What’s a better time to get creative, funny, and personal with your customers than Trick or Treat season? With its eerie balance of spooky and fun, Halloween is a great time to spice up your customer interactions and add a smile to their faces! Served right, Halloween voicemail greetings (and on-hold greetings) are the perfect icebreaker and curiosity hook for any prospect calling your business. Your company will immediately stand out amidst competitors and get points for emotional engagement — the pillar of modern marketing.
So how do you keep that balance between professional and creative, spooky but fun, and make sure your Halloween voicemail greetings stay respectful for your audience?
We asked professionals from various industries to share their favorite tried and tested Halloween voicemail greetings and the impressions their business had from using them.
Here’s how to adapt these Halloween voice greetings to your own business or use them as a jumpstart for personal creativity.
1. Tried and tested by James Pearson
CEO and Small Business Evangelist, eVenturing Enterprises
“Thank you for calling Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We can’t come to the fellytone right now, but we exactly know what you need. We are casting a Patronus charm after this call to bring a messenger right to your doorstep, just please leave your name and number. Happy Halloween!”
Backstage story
“Last year, we have come up with a Harry Potter-inspired voicemail concept. In the movie, Patronus spell is one way of sending a message from wizard to another wizard through a spirit guardian. Since my daily business transaction goes with entrepreneurs and business owners like me, we’ve come up with this idea of manifesting ourselves as Harry’s crew.
“This voicemail made a funny and remarkable impression on our clients, especially for Potterheads like us. Anyway, Halloween is all about fun and creativity, and it comes in many ways. So might as well do something for your business that people will surely remember.”
How to adapt to your business
Do you have a favorite magical hero or story (think Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, the Wizard of Oz, etc.)? Take a page out of your favorite story — quite literally — and adapt your voicemail greeting as in James’ example above. The result will sound magical, fun, and professional.
2. Tried and tested by Dennis Bell
Founder, CEO, Byblos Coffee
“Hello, you have reached the 6th sense analytics. I know who you are and why you’ve called, so at the sound of your tone, say your word, and hang up the phone immediately.”
Backstage story
“[Halloween voicemail greetings are] a fun idea to use in my business as it’s relevant to me as an IT expert. Callers were like, ‘okay, I got to leave a message and hang up right now!’ Their messages were so funny that they also leave their messages the same way.
“My clients had shared their experiences on social media and tagged my business in it. It’s amazing how I got more followers because of that. I was able to build my brand and engage my customers too. I do that to have a twist than the standard voicemail, and it really did make a difference.”
How to adapt to your business
Find a theme that resonates with your industry and do some fun things with it. Metaphors and associations work best with Halloween voicemail greetings. You can see above how “6th sense analytics” worked perfectly for an IT company specializing in analytics but tweak accordingly for your business. For example, an online pet shop owner can be momentarily out due to a storm of black cats/bats while a bookshop can be stocking up on magic scrolls and spells.
3. Tried and tested by Mason Culligan
Founder and CEO, Mattress Battle Inc.
During a call, put the caller on hold for a minute. For your on-hold greeting, record a spooky voice whispering, “I’m right behind you!” Enjoy callers’ reactions when you get back on the line!
Backstage story
“I called a client of mine, and when we’re talking, he puts me on hold for a minute. Then, I heard a creepy sound of a guy that whispers – ‘I’m right behind you’. It gives me chills as I automatically look behind me, only to find nothing. I thought someone was watching me from behind. When my client got back, I told him that his on-hold message creeps me out. He apologized, and he confessed that he put me on hold for that reason!
“I had done this to my business too, and my callers’ reaction was the same as what I reacted. They didn’t put the phone down even if they find it weird and creepy! They waited for me to come back in line and check what is that voice all about. It was fun as I get almost all the reactions that I wanted for them to feel.”
How to adapt
If you’re willing to risk to spook your customers out a bit, you can tweak your on-hold message to Halloween-themed. This may not be right for every industry, so keep it short and more on the spooky than the creepy side. Plus, be sure to monitor your customers’ reactions along the way.
