5 Social Media Tips For Haunted Attractions
My passion for marketing and branding haunted houses has been unparalleled for the past twenty years. While I thoroughly enjoy the marketing field, combining it with my love for Halloween is like crafting the perfect Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup—an irresistible blend of my two favorite things.
Managing your social media presence effectively can significantly impact your haunted house's success. Engaging content, genuine interaction, and a strategic approach can help you build a robust online community, attract visitors, and enhance your brand. Here are some essential tips to help you manage your social media effectively:
1. Create a Community, Not Just Ads and Promotional Offerings
It's crucial to engage your audience with more than just promotional content. Building a community around your haunted house can foster loyalty and excitement.
Behind-the-Scenes Content: Share behind-the-scenes footage from your marketing shoot, dressing rooms, new characters, and set designs. This gives your audience an exclusive look at the effort and creativity behind your haunted house.
Staff Highlights: Celebrate your team with weekly staff highlights. Recognize high performers and share their stories and contributions.
Accolades and Achievements: Post about any awards, recognitions, or milestones your haunted house achieves.
2. Balance Scary with Fun
While creating a scary image is important, don’t forget that many patrons are looking for a fun experience.
Engaging Content: Mix scary elements with fun and lighthearted content. Show that your haunted house offers a thrilling yet enjoyable experience.
Appeal to Core Demographics: Remember that your primary audience seeks a blend of fear and fun. Avoid creating content solely to impress other haunters; focus on what will attract your target audience.
3. Highlight Your Patrons
User-generated content can significantly enhance your social media presence.
Customer Photos and Videos: Share pictures and videos of your patrons enjoying the haunted house. Scare footage and posed photos with characters are great ways to connect with your audience and encourage more visitors. Bonus: use the raw pictures, no graphics or logos, for a more organic social media approach.
Testimonials: Post testimonials from satisfied customers to build trust and showcase the fun and fear your haunted house offers.
4. Run Contests and Interactive Posts
Contests and interactive posts can boost engagement and excitement. For example, you could randomly select one patron from the comments for a free pair of tickets.
Contests: Run contests like "Show us your favorite Halloween costume" or "Post a GIF of your favorite horror movie." Avoid "like, share, and comment" contests to stay within Meta’s guidelines.
Engagement Posts: Ask fun and engaging questions like, "Let us know you're a Halloween fan without letting us know you're a Halloween fan" or "Share photos of your pets in costumes."
5. Use Strategic Visuals
Your visual strategy can significantly impact your social media effectiveness.
Profile Picture: Use an iconic character from your haunted house as your profile picture to make your brand more relatable and engaging. Reserve your logo for the cover photo.
Visual Consistency: Maintain a consistent visual theme that aligns with your haunted house's brand. This helps in creating a recognizable and professional social media presence
Final Thoughts
You can use social media analytics tools to track the performance of your posts and campaigns. Regularly check insights and analytics to understand what type of content resonates most with your audience. Use this data to optimize your content strategy, ensuring you’re focusing on what works best.
Effective social media management involves more than just posting regularly. It’s about creating a genuine connection with your audience, providing value through engaging content, and optimizing your strategy based on performance data. Following these tips can build a vibrant online community, enhance your brand’s visibility, and drive more visitors to your haunted house.
