Changing leaves, the start of a new school year, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving… the fall season holds a lot for everyone. And for marketers or small business owners that handle their own marketing, it’s an extra busy time. What if Hibu could take a little bit off your plate for you?
Well, that’s exactly what we’re here to do with this list of fall marketing ideas! From fall marketing themes to promotion and giveaway ideas to even a few marketing slogans, we’ll help you plan out your fall marketing strategy from start to finish so you can enjoy the season with a little less stress.
[Related: 19 Fresh Summer Promotion Ideas for Small Businesses]
Fall marketing themes
To create the most consistent experience for your customers, you might consider choosing one overarching theme for your fall marketing and sticking to it throughout the season. Here are some fun, popular ones you can steal or use as inspiration to come up with a theme of your own:
- Falling leaves: Lean into nature and the theme of renewal and change with an overall theme of falling leaves. Use a fall-themed color palette of greens, oranges, yellows, reds, and brown, along with nature iconography.
- Holiday countdowns: Between fall and the beginning of winter, there are plenty of holidays to get excited about. Hype your customers up by counting down the days with a countdown graphic on your site, countdown-themed sales, and even teaser posts on social media hinting at something big to come.
- Cozy living: Cooler fall weather means it’s time to get cozy. There are tons of ways to use this theme depending on what kind of business you run. A boutique could lean into sweater weather or cozy living, a restaurant could create a cozy menu full of soups and comfort food, and a café could lean into warm, fall-flavored drinks.
- All pumpkin everything: There’s no doubt that pumpkins are the star of the show for the fall season. Pumpkin spice, pumpkin pie, jack-o’-lanterns… make them the star of your marketing too by using them on your website, on your menu, in your storefront décor, and more.
- Tailgating season: Between high school, college, and the pro season, football and fall are pretty much interchangeable. Appeal to fans by using a tailgating theme for your marketing this season.
- Spooky vibes: Play up the Halloween season in your fall marketing with some spooky graphics, chilling slogans, and sales so good they’re scary!
[Related: Why Brand Consistency Matters for Local Business Marketing]
Popular fall marketing ideas
If you don’t have the extra time to come up with some fall promotion ideas on your own, we’re here for you. Here are some popular fall marketing ideas to choose from that you can use throughout the fall months.
1. Create seasonal content
Newsletters, blog posts, infographics, guides, and checklists can all be themed for the fall season. Think about what your business is doing differently now that summer is over. Are you running new sales and promotions? Are you offering a discount on “summer” items? Do you switch up your service offers (for example, a landscaper might offer leaf clean-up in the fall)? Use your content to deliver all that new information.
2. Run a “bundle & save” campaign
A “bundle & save” campaign is a good strategy to try this fall for a couple of reasons. First, it plays into the “cozy” vibes that the season and cooler weather bring to mind, so it is very on brand for this time of year. Bundle things that play into this like, a hot cocoa and pumpkin muffin for one low price, a discount on a scarf if they also buy a hat, or buy three snow tires and get the fourth one free. Second, this type of campaign can also help you clear out summer inventory before the fall season. For example, a “summer send-off” bundle that includes items like a beach towel, sunscreen, and sunglasses, or a free air filter with a final summer A/C inspection.
3. Celebrate fall holidays on social media
This is a simple one that doesn’t require a ton of effort. The premise is simple, post graphics or photos for each of the fall holidays that wish your customers the best on those special days! Some popular fall holidays you can create posts for include:
- Labor Day
- Oktoberfest
- Halloween
- Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving
4. Give out seasonal advice and tips
Sales and discounts might be flashy, but you can’t run one every day of the week. Educational content provides a good balance and reminds customers and potential customers that you’re an expert in your field. So, as the fall season comes around, use it as a chance to give out seasonal advice and tips. For example, an autobody shop might send an email for needed car maintenance before the cold weather comes, or a landscaper could send a newsletter full of tips about how to prepare plants before the first frost.