4. Tried and teste by Rebecca Adams
Co-Founder, My Alchemy Skin Care
We’re crazy and we’re spooky
Mysterious and kooky
Please leave your name and number
For the Adams Family.
After the beep
(snap snap)
You can speak
(snap snap)
da da da da!
da da da da!
da da da da!
(snap snap)
Backstage story
“I recorded a singing Halloween message on my home phone and my piano business line before retiring from teaching. I used a keyboard with an organ sound to accompany. Being the mom in the Adams Family, I just couldn’t resist. My Adams Family message got a lot of laughs from everyone who called. It wasn’t unusual for parents and students to call back several times just to hear the message. We had a lot of fun with it.”
How to adapt to your business
Are you the owner of a “special” name/last name (think magic/spooky movie characters, book characters, cartoon and comics heroes)? Apply it to your Halloween-themed business voicemail greetings — even if you do something less fancy than the Adams family above, just a simple pun will put a smile on your callers’ faces.
5. Tried and testes by Paul Lewis
CEO/Founder, Scrum Explainer
“We’re out digging up customers for the business. Leave a message at the howl.”
Backstage story
“My customers loved it. The moment we gave them a return call, most of them asked – “How’s the digging going?” Then a lot of laughing happens. It makes the bonds and personal connections grow stronger. And the best part is, it gave hype and a good impression to the new customers saying that it’s the first time they heard such spooky and funny Halloween voicemail greetings.
“Business voicemail is one of the prime ways of connecting to your customers. This will do wonders in carving an impeccable impression on them especially when you’re not available to take the call. And tweaking it during holidays will make it more appealing while bringing the holiday spirit as well.”
How to adapt to your business
A Halloween voicemail greeting that says you’re out digging up a grave is kind of …too much. You don’t want to creep people out or worse, inadvertently hurt someone’s feelings. So instead of going for creepy, go for just a bit spooky. A great idea is to use a simple play of words around “hunting for customers”.
6. Tried and tested by Israel Gaudette
Founder, Link Tracker Pro
“This is a very scary place, leave your name and phone number after the scream and we’ll haunt you with a return call.” – with a dog howling before and after the message plus a lot of screams in the background.
Backstage story
This spooky greeting had my voicemail overflowing with messages. It contains a mix of business-related, funny reactions and even blank messages. And when I made several return calls, I found out that those blank ones are made by my loyal customers just having fun listening to the voicemail greeting.
“Voicemail is the first point of contact for every potential customer for your business. Whether or not it will leave a good first impression depends on the content and tone of your voicemail greetings. Always remember that a good voicemail does not depend only on what you say but also on how you say it. Make sure to put a personal touch on it, and you’ll be off to a good start.”
How to adapt to your business
If you’d like to spice up your business voicemail greetings but don’t know how to start, doing something simple can already make you stand out. Remember it’s not so much about what you say as how you say it!
Key takeaways for recording custom Halloween voicemail greetings for your business
- Use your favorite book, movie, or song as inspiration for Halloween voicemail greetings!
- Stay close to your industry and think of a theme that resonates with it. For example, if you’re an educational organization for kids, think of a magic cartoon/show that kids love.
- Go for magic (slightly spooky is fine) over creepy. No one wants to be scared out of their wits by your business phone or think you’re some kind of creep. Keep it magic and fun, and you’ll always be in good taste.
- Relax and be creative. If you don’t feel like doing a whole lot, just using music can be a great way to add a bit of seasonal spirit to your business voicemail or on-hold message. Record a slightly tweaked Halloween voicemail/on-hold message (a few “magic” words should be enough) over a Halloween soundtrack or song, and your callers will be sure to never hang up without a voicemail.
Discover more
Have you picked your favorite Halloween voicemail greeting yet?
If that’s a yes, save and complement this post with a fantastic guide to crafting perfect business voicemail greetings for every occasion.
And check out our out-of-this-world fast, mobile, and budget-friendly phone system for small business. We’ve got some spooky good deals going on right now!
Take a look below or learn more about how VoIP works!
