Most pharmacy owners probably don’t consider Halloween a prime time to market their businesses. But you don’t need an obvious connection to the holiday to be part of your community’s Halloween action. With some enthusiasm and creativity, you can use Halloween to be more active in your community, to engage more of your customers and to get more foot traffic in your store.
Get in the Halloween spirit
Have fun with Halloween! You can decorate your store, set up special displays or set out a candy bowl. Consider having a Halloween sale or even a “candy drive” to collect candy to send overseas to troops on behalf of your community. A little fun goes a long way to give patients a good experience in your store.
Participate in community events
Does your community offer Halloween events for children? Can local business participate? Consider adding your pharmacy as a stop on your town’s trick-or-treat route, or setting up a booth at a local event. This will allow you to easily connect with customers who might not have been to your pharmacy before. You can hand out promotional materials along with candy or other Halloween treats.
Stay active on social media
Don’t neglect your Facebook page during October–you can use the time leading up to Halloween to post nutrition and safety tips, advertise promotions or even show off your staff. Do your employees wear costumes on Halloween? Post a picture! Are you handing out candy in your store? Let your followers know–they’ll stop in! You could even hold a contest over social media, like a costume contest or Halloween trivia, in the days and weeks before the 31st.
Provide alternatives to traditional Halloween activities
For your customers with diabetes or other chronic diseases that may make it more difficult to enjoy Halloween, promotions involving candy or trick-or-treating will not necessarily be appealing. You can help make Halloween more enjoyable, or at least easier, for them by offering educational workshops or selling sugar-free candy. Help parents by providing candy plans for their children with diabetes and hand out healthy snacks along with, or even instead of, candy in your store.
Educate
Hand out educational materials with each prescription or store purchase. These can be general (how to safely trick-or-treat) or more specific (healthier candy alternatives). The topic should be relevant to Halloween, interesting and above all, should boast your pharmacy’s name and information. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer a variety of Halloween tips on their website, if you’re unsure what to cover.
By celebrating Halloween, you can show that your pharmacy is committed to the community, is an important source of information and is a local business worth supporting. It can help strengthen your relationship with your customers, and get them excited not just about Halloween, but about your pharmacy, too!
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An HDA member, PBA Health operates its own NABP-accredited secondary wholesaler with more than 6,000 SKUs, including brands, generics, narcotics CII-CV, cold-storage products, and over-the-counter (OTC) products — offering the lowest prices in the secondary market.
