Developing An Independence Day Email Marketing Strategy

Why run a 4th of July email marketing campaign

Should you bother launching a campaign for a state holiday? Let’s find out!

According to the 2022 survey by the National Retail Federation, 84% of Americans planned to celebrate Independence Day that year — the number hasn’t changed since 2021. The same survey claims that 59% of the US citizens planned to pull off a cookout, a picnic or a barbecue for the 4th of July. Other popular holiday plans were community celebrations and attending a parade with 37% and 13% accordingly. But that’s not the most interesting part.

The NRF data center estimated total Independence Day food expenses as $7.7 billion, with $84.12 spent on food for one person. It seemed like in 2022, when WHO declared the official end of the pandemic, people were still hungry for celebrations — and it’s safe to assume that the spending for Independence Day celebrations will be on the same level this year. That’s why, if you work for a food-related business, an Independence Day email campaign is a good chance to boost your sales.

But what if you don’t sell food? Consider this graph.

This NRF graph shows how many people plan to buy patriotic items. You can see that in 2022, 32% of people planned to buy something specifically for the 4th of July, 41% didn’t, and 26% were unsure. And the “unsure” category is the most interesting to you as an email marketer. If you sell patriotic merchandise, you can run a good email campaign and help these customers make a purchasing decision.

But even if you don’t sell anything relevant to Independence Day, just wishing people a happy holiday and empathizing with your clients’ patriotism will improve relationships with your brand. So, should you send the 4th of July emails? It depends on the business you’re promoting, but our answer is yes anyway.

4th of July email content ideas

It’s easy to send a straightforward sales email that suggests saving 30% on barbecue supplies. But there are more strategies that will work for Independence Day. Let’s dig deeper into possible content ideas for the 4th of July emails. Our selection will help you choose the marketing strategy and the template for emails.

Patriotic emails

The 4th of July is a state holiday — the birth of American Independence. Celebrate the national pride in your holiday email campaign — embrace the patriotic spirit and the historic background of Independence Day by sending solemn and heartwarming emails. Here’s a great example from Tree to Tub. It shows that you can run a great 4th of July email campaign without being aggressive and salesy:

Another awesome strategy is using the “fun facts” format. Road Scholar did exactly that.

Instead of throwing patriotic slogans, Road Scholar made a fun quiz about American history. And just because it’s a non-profit organization doesn’t mean you can’t adapt this strategy for promoting a business. But be careful with this strategy — take both your brand and your target audience into account. Some subscribers might be offended at you for bringing politics into the company policy — that’s why you should seriously think about email content.

Take a look at this example from Thomas Kinkade Studios:

It’s a subtle sales email that suggests a selection of patriotic paintings that you can buy — or just look through these beautiful artworks and feel the holiday spirit.

Sales emails

You’ve probably had some of these in your inbox:

The recipe for a basic but foolproof Independence Day sales email is the red-blue-white color scheme, fireworks, a short greeting, a huge discount number, and a little sense of urgency. This email from Joe Fresh is pretty straightforward — but we like the stylish layout and a good font combination. Content-wise though, there are more options.

The obvious design solution for an Independence Day sales email is playing around with the American flag color scheme. Nokia not only suggested a unique product for the holiday — they also used the color names in their slogan, replacing “blue” with a rhyming word:

Original Stitch followed the same road in their campaign — but instead of offering a limited edition, they suggested buying shirts in the American flag colors and a holiday promo code:

And here’s a very stylish solution from Happy Socks. If you don’t want to turn your email into a star-spangled banner but you still want to convey the holiday spirit, use their Independence Day email as inspo:

Checklist emails

Holiday checklists give you a lot of creative freedom — you can interpret this concept however you want. For example, Brit + Co made a checklist for a 4th of July beach picnic:

It’s both a sales email and a newsletter. Notice different links under each item of the checklist — some of them suggest buying items, others suggest a short guide on DIY-ing them. And, speaking of DIY, Crayola ran an Independence Day campaign that is all about holiday arts and crafts:

You don’t have to make a checklist of holiday items. Here’s a great example from Booking.com — in this Independence Day email, they suggest holiday-appropriate trip ideas:

Reminder emails

This strategy is especially good if you’re promoting a special event or a bonus related to the 4th of July. Check out this email from Sugarfina:

This candy store reminds us of a gift for their loyalty program members. They also suggest designing your own candy gift — this is a limited offer that expires before the 4th of July. But it’s not the only reminder option.

For example, Smart & Final reminds you that the grilling season is coming and it’s time to buy produce for traditional BBQ in advance:

4th of July subject line tips and examples

Every email starts with a subject line. Let’s take a look at options for Independence Day campaigns.

From: Cotton Bureau

Subject: Red, White, and Bureau!

