Holidays are the time when people spend more: a recent study by NRF says that last year Americans spent more than $8 billion on Halloween preparations. This year the figure is going to exceed $10 billion. This year, 82% of Americans with kids are planning to celebrate Halloween. No matter young or old, people want to get in the Halloween spirit, and they are ready to spend money on creating it. That’s why marketers should not miss such an opportunity.
Halloween expenditure tends to grow every year. In 2021 the Americans are planning to spend $2.1 billion more compared to 2020. Source: Statista
Moreover, Halloween is the perfect time to have fun and forget about seriousness! Switch on your creativity and try to represent your products and services in a unique, festive way, attracting attention to your promotions and discounts. You can get such engagement rates that were impossible to imagine.
Sure, if you don’t produce sweets, costumes, or make horror movies, Halloween may not seem a good occasion to remind customers about yourself. Let’s not jump to conclusions: there are thousands of creative ways for e-commerce marketers to join an overall festive atmosphere. If you do email marketing for a small business and don’t know where to start yet, continue reading to see some great Halloween emails…if you dare! 😈
Halloween and email marketing make a perfect combo! To benefit from overall holiday excitement, you’ll just need to shower your customers with discounts and attractive offers, using engaging and memorable newsletters. Let’s see how to do it right.
The value proposition is the most important part of every marketing email. A great decision is to offer your customers an attractive discount –– but do that in a special Halloween way!
Create a discount code with an extra holiday-themed touch: choose one of those spooky words –– Halloween, pumpkin, boo, October, witch, potion, magic, etc.
Source: Mass Mail Software
Make sure your discount code is easy to find. Highlight it with bright festive colors and use a special Halloween font. It’s best to put the code in the middle of the email or in another visible place. Create a phrase that is simple, easy to remember, and quintessentially Halloween.
Discount code is a nice trick to engage customers and increase opens. Don’t be afraid to get playful with your code word and give your email a boost of personality with other creative options.
This email creators added some creativity and chose an unconventional word that’s still Halloween-related. Source: Really Good Emails
A subject line can be the make or break for your email marketing campaigns at any time of the year. Halloween is the perfect time to play with words and have some fun with the subject lines. Remember: this day the worse is better! Puns about spooktacular discounts and monster sales create the appropriate festive atmosphere.
People usually welcome such plays on words and treat them with a smile. So, don’t become one of those boring e-commerce corporations with serious email campaigns all year round! Add some festive flavor to your subject line and don’t forget to highlight your offer and the benefit of getting your product.
These are the general recommendation for Halloween-themed subject lines:
Some great examples:
If it’s still hard for you to craft a Halloween subject line, choose a couple of the most appropriate variants and do A/B testing to see which one of them works best for your customers.
The first thing that comes to mind is to choose one of the common Halloween symbols for your newsletter: cats, witches, potion pots, zombies, ghosts, etc. However, you can show a little more ingenuity in your campaign.
Opt for simple layouts that are both good-looking and easy to customize. Since Halloween is more of a visual holiday, choose designs with bright graphic elements and images to wish your audience a Happy Halloween.
Look at this marketing campaign by Framebridge:
Source: Really Good Emails
It reminds us about traditional family values, but with a certain holiday spirit. We see two girls in witch hats watching Halloween classics on TV, and feel the coziness of celebrating this autumn holiday in a close family circle. Also, you can see another e-commerce marketing trick we’ve already mentioned: creating a sense of urgency. A limited-time offer encourages customers to make faster decisions.
Our common tip for those who create Halloween marketing campaigns is to think about how to connect this holiday with your brand. Make your products a part of the holiday, and your customers will be in awe of your Halloween marketing campaign. Don’t forget about the color scheme of the holiday, and add orange and black accents to the newsletter’s design.
Look how Slice represented their pizzas in a festive way:
Source: Really Good Emails
As we already mentioned, Halloween marketing emails are more about visuals than the text content. Use fewer words, but make your message catchy and interesting.
It is appropriate and effective to use Halloween-themed puns and jokes. This is the time to forget about being serious! Even adults put on spooky clothes and do festive makeup to go back to childhood for a second and have fun. So, an overall playful tone of a message is a common symbol of Halloween email marketing campaigns. Using nice, allegorical Halloween vocab is an easy and elegant way to show your love and affection to your customers.
A witty marketing campaign by Modcloth with two Halloween puns. Source: Really Good Emails
A reversed Halloween phrase is a classic of festive puns for issue-related newsletters. Source: Mailjet
Halloween is all about scary sights and creepy moods. When writing a text for your holiday campaign, consider using spooky language to evoke the right atmosphere. It is also the perfect opportunity to let loose and use your wit and humor to bring life to your marketing emails.
This email campaign is a great example of plays on words and puns:
Source: Really Good Emails
Halloween phrases like “a spooky tale to whet your appetite”, “gore-geous biscuits”, “scary-good chocolates” entertain and engage the customers making them read this creepy story till the end. Being able to hold attention is an important task for anyone who writes texts of this length.
