween-themed candy that they won’t find any other time of the year can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
Halloween Targeting Tip: If your brand is looking to connect with deal-minded candy buyers around Halloween, consider targeting confectionary purchaser audience segments like “GfK - Purchasing Power - Sweets – Discount.”
Halloween presents a unique opportunity for marketers to engage with their audiences in a fun and festive way. By leveraging audience data, you can create targeted, personalized, and effective campaigns that capture the spirit of the season and drive strong results.
How can brands targeting Halloween audiences optimize digital ad spending to reach their best target customers online? From driving awareness to engaging consumers in-market, the Eyeota “How to Target Halloween Audiences” guide has the personas and profiles you need to identify, reach, and engage your target audience on all digital media channels, including audio, connected TV, digital out-of-home, display, mobile and social channels.
Discover addressable digital audience profiles to target your ideal customers such as:
Download the Eyeota “How to Target Halloween Audiences” guide here.
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