Autumn decorations are in stores, and pumpkin spice has once again made its way onto menus, which can only mean one thing… Halloween is right around the corner and I’m so excited! It’s one of my favorite holidays and presents some incredible and inexpensive opportunities to build stronger relationships with your past clients, friends and family.

Last year, a number of agents in our community saw some incredible results from hosting a Digital Halloween Party, and are already getting ready to do it again.

So, I wanted to share the exact strategy these agents used to successfully host their events, including some improvements we’ve added in the last year. Plus, I know some agents are back to hosting in-person events, so we’ve included some options to combine them with your digital party to make one Mega Halloween Extravaganza that’s sure to keep you top of mind with your sphere for years to come!

Create Memories With A Halloween Party

Hosting a Halloween party for your past clients, friends and family allows you to create great memories together, which is one of the best ways to build real relationships. Funny enough though, this strategy works so well that agents have also used it to generate leads by opening it up to the public. 

We’re going to do this in 2 parts. First, host a contest for various Halloween related activities like, Pumpkin Carving*, Costumes and Decorations. Then, send your past clients, friends and family a small kit to help them participate.

So, let’s create some great memories!

(*Note: Pumpkins last about 2-3 weeks and most people carve theirs 1-14 days before Halloween. So, if you start your contest early, don’t get discouraged if there’s a lack of immediate entries. Most of them will fly in toward the end.)

The Contests

Let’s get your contests underway. Keep in mind, this isn’t about finding the best pumpkin or costume in your group. It’s about making sure as many people have a great time as possible. So, get creative with subcategories for each activity. For Pumpkins, include prizes for things like, the scariest, funniest or celebrity look alikes. For decorations include prizes for indoor, outdoor, homemade and “budget” builds. You get the idea.

Your goal is to give away as many prizes as possible. As small as it might be, a prize, especially one someone had to work for goes a long way in creating great memories. It’s also a great bonding experience for the people who participate as a team. So, have some fun and brainstorm your own set of prizes to give away. (Let us know what contests and prizes you plan on using in the comments below.)

Once you’ve come up with all of your prizes, it’s time to create a spot for your audience to submit their photos and videos. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Facebook group to which you’ll invite everyone when you’re ready. Your Facebook group should be focused on your event but you are sponsoring it too, so it doesn’t hurt to include some subtle branding to remind people.

A Halloween Hub 

Facebook groups are pretty easy to set up as your Halloween Hub and in this case you really only need a name, a description (including instructions), and a banner image to be successful. (Even if you plan on doing a party in person, this group gives people the opportunity to participate all month and get involved even if they can’t make it to your party.)

• Group Name – Keep it simple and focus on your event. Since you’re the one sponsoring, it’s important to include a reference to your name or real estate business, but make sure your event remains the star of the show. Some great examples of names you’re welcome to use if they’re not already taken in your area are:
  • Springfield’s Halloween Extravaganza (sponsored by Jane Smith, REALTOR®)
  • Springfields’s Halloween Spook-tacular (sponsored by ABC Realty)
  • Springfield’s Virtual Halloween Haunt (hosted by Jane Smith, REALTOR®
    
• Description – Your group description should include a welcome note, instructions and any rules for your Halloween Extravaganza. This can be modified and copied directly from the template that’s included below.
  
• Membership Questions – When people request access to your group, you’re able to automatically ask them a set of questions and review their answers before approving them. This is a great opportunity to collect some information about your group so you can easily deliver prizes and market to them later. So, include questions asking for their email, physical address and their favorite part about Halloween.
  
• Banner – Use something Halloween themed for your banner. There are plenty of great free options on sites like Canva. I’ve included an example below and a Canva Template you can easily customize and use for your very own event. . 

Your Halloween Party Welcome Kit

Now that you’ve created your event, it’s time to invite everyone and make it as easy as possible to participate. To do this, it’s best to send a Halloween Extravaganza Welcome Kit. This will include your invitation, instructions for posting submissions and some fun Halloween ideas and templates to help them on their way.

Your invitation and instructions should be pretty straightforward but the ideas and templates are really where you can shine. By providing assets that families can use for years to come, you place yourself in a central role as they make lifelong memories.

So, what sort of things can you provide that they can use for a lifetime? These are things like pumpkin carving stencils, instructions for inexpensive do-it-yourself decorations, or even a resource for costumes.

Ideally, your templates should match up with the contest that you’re putting on so you maximize the amount of engagement you get from the group. 

Your Invitation

Great invitations to events like we’re talking about usually follow the same format, and for good reason – it works. 

• Start with the special offer that you’re making, including any prizes and simple instructions so they can participate. 
• Follow up on any concerns by explaining what you’ve included in your kit to help them get started. 
• Finally, follow up once again with your invitation and great offer.

Rather than go into a lot of detail since invitations could be an article all on its own, I’ve included a template for you to use to host your very own Halloween Extravaganza.

When you do host your own, I would love an invitation to join in the fun!

(While we’re on the topic of invitations. If you’re planning on opening your event up to the public, you don’t need to go quite so far with a letter and welcome kit. Agents have had success with things as simple as posting in Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and other community boards. Keep in mind though, this event should be about your sphere of influence first, before you open it up.)

All Year Fun

If you use the strategy we’ve outlined to set up your event you’ll have an engaged group of people making lifelong memories and an opportunity to grow this community throughout the year, and for years to come. This should be one of the many great memories you develop with your clients, friends and family. As always, the key is in the follow up though. Once you have engaged people, it’s important to keep that bond going, and you must nurture the relationship in order to turn any of these contacts into a sale down the road.

Keep in mind that you were able to engage this particular group with “lifestyle” themed content, not real estate themed content. So, when you design your follow up, you’ll want to stick to the same type of value to keep them engaged and coming back. 

I know you’re busy and it can be challenging to personally follow up with “lifestyle” type content, but if you have just 15 minutes a month (much less time than it will take you to design an entire follow-up campaign), I would recommend checking out Service For Life!, which is packed full of the same type of prizes, contests and lifestyle content –  it’s literally the perfect pairing for the Halloween Extravaganza you just hosted!

Good luck with your event! I’m looking forward to seeing all of your success with it!

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