Your October Marketing Doesn’t Need Another Pumpkin

1 day ago

3 min read

It feels like it happens every October. Suddenly, every business on social media discovers pumpkins.

Pumpkin graphics.
Pumpkin puns.
Orange Canva templates. “
Spooktacular savings.”
“Frighteningly good deals.”

And to be clear ... I have nothing against a good Halloween post. BUT, somewhere between the first PSL of September and October 31, a lot of businesses accidentally replace their marketing strategy with a seasonal content calendar. Those are not the same thing.

October is actually a really important marketing month.

For many businesses, October is the beginning of the final push of the year. You have roughly 90 days left to accomplish whatever you said you were going to accomplish back in January.

Remember January? Think back... It's been a while. Back when we had our 2026 goals all laid out... before everything caught fire and/or began moving in fast-forward once again.

October is a great time to stop asking:

“What should we post this week?”

…and start asking:

“What do we actually need our marketing to accomplish before December 31?”

Because those are two VERY different questions.

Before you create another piece of content, look backwards.

Pull up your marketing from the last nine months, and ask yourself one simple question: WHAT ACTUALLY WORKED? You are looking for a scare in October; this is a great place to get it:) Look for:

Not what looked pretty.
Not what got approved fastest.
Not what your competitor is doing.
...What actually moved people?

A few of the digital metrics I encourage you to take a moment to examine include:

Which website pages people are visiting
Which social posts generated conversations, clicks or inquiries
Which emails people opened and clicked
Where your leads came from
Which services people are asking about
Which calls to action are actually getting action
Where people seem to disappear

You might discover that the thing you've been spending the most time creating isn't actually doing much for your business. That is useful (though possibly annoying) information.

Then look at what you're asking people to do.

One of the most common things I see when reviewing a business's digital presence is that they're creating plenty of content, but they're not giving people anywhere to go.

The Instagram account says one thing.
The website says another.
The LinkedIn page hasn't been updated since 2023.
The bio link leads to the homepage.
The homepage has seven competing calls to action.
And the service the business REALLY wants to sell is buried three clicks deep.

Your audience shouldn't need a treasure map.

October is the perfect time to clean this up before the holiday rush and before everyone starts shouting about Black Friday, Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's resolutions (alongside a few... sparse... pumpkin posts).

And please don't confuse consistency with strategy.

Posting three times a week is not a marketing strategy. Neither is making Reels or “being on LinkedIn.” Those are merely tactics.

Strategy is understanding:

Who are we trying to reach?
What do we want them to understand about us?
What problem are we solving for them?
Why should they choose us?
What do we want them to do next?

Then your website, social media, email marketing, advertising and content should all help answer those questions, in a UNIFORM WAY. I don't mean every post needs to sell something; in fact, I encourage selling in no more than 30% of your content. It means everything should feel like it belongs to the same business and is moving toward the same bigger goal.

So yes, post the pumpkin.

Seasonal content still has a place, and October is a great time to have some fun. Make the Halloween Reel, and use the skeleton meme. These are great seasonal and timely content that may generate great reviews. All I am saying is that that shouldn't be your ONLY focus this month.

Your marketing is allowed to have a personality. In fact, I strongly encourage it. But while everyone else is figuring out whether their logo looks better with a witch hat on it, October is a pretty fantastic time to take a harder look at your digital presence.

Because the clock is ticking... January will be here approximately 14 minutes from now. You want an October scare? Look at the to-do list you have before the ball drops on December 31st.

I'd much rather see you enter 2027 knowing exactly what's working, what's not, and where you're going next than start January with: “We really need to get better at marketing this year.” .....Again.

And as always, if you need help, the team at Cinis Marketing is here to assist.