5. Sponsor a local team or sporting event
As a local business, supporting your community is important. That is where the majority of your customers will come from, after all. Show your support by sponsoring a local sporting event or team this fall season. Not only will you be giving back to the community, but you’ll also be putting your business name in front of the very audience who will be the most likely to need your services.
[Related: 3 Reasons Why You Should Use Online Content to Attract Customers to Your Local Business]
October promotion ideas
October is the first full month of the fall season and Halloween month. Studies show that 72% of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween. Top holiday activities include handing out candy (67%), decorating their home or yard (52%), dressing up in costume (49%), carving a pumpkin (43%), and throwing or attending a party (29%). Here are some October promotion ideas to help you capitalize on the first part of fall:
6. Decorate your storefront
If you have a physical location or storefront, fall is the perfect opportunity to spruce it up with some seasonal décor. Whether you go all out with the 12-foot skeleton or keep it simple with a few pumpkins out front, your customers will appreciate the change in scenery to get them in the holiday mood.
7. Pass out branded treat bags
When you think about Halloween, trick-or-treating is one of the first things that comes to mind. Use this tradition as an opportunity to participate in a community event and get your name out there by passing out treat bags with your business name or logo. Don’t have a physical storefront? Send them out with online orders or check to see if your city has a “trunk-or-treat” event that you can participate in.
8. Hold a costume contest in-store or online
Similarly to decorating and trick-or-treating, costumes are another huge part of the Halloween season. Play on that by holding a costume contest for your customers. You can do this in your physical storefront if you have one by asking people to shop dressed up, or offer an extra discount off their purchase, or entering anyone who comes in wearing a costume into a raffle. If you don’t have a physical store, send an email or create a social media post asking customers to submit a photo of themselves in costume and have your employees vote on the best one, or do a random selection for a prize like a gift card for your product or service. This helps drum up engagement and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
9. Celebrate Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is a yearly beer festival that takes place in late September/early October. It has German origins, but many cities and towns in the U.S. have adopted the tradition. Depending on what kind of business you own or run, you can take advantage of this yearly tradition by celebrating as well. For example, restaurants might offer a discount on their beer or create a specialized Oktoberfest menu. Or a bakery might offer beer bread for a limited time. If your business doesn’t lend itself to this kind of promotion, look into volunteering for the Oktoberfest celebration happening in your area.
10. Acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month and something many companies and organizations choose to acknowledge. Your business can join in that acknowledgement with a monetary donation, by turning a popular product pink with part (or all) of the proceeds going toward breast cancer research, or by gathering your employees to volunteer with breast cancer awareness organizations.
[Related: 3 Ways to Personalize Your Small Business Marketing]
November promotion ideas
Keep your fall marketing strategy rolling after October and the Halloween season, you’ll want to plan out some promos for the next month, too. Here are a few November promotion ideas for you to draw inspiration from, including popular November holidays and beyond:
11. Run a Veterans Day sale
Veterans Day is observed every year in the U.S. on November 11th. Celebrate with your customers by running some sort of sale or discount. Discounts, like a percentage off a purchase, product, or service, works for all types of businesses. For example, “Enjoy 11% off your next lawn care service this Veterans Day!” or “Happy Veterans Day! Here’s 35% off your order to celebrate!”
12. Offer free shipping for Thanksgiving
The other big holiday happening in November is, of course, Thanksgiving. It’s another great opportunity to run an enticing promotion like free shipping. Studies show that online consumers are two times more likely to value free shipping over fast shipping. So, not only is it a great way to acknowledge a special occasion, but it could also help buy you some leniency on slightly longer delivery lead times due to employees being out for the holiday.
13. Hold a pie-baking contest
Thanksgiving dessert is all about the pies. Pay homage to this special part of the season by holding a fun pie-baking contest! There are lots of different ways you could make this work for your type of business. Ask for entries from your customers and have employees do a taste-test to determine a winner, run the contest just based on looks alone with customers submitting photos of their creations via email or social media, or flip the script and have employees submit pie entries with your customers voting in-store or online to determine a winner. Whatever way you spin it, it’s a great way to raise engagement.
