13 Marketing Ideas to Turn Your Luck Around This Friday the 13th

It’s Friday 13th, and you know what that means: if you aren’t a party breaker, you won’t walk underneath a ladder and you will stay out of the way of any black cats. Since your potential clients are already in the mood, you may as well hop on the bandwagon and use this day to grab the attention of a wide audience and promote your brand, sales, and products or services. If you’re looking for ideas, these 13 marketing strategies will do the trick.

1. Remove the fear, embrace Friday the 13th

Hiding under the bed simply won’t cut it. Friday the 13th is a great day to craft unique and creative marketing campaign and scoop up as many extra sales. You don’t believe us? Marketwatch reports that Friday the 13th is traditionally a good day for the stock market, with stocks ticking upwards of 55.63%.

2. Make Friday the 13th an actual lucky day for your customers.

Consumers (always!) have a burning desire to jump on the exclusivity bandwagon and get their hands on something special before they miss out. Take advantage of that. It will help you to create a boost in engagement, increase the relationship with your target audience and reinforce brand presence. That said, it’s a good thing to come up with a variety of unique marketing ideas that will help you stand out from the crowd.

3. Engage your audience on social media in a fun and unusual way.

People pay extra attention during special days — think: visuals, blogs, promos or anything else which can come to your mind. You want these things to go as viral as possible and Friday the 13th-themed content will help you to spread the word immensely. Don’t just post… connect with your customers and follow the golden rule for any marketing campaign — don’t hard sell. Your audience knows you’re after sales, so use this special date focus on things that your audience needs and would find valuable enough.

4. Create SLASHING prices slogan and run sale or promo featuring the number 13.

Give your customers one reason for freaking out on Friday the 13th — your killer sales. How about giving 13% off their purchase? Or even choose 13 products to put on sale? Communicate it so that it resonates with Friday the 13th and gets your customers excited. Discounts and deals can be any business’ secret weapon. Why? Because people love saving money, and they love brands that make that possible.

5. Make a countdown to Friday the 13th and — launch a new product or service.

Teaser campaigns add an air of mystery to the product or service launch. And can you think of a better day for something like that? Make a countdown to Friday the 13th and build hype for your consumers anticipating the launch. This will maximize word-of-mouth credence for your brand and your products.

6. Have a donation day.

Make this day happy for someone and get creative with your offerings. Why not donate 13% of your total sales on Friday the 13th? Or $0.13 on every purchase made to a charity or a cause that fit your product/service. Create a large, and clickable donation button, and keep the form short and sweet.

7. Create a Friday the 13th playlist and share it with your audience.

Some people celebrate Friday the 13th by watching Jason Voorhees, the man behind the mask, while others hiding in their room just waiting for it to end. Why not entertain them with your playlist filled with songs from the movies, games, and tracks that fit the Friday-the-13th vibe. Be creative, let your followers in and create a unique bond that could improve engagement with your business.

8. There’s nothing spooky or unlucky about black cats so embrace a black cat photo contest.

Can you think of a single cat owner who doesn’t have piles of photos of their furry friend? Yup, people love taking pictures of their cats (and we can’t blame them!) but the only thing they love more is sharing those pictures with others. Oh, perfect timing! Create some super simple rules and invite your followers to enter your black cat photo contest. This can be a great way to get in front of new people that perhaps would not have heard of you — while engaging the existing ones.

9. Use horror icons and prepare a killer email campaign to make your audience laugh.

Friday the 13th is a fantastic opportunity to boost business and increase sales, and email marketing should be a key tool in your arsenal. Forget funny memes that are all over the internet anyway. Create an eye-catching newsletter featuring horror icons such as Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger and say things that match who you are.

10. Engage your staff in fun activity and post pics on social media.

If you’re already engaging with your followers and fans, bring some Friday the 13th mood into the mix (and if you’re not actively engaging — there’s no better time to start, right?). Connect with your audience on a more personal level and involve your entire staff in your social media marketing. Take a picture of that guy in the office who hates everything about Friday the 13th. Decorate your office and share photos of your entire team or place a ladder and photograph other people’s reactions. Not only will you have a great time but with one snap from a camera phone, your business could be all over social media — all that while giving people an insightful look into your brand and its culture.

11. Highlight specific products/services in Friday 13th themed collection.

All the big brands are already doing this (Back in 2015, Nike launched Friday The 13th-inspired sneakers called LeBron 13 or Baygon’s playful print campaign with Jason Voorhees that encourages consumers to face their worst fears.) By grouping related products or services into Friday 13th themed collections, you can create a process of discovery for your customers while showing that you have put in the time and effort into providing an enjoyable shopping experience for them.

12. Embrace the day and all the weird superstitious meanings and write a special blog featuring the number 13.

Yes, you should definitely ride that wave. Use anything related to fear, luck, superstition, etc. and write a blog that will convey the message your business sends throughout the year. For example, 13 Reasons why organic is better for your skin, 13 common outbound marketing superstitions, how much of a role does luck play in business, etc.

13. Create a landing page dedicated to Friday 13th on your website.

Your landing page call to action doesn’t have to be boring and all business-like. You can totally have fun with them. And Friday 13th themed landing pages are great for that because you can convert all those superstitious feelings into successful sales. A nice and creatively designed landing page template for announcing your special offers or discounts makes a good foundation for building lasting relationships with your customers all year long.
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Even though many people think Friday the 13th is cursed, you can see that there are numerous ways you can (and should) use on this day to market your brand, products or services. It’s a great opportunity for an agile brand to outshine the competition and catch some extra exposure — while having so much fun!