Your subject line choice depends on what exactly you promote or offer. Here are some tips you can use for greetings, promotional emails, and other campaigns.

Play around with holiday symbols. Stars and stripes, red, white, and blue, BBQ, fireworks — come up with a catchy line centered around these Independence Day attributes.

• Red, White, and Booze
• Don’t miss the fireworks!
• To grill or not to grill?

Use the concept of independence. Independence is not just about sovereign countries — it’s also personal empowerment. This idea is especially effective for businesses that have nothing to do with food, travel or entertainment.

• Get 30% off and become independent
• Miss Independent, your time starts now!

Add emojis to draw attention. It depends on your brand’s tone of voice. But if your style guide allows you to use email emoji, go ahead. Aside from standard 🔥 and 🚀, feel free to use American or holiday symbols.

• Let’s celebrate Freedom 🗽
• Get ready for the 4th of July BBQ 🌭

Get straight to the point. If you’re sending holiday sale reminder emails, tell about your offer in a subject line.

• 4th of July sale is coming
• 50% off all shirts on 4th of July
• Save 20% on your Independence Day BBQ

Wish a happy holiday. If you’re sending greeting card emails, this strategy is the best for you.

• Happy 4th of July!
• Happy Independence Day!
• Happy Birthday, America!

These are not all the possible strategies you can use for your Independence Day campaign. You can use some of our ideas, combine them or come up with something unique. But no matter what you choose, always test your subject lines — neglecting this step might drop your open rates.

When to start your Independence Day email marketing campaign

It’s never too early to start planning your campaign. But when it comes to scheduling emails, it depends on factors like your holiday offer, the goal of your campaign, and the business you’re promoting.

Most Independence Day emails are sent right on the 4th of July — but it doesn’t work for all the holiday campaigns. Take a look at this spreadsheet to choose the best option for your holiday emails.

Keep in mind that most of these campaign options aren’t limited to just one email — especially event promotion and reminders. We suggest starting these campaigns at a certain date — but it doesn’t mean you should stop here. Another thing is that we only suggest these dates — we don’t know the peculiarities of your campaign, so use this spreadsheet with caution.

Tips and tricks for successful 4th of July email campaigns

Why reinvent the wheel when you can use best practices from other campaigns? We’ve picked our favorite tips and tricks to use in Independence Day emails.

Use the language of the season

We already mentioned that about subject lines — but it’s applicable to your content copy as well. Use holiday symbols, play around with the American hymn lyrics, and talk about typical Independence Day pastimes like watching fireworks and grilling in the backyard.

Check out this email from Paige:

They built their campaign around the concept of American style in the holiday red-white-blue color palette.

Another example is this email from TJMaxx:

Their campaign slogan takes a twist on the American flag “Red, White, and Blue” nickname by replacing the last color name with a word that rhymes with blue. It’s a popular trick in Independence Day marketing campaigns.

But your take on “Red, White, and Blue” doesn’t have to rhyme — and this email from Avon proves it:

“Beautiful” doesn’t rhyme with “Blue” — but the slight phonetic resemblance is enough for this slogan to work.

Create an irresistible offer

If you want bigger email CTR and better conversion rates, give something valuable to your customers. Here are some tips on crafting an Independence Day offer that will get you those clicks and purchases:

• Segment your emails. People have different needs and values — tailor your offer to different age groups, genders, and so on. For example, if you’re promoting a restaurant, tailor your selection of traditional American dishes to different US states and include staple items for each of them — like Philly cheesesteak or Chicago deep-dish pizza.

• Suggest holiday essentials. It depends on the industry — but if you can, give your customers a selection of holiday items. For example, if you’re an online marketplace, offer grilling equipment, produce for BBQ, sparklers, and patriotic merch.

• Use scarcity. Holiday promo codes that end in a couple hours, limited items and gift bundles, event tickets that are almost sold out — appealing to FOMO is effective in any campaign, so feel free to do it if you can.

Take a look at this holiday offer. Uber suggests scheduling a cab ride in advance so their customers won’t miss anything and get anxious waiting for a taxi.

It’s valuable because it resolves one of the common holiday pain points — traffic and increased demand in taxi apps. It also uses a little FOMO. This campaign implies that if you don’t book a ride and get a confirmation in advance, you might not get a chance to see the fireworks because holidays are a busy time for taxi drivers.

Make sure the email design is in line with the holiday

This rule is applicable to every holiday campaign. For example, it’s reasonable to use the red-green-gold color palette, snowflakes, deers, and pictures of mistletoe branches for Christmas. But email design is especially important for Independence Day — this holiday is all about American symbols and the one and only star-spangled banner.

We like this layout from the 4th of July email by Designmodo:

The minimalist flag drawing, the holiday color palette, and brutalist fonts bring the holiday spirit and show the company’s expertise in design.

