‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Halloween Marketing Opportunities for Your Community Using Social Media

There is nothing bad about Halloween. Wait—actually, there are some bad things about Halloween. Like raisins. And complicated costumes (like the year I dressed as Freddy Krueger and then couldn’t hold a cup with my knife hand). And raisins. OK, maybe there are a few bad things about Halloween. But, besides those things, Halloween is a fun time, and a lot of people get really into it. So, what better time than to do something fun for your residents while spreading good cheer about your community using your social media channels? After all, social media word of mouth is free. (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are not, but you should still get them for your residents.)

Here are some social media Halloween marketing ideas for your community.

Have an Instagram costume contest. Instagram is awesome for Halloween because it has all sorts of filters that can make pictures look eerie. (The Nashville filter, for example, makes things look like they’re ripped directly from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). You don’t even need to have an Instagram account for your community. Just let residents know to use a hashtag with your community name when they post pictures of their costumes. Then people could scroll through using that hashtag and see what all the residents dressed up as. You could even give out a prize for the costume with the most likes. My vote is for the classic ghost made from cutting holes in a sheet—especially if it’s a sheet with cartoon characters on it or something. It’ll especially stand out because it will be the only ghost in a sea of Avengers, Bane from The Dark Knight Rises and women dressed up as binders.

Create a Pinterest page of decorated apartments. If ’80s and early ’90s sitcoms have taught me anything, it’s that when Halloween comes around, people go nuts decorating their houses and apartments. Go “trick or treating” to residents who have decorated their apartments for the holiday and take pictures for a community Halloween Pinterest board, or have residents pin their own pictures (again, with a hashtag you let them know about), and repin them to your board.

Host a scavenger hunt on Twitter. Hide prizes throughout the community and post clues on Twitter for your residents and their guests. They can tweet you when they find things or if they need help with the clues. You can make it as creepy as you want, or just make it all candy. You can also make the scavenger hunt geared towards adults or children depending on the flavor of the apartment (though, no matter the flavor, the snozzberries always taste like snozzberries). For example, you can lead people to find something left from the (hopefully fictional) Cropsy the community killer in the basement if their are a lot of adults or students in your building. If there are a lot of families with children, they can find the Great Pumpkin treats in the lobby. People can follow along with the fun on your Twitter feed.

Make a haunted house and advertise and post pictures on Facebook. I don’t like haunted houses because I’m a baby. (I do like scary movies though. I don’t know, maybe it’s because all the scariness is on-screen in a movie, and popcorn is included.) But many people love haunted houses. Set one up in your lobby or where ever you have room in your community. You can have the property staff run it, or include some residents in the fun. And advertise the event on your community Facebook page to get interest from residents, as well as prospective residents. Post the pictures on your page after Halloween so everyone can see how much fun you all had. Just don’t include clowns in your haunted house. You want people to be scared, but not so scared that they’ll never set foot in your community again.

What are some other ways you can use social media during Halloween?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor 

Photo credit: Gemenacom