As an independent community pharmacy owner, you probably don’t consider Halloween a prime time to market your business.
But promoting Halloween can drive traffic to your pharmacy.
Halloween isn’t so different from any other pharmacy event you might host at your business, like a health awareness event or an eye health event.
Like other events, Halloween offers an opportunity for you to:
- Drive new patients to discover your pharmacy
- Promote loyalty to your business
- Integrate your business into the community
Use Halloween to market your pharmacy. Attract more patients during this fun holiday season with these pharmacy Halloween promotion ideas.
6 Pharmacy Halloween Promotion Ideas to Engage Patients
1. Get in the Halloween spirit
Attract patients to your pharmacy by demonstrating creativity and enthusiasm for the holiday.
Your excitement will engage patients and improve their experience at your pharmacy, which makes it more likely they’ll visit your pharmacy again.
Ideas for getting in the Halloween spirit:
- Decorate your pharmacy’s interior and window displays with Halloween-themed decorations and colors
- Hand out candy to kids when they visit
- Play Halloween music
- Offer non-candy treats for kids with food allergies, like stickers or pencils
2. Participate in or host a community event
Show your pharmacy’s community spirit this Halloween.
Participate in an event already going on in your community, or host a Halloween event at your pharmacy.
Halloween community event ideas for your pharmacy:
- Let kids trick-or-treat at your pharmacy
- Set up a booth at a fall carnival or festival
- Host a pumpkin decorating event
- Have a costume contest
Don’t forget to hand out fun giveaways and promotional materials at the event.
3. Promote applicable non-seasonal products
For some pharmacies, selling seasonal products for Halloween isn’t feasible.
So, ask yourself if these seasonal items fill a need or if they keep customers out of your competition’s stores, Gabe Trahan, senior director of store operations and marketing at the National Community Pharmacy Association (NCPA), said in his latest One-Pager Tip.
Instead of focusing on seasonal products, find ways to market non-seasonal products you carry during Halloween.
Non-seasonal products to promote during Halloween:
- Makeup
- Makeup remover
- Nail polish
- Hairspray
- Flashlights
- Toothbrushes
“With those items, there’s no need for seasonal packaging or a discount on Nov. 1,” Trahan said.
4. Be smart about candy sales
Your pharmacy likely can’t compete with the discount pricing that chain pharmacies offer on Halloween candy.
So, play it smart with what you stock.
Increase candy sales by focusing on best-selling candy varieties and specialty varieties, such as sugar-free candy for diabetic patients or gluten-free candy for people with gluten allergies.
5. Stay active on social media
Social media is a great way to let patients know how your pharmacy celebrates Halloween.
And, promoting the fun things your pharmacy does can drive more traffic to your business.
Tips to promote your pharmacy on social media:
- Post trick-or-treating safety tips
- Share pictures of your pharmacy’s Halloween-themed décor
- Invite patients to community events you’re hosting or participating in
- Host a Halloween-themed contest for your followers
6. Highlight cold and flu products
Halloween falls right in the middle of cold and flu season. Trick-or-treaters experiencing symptoms will need to find relief.
Your pharmacy can capitalize on this opportunity to sell more cold and flu products.
Create an end cap of cold medicines, cough syrups, lozenges, and tissues. Tie in your Halloween décor and use creative signage, like “Don’t let your cold trick you. Treat yourself to relief!”
Get ready for a fun and successful Halloween with these pharmacy Halloween promotion ideas!
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