But vector graphics are not your only option. Fresh got creative and made the American flag out of their own product boxes — in a casserole, the cookware often used in American cuisine. They also added a whisk and a rolling pin to amplify culinary associations.

And if you don’t feel like using the flag, just the color palette is enough — look at this sleek solution by Clarks:

They also added little stars — it’s an elegant reference to both the flag and traditional Independence Day fireworks. But no matter if you’re going extra or keeping it simple, we always recommend finding good email software integrations and experimenting with different layouts.

Create a sense of urgency

According to Citizen Relations, 60% of people decide on buying something within 24 hours due to the fear of missing out. That’s why FOMO is such a conversion-driving technique. It’s often used in Black Friday or Cyber Monday emails — but this manipulative tactic also works well with holiday offers. Here are some tips on how to create a sense of urgency to boost your sales during Independence Day:

• Set a deadline or offer something scarce.
• Use urgent language — like “fast”, “now” or “today”.
• Use active verbs — like “shop”, “buy”, “act” or “book”.

This email from Boohoo is a great example of using FOMO in Independence Day campaigns:

Notice urgency markers like “Now” and “Hurry, ends soon!”. And the flamboyant design with contrasting colors and the subtle feeling of movement creates a sense of anxiety that helps you make the decision fast and click on that CTA.

Top 4th of July email examples

We’ve already given you a fair amount of references you can use for inspiration. But wait, there’s more — take a look at these Independence Day email campaigns that make us want a hot dog real bad.

Avocode: Become Independent

Avocode is a design-to-code tool that allows cross-platform app-independent import of design files from Figma, Sketch, Adobe products, and everything else. What does this business have to do with the 4th of July?

Avocode’s main selling point has always been its independence from other design platforms. That’s why they built their 4th of July campaign around this concept — it fits both the brand image and the holiday. Avocode also offered a 25% off deal that expires on the 5th of July, which is an awesome use of scarcity. Their Independence Day campaign is a great example of what you can do if your business, like a tech startup, can’t offer essential holiday items.

Spring: Shop everywhere at every time

This online apparel marketplace took an interesting twist on the 4th of July campaigns. Spring built their campaign around the convenience of online shopping — you can make an order even when it’s Independence Day and you’re busy celebrating.

To make this campaign more relatable, they listed several holiday activities. And they made great use of urgency — look at these markers like “Don’t skip the sale” and “It’s ending soon”.

Outback Steakhouse: Delicious 4th of July

And speaking of hot dogs and holiday food in general — we loved this Independence Day campaign from Outback Steakhouse.

This restaurant made a valuable holiday offer — the staple dish, classic favorites, and a party platter to spend the 4th of July with a group of friends or immediate family. But the best part is that they celebrated those who serve the country — and not just soldiers but also doctors and other essential workers. That’s a great initiative — write it down!

Todd Snyder: 4th of July made subtle

How to make a 4th of July email campaign without stars and American flag colors? Ask this menswear brand that focuses on basics.

In this email, Todd Snyder kept their branding intact — reserved and focused on natural colors, as usual. But they added a selection of clothing items in different shades of khaki, referring to the militarist undertones of the holiday. Although it might rub some people the wrong way, we still think that the design choices of this email are impeccable.

Meri Meri: 4th of July meets Pride

This brand of party supplies and decorations started their Independence Day campaign in advance, in June — during the Pride Month:

One of the reasons why we like this email is that it has a careful approach to visuals — it uses great pictures that go well together, and the layout is satisfying. Also, since it’s sent in June, it would be weird to ignore Pride Month — that’s why Meri Meri promoted a charity related to the cause as well. You don’t have to do this if you’re running a 4th of July campaign in advance. But if you don’t want to send too many emails to your customers, this is a decent approach to go for.

Final thoughts

How you run the Independence Day email campaign really depends on the industry — but even if your business can’t offer essential holiday items, you should still send holiday emails to improve customer relationships. Choose one of these content ideas:

• Patriotic emails — celebrate the pride for the free country.
• Sales emails — make a special holiday discount or a limited offer.
• Checklist emails — help your subscribers prepare for the holiday.
• Reminder emails — remind your customers of Independence Day and your special gift to them.

And don’t forget to use our tips to increase your 4th of July sales:

• Use the holiday language — subject line or content copy, don’t be scared of overusing “Red, White, and Blue” or even quote the American hymn.
• Create an irresistible offer — give something valuable to your customers.
• Think of the holiday design — and if you don’t feel like using the American flag, sticking to the appropriate color scheme and throwing a couple of GIFs with fireworks is a great idea too.
• Create a sense of urgency — use FOMO so your customers can make a decision as fast as possible.

This article was originally published in May 2022  and was updated in June 2023 to make it more relevant and comprehensive.