14. Launch a Black Friday campaign
Though not an official holiday, Black Friday is definitely a consumer holiday. Customers expect deep discounts on their favorite products and services to prepare for Christmas, and they’re ready to buy. In the US, consumers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday 2024, confirming a 10.2% increase from the previous year. Use the day to offer enticing sales or promotions that will attract new customers.
15. Introduce a new holiday product/service/menu offering
Fall is the season of change, which makes it the perfect time to switch up your inventory with a new, holiday-specific offering. Whether it’s a new menu item, a new product, or a new service, it’s an opportunity to reinvigorate loyal customers and entice new customers to try out your business for themselves.
[Related: Online vs. Offline Marketing — How Each Impacts Your Local Business]
Fall giveaway ideas
Another great strategy for this time of year is to do some giveaways. Halloween is all about passing out candy, and Thanksgiving means inviting family and friends into your home for a meal … it really is just a season of giving. So why not give back to the customers who have been supporting you all year? Here are some ideas:
16. Teacher appreciation
Fall brings the start of a new school year, which means teachers are readying their classrooms for a group of new students. 97% of teachers said their budget was not enough to cover their classroom needs. Provide them with a little extra support by doing a giveaway of a monetary donation for a few locally nominated teachers in your area.
17. Fall-themed gift basket
Load up a fall-themed gift basket with items like hot cocoa, a fuzzy blanket, slippers, a pumpkin spice candle, and whatever other fall goodies you can think of to give away on social media. Ask customers to like a post or share your page for entries. This is a great way to elevate your engagement and get more eyes on your business.
18. Local sporting team pass or tickets
Support a local team or school district by purchasing and then giving away a few home game tickets or season passes. Not only will you draw some more business by offering a chance to win with a purchase, but you’ll also help fill the stands at these local sporting events.
19. “Guess the candy corn” challenge
A classic guessing game gets a fall twist when you fill a jar with candy corn and ask customers to take a guess at how many pieces there are! Keep the jar in-store and/or post it on social media so everyone can participate. The winning prize is up to you, but something like a store discount or gift certificate helps you bring in more business.
20. Fall raffle
A raffle is another great way to encourage purchasing this fall. Offer a ticket entry for every purchase or dollar amount spent with your business and hold a random drawing for the winner. What you choose to give away is up to you, but popular options would be tickets to sporting events, a collection of gift certificates for other local businesses, and tech gadgets.
[Related: How to use Facebook contests for small business marketing]
Fall marketing slogans
Your fall marketing just isn’t complete without the right messaging to pull it all together. The possibilities are endless, but here are a few popular ones to get you started. Use them in graphics, email subject lines, social media captions, and more:
21. “Fall into great savings this season”
Use this when offering great deals, discounts, and sales this season.
22. “Open up for a scary good sale”
This one is great to use around Halloween!
23. “See what’s new this fall”
Perfect for those new seasonal menus, products, and services we mentioned earlier.
24. “These finds are a total score”
This one plays into a football or tailgating theme nicely.
25. “We’re thankful for customers like you! Enjoy XX% off”
Use this slogan on Thanksgiving or Black Friday when you have a discount planned.
[Related: 45 Summer Taglines to Brighten Up Your Seasonal Marketing]
How Hibu can help with your digital marketing all year ‘round
Sure, planning and executing seasonal campaigns like this can be fun, but that doesn't mean every part of digital marketing is. It also means setting up ad campaigns, managing your listings across dozens of different directories, and keeping your website updated. Those are things you don’t always have time for as a small business owner.
But Hibu is here to help. We’ll manage every part of your digital marketing … from local SEO to your website, to your online reputation, and even your advertising campaigns. When you let Hibu handle all that (and more!) for your local business, you can put more time into planning out seasonal promos like these ones.
Want to learn more about all the ways Hibu can help your local business grow? Complete our short Get Started form or call us today at 877-237-6120 for a free consultation.
