Halloween post ideas for small businesses

The Halloween posts that work for a small business are the ones people want to answer, share or show up for: a costume vote, a pet parade, a short video of something spooky being made, and clear hours for the weekend. This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and the clocks go back an hour that same night. Below are engagement post ideas, the short videos worth filming in October, two safety points that matter for some businesses, and a five-week plan that starts this weekend.

What Halloween 2026 looks like

A few facts shape the month:

• Saturday, October 31: Halloween on a weekend means trick-or-treating, daytime events and evening parties can all happen on the same day.
• Sunday, November 1, at 2 a.m.: daylight saving time ends and the clocks go back to 1 a.m., so Halloween night gets an extra hour.
• Now: the National Retail Federation's survey, released on September 22, found that 49% of consumers plan to start shopping for Halloween in September or earlier.

The same survey says 74% of Americans plan to celebrate this year, spending $115.14 per person on average. The detail that matters most to a local business: 13% plan to make Halloween purchases at local and small businesses, almost double the 7% of 2016. That is still a small share, so your posts have to give people a reason to choose you.

Engagement posts people actually answer

The easiest Halloween engagement posts ask a question people can answer in one word or one photo. A few that work for almost any local business:

1. The staff costume vote. Post three team members in costume, or three costume ideas, and ask which one wins. Announce the result on Halloween.
2. The pet parade. Ask customers to send their pets in costume. NRF expects $0.92 billion in pet costume spending this year, and the most popular choices are a pumpkin and a hot dog. Share the best ones, with the owner's permission, through the month.
3. Guess the count. The number of candies in the jar on your counter, the number of pumpkins on your porch. People guess in the comments.
4. This or that. Two drinks, two cakes, two nail designs, two haircuts. One word to answer.
5. The scariest thing in our shop. A plumber's worst clog, a mechanic's worst rusted bolt, a cleaner's worst oven. It works because it is true and a little funny.

If any of these comes with a prize, it is a giveaway, and rules apply. Read Instagram's giveaway rules and the state laws before you post one.

Short videos to film in October

Halloween is visual, and a ten-second clip often says more than a decorated graphic. Here are video ideas that are true to the season and to your work:

• The transformation. A salon doing a Halloween look, a face painter at work, a baker piping spider webs. Start with the finished result for the first second, then show how it was made.
• The decorating time-lapse. Your shop window or patio going from plain to haunted. Prop the phone up and let it run.
• The team walk-in. Everyone in costume walking into frame one at a time. It takes a minute to film and becomes your Halloween day post.
• The spooky pour or slice. A black latte, a blood-orange drink, a cake cut to show what is inside. Restaurants, bars and bakeries get this one.
• The pumpkin carve. For any business with a pumpkin on the counter: carve it on camera, end on the lit pumpkin at closing time.
• Halloween night itself. Trick-or-treaters at your door, with parents' permission and no faces of children unless a parent says yes in writing.

Film vertically, near a window or under your brightest light. Our guide to filming Reels on your phone covers length, light and sound. If the song you wanted is missing from your business account, this article on music for business accounts explains why.

Two safety points for some businesses

If you hand out candy. The Teal Pumpkin Project from FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) asks people to offer non-food trinkets and toys in a separate bowl, so children with food allergies can go trick-or-treating too. If your street or shopping center holds a trick-or-treat event, a post saying you will have a non-food bowl is useful to parents and shows you thought about them.

If you sell beauty products or costumes. The FDA says all contact lenses must be prescribed by a doctor, decorative ones included, and that lenses not prescribed by a doctor are illegal. It tells people never to buy contact lenses from a beauty supply store, a novelty store or a Halloween store. So skip the "complete the look with colored contacts" post unless you are an eye doctor. This is general information, not legal advice: the FDA page below has the details, and a lawyer can answer questions about your shop.

A five-week plan, starting this weekend

On Sunday, November 1, post a thank-you with the best photos of the weekend. With the clocks going back, a "you got an extra hour, come spend it with us" post works for a brunch spot, a cafe or a gym.

If you want more videos than your plan has room for

Most of this month's best ideas are short videos, and October can need more of them than usual. Extra Short Videos is a monthly add-on to any of our plans: you upload the clips from your phone, and we cut them into 4 more finished short videos a month for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, with captions on screen and music, for $79 a month. You approve each one before it is posted. See Extra Short Videos.