So, if your holiday marketing email contains a large piece of text, consider using Halloween-themed language throughout. Funny festive storytelling is a great opportunity to represent your brand as a witty and loyal friend for the customers.
Plan your Halloween campaign long before the date. If you target on the 31st of October only, it can decrease your conversion and engagement rates.
Creating a series of email marketing campaigns is a better way to get more sales. Find some time several days (2-3 weeks better) before Halloween to plan activities and provide customers with the right incentives.
The most effective time to send your email marketing campaigns according to GetResponse:
Your key to success is to create anticipation for your customers. Fuel their excitement with stunningly scary emails before the date. Miss your chance and your customers are likely to spend their money elsewhere –– many of your competitors have already sent out their campaigns. That’s why we recommend sending your first Halloween email in mid-October.
As for the content of your first Halloween email, create no more than a simple teaser. Let your customers know that you’re going to hold a sale. Don’t provide too many details: your email should be mysterious. After sending a teaser, follow it up with more details and features of your sale.
Here are some classic ideas and templates of Halloween-themed emails. Find yours!
This well-known Halloween phrase helps to amplify the anticipation among your customers and keeps your emails holiday-themed.
A simple but cute email with a ghost picture and orange Halloween accents in the color scheme. Source: MailBakery
Show your Halloween sales offer with cute illustrations like PotteryBarn did in their campaign. Source: MailBakery
A well-known Halloween phrase can get a new meaning if we change it just a bit. Source: MailBakery
A regular photo sketched in Halloween style is a great and fresh idea. Source: MailBakery
People know that Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October. Incorporating the number 31 into your emails is another small way to add festive features to your campaign content.
Source: SmartrMail
Source: Really Good Emails
Creating a sense of urgency is a proven way to boost your sales. A countdown timer is a working tool to boost sales and engage your subscribers.
Source: Hive.co
A timer can look like anything. Use an ordinary line, like in the template above, or wake up your creativity and craft something unique! Source: Smartrmail
Think outside the box when it comes to colors, fonts, and images in your templates. Show subscribers your spooky (and funny!) side.
Orange and black are traditional festive colors, but it doesn’t mean that your design should use these colors only. The thing is that orange represents a degree of risk and looks a bit cheap in some cases. It is nice to use it as an accent color to highlight different elements in your email design, but sometimes it can be used as dominating. Nevertheless, it depends on your taste and brand peculiarities.
Try purple, green, and red too: these colors are less popular, but also look nice and festive in email design. Don’t include anything too dark or gory –– it can spoil an overall fun atmosphere.
One of the Halloween color palettes to find inspiration for your templates. Source: Lila Loa
Let’s take a closer look at color solutions in the Halloween email marketing campaigns of popular brands.
You can choose different shades of orange: bright and lush… Source: Really Good Emails
… and subtle, more muted orange, which is closer to yellow. Source: SmartrMail
Several bright orange accents in the Halloween email template are also OK. Source: Really Good Emails
Here are some ideas that you can use for your Halloween-themed illustrations:
Mild watercolor illustrations definitely grab attention. They are an attractive option to go with because they are not used frequently. Source: MailBakery
Hand-drawn images look funny and convey positive vibes to your customers. Source: Really Good Emails
Here the illustrations do not look outstanding, but this coffin CTA button has definitely stolen our hearts! Source: MailBakery
A bright GIF nails the reader’s attention even better than a static image. Adding movement to your marketing campaigns’ design gives an extra Halloween spooky factor, or sometimes, the touch of comedy.
Look at the way Postable incorporates a funny GIF image into their content:
Source: Really Good Emails
Another Halloween email example, which is designed in unconventional colors, but still conveys festive feelings:
Source: MailBakery
The marketing campaign below is a great combo of nice Halloween vocab and bright spooky illustrations. Not only is this template a good way to engage a customer, but it also cleverly increases brand awareness.
Source: Really Good Emails
Consider creating a Halloween-themed loyalty program. It will benefit your business because it’s more profitable to retain existing customers than engage new ones.
Develop a dedicated points system for the most loyal customers. You can attribute more points to those who make frequent purchases or recommend your products to their friends. Make your VIP customers feel special!
Keeping the spooky season in mind, adapt your email campaign design, and add some creepy discount words.
Look at the way H&M rewards their loyal customers with Halloween bonus points:
Source: Moosend
Halloween is not only a time for fun and treats but also a high sales season for marketers and owners of businesses. In order not to miss it, you’ll need to be more creative in your marketing campaigns, embracing the joyous spirit of the holiday.
Here are the key takeaways for those who are planning their Halloween email campaigns.
Others just make a list of ways. We actually explain how to make the most of each way.
21 surefire ways to grow your email list with detailed explanations and hand-picked examples. Based on research and 10+ years experience in email marketing.
