Have you ever considered how you could use Instagram at Halloween to generate lots of page views, have fun interacting with your neighbors, while also reminding your followers that you’re the go-to expert in your area for real estate? Over and beyond the costumes, candy and spooky decorations, here’s how you can capitalize on this golden opportunity to grow and strengthen your business.
Spotlight the best Halloween decor in your market area
While not every neighborhood goes all out for Halloween, if you do business in an area that does, take advantage of the opportunity. From creepy graveyards to elaborate light displays, Halloween tends to bring out the inner designer in many homeowners. This is the perfect opportunity for you to capture these moments and engage with your followers.
How to make it happen:
- Spend a few hours driving through your market area, and photograph homes that showcase the most creative and/or unusual Halloween decorations.
- Next, identify your top three to five homes and post the photos on your social media channels — Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Threads if you’re active on those sites. You can also divide these into multiple categories such as “scariest,” “funniest,” “craziest pumpkins,” etc.
- Encourage your audience to vote on their favorite display by liking or commenting on the photos.
This strategy not only helps engage your audience, but it also positions you as someone who’s connected with your community. Showcasing these homes helps you to stand out from the competition while also demonstrating your knowledge about that makes local neighborhoods you serve unique.
Here’s an example of a home office decorated for a Halloween party. You could title your Halloween post: “Death by Meeting.”
If you want to really kick it up a notch, offer a gift card or some other gift to the homeowners with the best-decorated homes.
Caveat about photographing personal residences courtesy of ChatGPT
“You can generally take and post a photo of a house from a public space without the owner’s consent, as there’s no expectation of privacy for what’s visible from public areas such as streets and sidewalks. However, laws vary by location, and stricter privacy rules may apply in some areas. If the photo is for commercial use, such as promoting your business, you may need the owner’s consent or a property release,” according to ChatGPT.
“It’s also good practice to respect privacy, avoid showing personal identifiers like car details or addresses, and consider blurring identifiable information to prevent any concerns.”
Visit a local pumpkin patch
Few things are more iconic during Halloween than pumpkins. Whether it’s pumpkin carving, decorating or baking, they’re everywhere during this season.
How to make it happen:
- Visit a local pumpkin patch, and take pictures of the biggest, strangest or funniest pumpkins you can find.
- Post these on Instagram as well as your other social media sites, and ask your followers: “Which pumpkin do you think weighs the most?” or “What kind of funny face would you draw on this pumpkin?” You can also ask your followers to vote for their favorite pumpkin.
- Next, do a follow-up post with the results or even a video showing the official weigh-in or the pumpkin after it was carved or decorated. This continued engagement encourages your audience to come back for more.
Host a pumpkin pie or pumpkin latte open house
A tried-and-true strategy for making your open houses more memorable is hosting a Halloween-themed open house. Make sure you have Halloween-themed plates, napkins and cups.
If you’re a great baker, create Halloween-themed desserts and post those photos. Share the addresses and the time of any open houses you’re holding as well as what you’ll be serving. It’s a great way to entice visitors to drop by your open house.
Remember the old adage, “If you feed them, they will come.”
How to make it happen:
- Announce your open house on Instagram and your other social media platforms with a fun graphic or a quick video of you showing your seasonal treats. Be sure to say that you’ll be offering pumpkin pie or pumpkin lattes to those who stop by.
- Encourage attendees to take photos of their treats, the house and even their costumes (if you’re asking people to wear them). Offer a hashtag for your event, such as #HalloweenHouseTour or #PumpkinOpenHouse.
- You could also put together mini bags of Halloween goodies they can take home.
The goal here is to create an experience that people will associate with your brand. You’re not just showing them a house, you’re creating a fun event that they will associate with you, even if they don’t remember the details about the house.
Host a pumpkin decorating event for kids
Building relationships with past clients is crucial to growing your real estate business. Halloween is the ideal time to host a family-friendly event such as a pumpkin decorating party, a makeup artist to give the kids the perfect face they want for Halloween, or a Halloween-themed photo booth. Sites like Gigsalad can help you identify vendors to make your event truly special.
This is a great way to show your appreciation for past clients while encouraging new business through word of mouth by sharing pictures of the event.
How to make it happen:
- Reach out to your past clients, and invite them to bring their children to a pumpkin decorating event. You’ll provide the pumpkins, easy-to-use decorating materials (no sharp carving tools) and Halloween-themed snacks.
- Capture the event through photos and short videos that you post across the social media sites where you currently engage. Always be sure to ask for permission to share any photos or videos on your social media accounts. An even better idea, however, is to share the link with the parents so they can post the children’s photos or videos to their own social media sites.
Hosting a low-key, fun event for past clients keeps your name top of mind and strengthens your personal connection while also fostering goodwill. People are more likely to refer a friend when they feel appreciated.
If your event is a success, bring it back bigger and even better next year. Your clients will come to look forward to it every year, and it will strengthen your brand’s connection within your community.
Use highly clickable hashtags on your posts to generate even more traffic
One of the most powerful ways to generate more traffic to your Instagram posts is to use hashtags. When I asked ChatGPT for the “10 most highly clickable hashtags Realtors can use to promote their Halloween marketing events,” it came up with the following list:
#HalloweenOpenHouse
Combines the holiday theme with real estate and is perfect for seasonal open houses.
#SpookyHomeTours
Adds a fun twist to virtual or in-person home tours.
#TrickOrTreatYourNewHome
A catchy play on words that connects Halloween to homebuying.
#HauntedHouseHunting
A clever way to engage potential buyers with themed property tours.
#BooToBuy
Short, fun and ties the spooky season with the idea of buying a home.
#FrighteninglyGoodDeals
Ideal for promoting special offers or discounts around Halloween.
#GhostlyGoodHomes
A fun and seasonal hashtag for showcasing homes.
#HalloweenInRealEstate
Broad hashtag that captures Halloween-themed real estate marketing.
#YourNewHaunt
Playfully ties finding a new home to the idea of a haunted house.
#TrickOrTreatYourDreamHome
Great for promoting listings as potential dream homes during the spooky season.
Ultimately, Halloween isn’t just about candy and costumes — it’s about connecting with your community and sharing the holiday fun. When you do it right, your Instagram feed won’t just be full of likes and comments; it will be full of potential clients and new leads as well.
Bernice Ross, president and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, and the founder of RealEstateWealthForWomen.com is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,500 published articles.
