Halloween is a holiday that people of all ages can enjoy. So it’s no wonder many businesses and individuals host Halloween-related events each year. There are many benefits to starting a spooky attraction such as a haunted house. However, there will be some planning and preparation needed to make it a success.
Paying particular attention to detail and taking a guided approach to promotions can help make your event both fun and profitable. With the right strategy and management tools, your haunted house can be a booming attraction.
In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of properly managing and promoting your Halloween event(s). Then we’ll walk you through three ways you can make your haunted house a success. Let’s get started!
Article Outline
Creeping into the Haunted House Business
Halloween is an incredibly festive time of year. Many people get into the spirit and look forward to partaking in themed events and activities, which presents an opportunity for businesses of all kinds.
If you’ve never created a haunted house or a Halloween-themed event before, you probably have a lot of questions about how to go about it. The good thing about haunted houses is that they can be successful at any scope or size.
It can be a small, do-it-yourself affair for the local community, for example, or a large attraction that is part of an annual festival. Regardless of where your haunted house falls on the scale, there are many ways to make it an enjoyable and memorable event.
However, if your primary goal of hosting a haunted house is to make money, it’s essential to focus on how you’ll promote and manage it. To cover the investment costs and make a profit, you’ll want to attract as many guests as possible.
3 Ways to Make Your Haunted House a Success
The good news is that there are a handful of techniques you can use to create a haunted house that makes you money, while also offering a good clean scare. Let’s take a look at three ways to go about preparing for the event.
1. Choose the Perfect Location and Props
When it comes to haunted houses, the setting is everything. So it’s helpful to choose a location that lends a helping hand in establishing an eerie environment.
You can build a haunted house inside or outdoors. Of course, not everyone has access to an abandoned, dilapidated house, or the budget to cover a sizeable custom structure.
So if those aren’t an option, you may consider creating your event outdoors. Wooded areas, for example, are naturally creepy at night. Regardless of the location you choose, be sure to consult with local agencies and obtain any permits you may need to host the event.
The next step in creating a successful haunted house is to choose the right props. Check with Halloween and party stores for items such as fake skeletons, cobwebs, and smoke and sound machines.
Another option is to browse local thrift stores for used items and antiques that could help set the mood. Old electronics such as radios and TVs, for instance, could be used to create static noise.
2. Be Strategic About Ticket Prices
As we mentioned earlier, if you want to make a profit from your haunted house event, it’s critical to consider the price of starting one. This includes the cost of materials, props, location permits, etc.
To increase event earnings, it’s a smart idea to be strategic about how you price the tickets. Many factors influence how much you charge for your event. To determine the appropriate amount, you might consider looking at your competition to see what they’ve charged in past years.
Another method is to estimate the number of attendees you think your haunted house will attract. Of course, there’s no way of knowing this exact number before the actual event, but a ballpark projection gives you an idea of what the ticket price will need to be in order to cover your investment costs.
You may also want to consider offering a discount to people who purchase tickets in advance, as this can help inform attendance estimations. You can do this by using a tool such as Event Espresso’s Ticket Selector feature:
Our plugin lets you set multiple pricing options for event attendees. This makes it easy to change prices as the event gets closer.
3. Create a Website to Promote and Manage the Event
Once you have the details of your haunted house ironed out, it’s time to promote it. Creating a website via a self-hosted platform such as WordPress.org lets you reach a wider audience to boost awareness about the event.
Another benefit of using WordPress for your event website is that you can add plugins that help with event management. As we mentioned, you can use our Event Espresso plugin to make ticketing easier:
You can use it to add promotions and discount codes to your website, for example, as well as to enable printable tickets. The Ticket Scanning and Attendance Tracking Mobile App makes it simple to scan tickets at the door and track attendance information with ease.
You can download the free version of Event Espresso via the WordPress Plugin Directory. To access the premium features that really help make your haunted house a success, you can choose from the multiple pricing plans on our website. If you need help, we offer installation instructions to reference as you set up your ticketing system.
Conclusion
Halloween is one of the best times of year to host fun, festive events. However, with so many individuals and organizations offering Halloween-related activities, it’s important to promote and manage your haunted house in a way that attracts as much attention as possible.
As we discussed in this article, there are three main ways you can make your haunted house a success:
- Choose the perfect location and props.
- Be strategic about ticket prices.
- Create a website to promote and manage the event.
Do you have any questions about running a haunted house? Let us know in the comments section below!
Image credit: Unsplash.