Carving Pumpkins Online Spurs Viral Marketing Nielsen//NetRatings reported that the first week in October is the busiest time online to prepare for Halloween, with
Halloween-related sites peaking during the week ending October 9th. Buycostumes.com grew 48 percent week-over-week from October 2nd to October 9th, drawing 700,000 unique
visitors in the first week of October, while the following week saw a seven percent drop off in unique audience traffic.
Liquidgeneration.com was the fastest growing (Halloween)
site in the week ending October 9th, increasing 163 percent over the prior week. It was an exception to the first week peak, growing another 45 percent in the week ending October 16th. This site
gave Halloween a high-tech edge, with an interactive flash cartoon purporting to allow visitors to carve their own jack o' lanterns, and asking visitors to send it to friends and family.
The site's significant week-over-week growth can be attributed to effective viral marketing.
During the week ending October 9th, lillianvernon.com, featuring a "Halloween
Hauntquarters," attracted 395,000 unique visitors before it dropped below reporting levels the week ending October 16th.
Kraft Food & Cooking and FamilyFun.com offering Halloween
recipes and decorating tips also peaked in the first week of October, drawing a unique audience of 1.1 million and increasing 48 percent over the previous week. FamilyFun.com saw a
similar rise in traffic in the week ending October 9th.
Halloween-Related Sites and Week-Over-Week Growth (U.S., Home, Unique Audience x 000) |
Site | W/E
10/2/05 | W/E
10/9/05 | W/E 10/16/05
| Week-over-Week 10/2/05- 10/9/05 |
Liquidgeneration.com | 366 | 962 | 1,393 | 163% |
Kraft Food & Cooking | 739 | 1,096 | 831 | 48% |
Buycostumes.com | 474 | 700 | 650 | 48% |
FamilyFun.com | -- | 483 | -- | N/A |
lillianvernon.com | -- | 395 | -- | N/A |
Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings, October 2005 (--: below level) |
For
more information, please visit here.