An Ultimate Guide to Summer Email Marketing: Subject Lines and Ideas for Your Campaign

Summer email marketing holiday calendar

Before we go into the specifics and show you a summer email example or several, let’s get to know the upcoming holidays and events. We trimmed a holiday email marketing calendar and focused on seasonal holidays only. Special occasions are a perfect time to send your customers marketing and sales emails. 

Pride Month (June 1st — June 30th)

Pride Month is an annual celebration and commemoration of the LGBTQIA+ community that takes place throughout June. In your Pride Month marketing, you can show support for the LGBTQIA+ community and promote inclusivity. It’s a time for advocacy, recognition, and acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The most important aspect of a Pride marketing campaign is authenticity — genuine messaging complimenting your overall brand image.

The Pride Month email from Starbucks features an eye-catching banner that’s relevant to the topic of the email. The company also shows support for the LGBTQIA+ community by highlighting a relevant nonprofit organization with a CTA button that takes subscribers directly to the website. 

Last but not least, the CTA button at the bottom of the message encourages readers to learn about other ways to support the LGBTQIA+ community. It makes the entire email marketing campaign much more effective by underlining that its purpose is both supportive and educational. 

Flag Day (June 14th)

Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag and it’s another June newsletter idea relevant to your US audience. To celebrate national pride and patriotism, you can put the United States flag at the top of the email newsletter message or come up with compelling subject lines that center around pride and celebration. A relevant email from your brand can convey a sense of unity and help you connect with your subscribers based on your shared feelings and values.

If you need some inspiration, here’s a Flag Day email from a pottery studio:

Unlike many other Flag Day emails that use red, white, and blue colors and symbolism, this campaign’s design is minimalistic and mostly beige. In this newsletter, the brand subtly uses the holiday theming in a banner photo with a flag and promotes a limited edition mug celebrating American craftsmanship. There is also a charitable initiative with 10% of the sales of every mug donated to the American Red Cross. 

Father’s Day (the third Sunday of June)

In 2024, Father’s Day is celebrated on June 16th. It’s one of the family-oriented holidays designed to honor and celebrate fathers, stepfathers, and father figures. Brands can leverage the Father’s Day email marketing newsletter to promote exclusive sales or simply send a warm message to customers. A campaign like this will resonate with subscribers who are searching for the perfect gift. However, it’s getting more and more popular to offer subscribers an option to opt out of the Father’s Day and Mother’s Day emails as for some, it can be a sensitive topic.

This email newsletter from quip is centered around a water flosser. The brand creates a sense of urgency right off the bat, as the special sale will last just one day. Then, the email outlines the benefits of the water flosser and the fact that it won awards. A customer review at the bottom also makes the product more enticing. Finally, the email ends with several call-to-action buttons, coaxing the reader into making a purchase.

Juneteenth (June 19th)

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. Juneteenth email campaigns can focus on promoting equality, Black history, diversity, and inclusivity.

This email by a makeup and skincare brand rhode educates customers on the history of the celebration and offers a list of organizations to support:

This email design is reserved just as the tone of the whole newsletter is serious. The brand promotes important causes and reinforces the values it stands for. And similar worldviews of a company and its customers strengthen the emotional connection. The last section of the email also offers practical advice on how to celebrate Juneteenth and redirects readers to the brand’s social media page to learn more.

Independence Day (July 4th)

Independence Day marks the birth of the United States, so your brand’s emails should incorporate patriotic themes. Since Independence Day is traditionally celebrated with fireworks, barbecues, and gatherings, you could also promote products related to these traditions.

To give an example of an Independence Day email campaign, Spreadshirt showcases its wide selection of patriotic clothing:

The message in the newsletter above is written in a very positive tone. The email begins with a photo of two people wearing Spreadshirt’s patriotic t-shirts. Underneath it is a coupon code for $5 off Spreadshirt’s products, which is meant to encourage readers to make a purchase. It’s accompanied by a CTA button leading to the company’s online store, as well as two patriotic headers (“Land of the free” and “More freedom-loving products”). 

In case the reader isn’t convinced, the email presents them with a few other products to stimulate sales. This product selection includes aprons, pins, baseball caps, and other t-shirts. This campaign is simple and straightforward yet effective, so you can use it as a design template for your own Independence Day email.

Labor Day (September 4th)

Labor Day is a public holiday that honors the contributions of workers. Although it isn’t a summer holiday, you can start Labor Day email marketing in August with exclusive sales. Make sure to highlight products or services that will help your newsletter subscribers make the most of their long weekend or end-of-summer plans.

Winc settled for offering a limited-time deal on wine bottles:

Unlike many Labor Day emails, this newsletter message is fairly simple and minimalistic. It features the company’s signature black, which brings out the email’s contents. It starts off with a header that draws the reader’s attention to a low product price. This, in turn, encourages them to make a purchase.

Under the header, there’s a CTA button and a picture of a bottle of wine in an ice bucket, as well as a discount code. Below is a fun and relatable paragraph connecting wine with Labor Day and yet another call-to-action button. It links to the company store, which makes it easier for the recipient to make a purchase.

Other email purposes to consider

Holidays are by nature rare and can’t happen every day of the summer. You will still need to send your subscribers some emails in between the special occasions. Think about typical events or things associated with the season. To help you out, we created a list of topics you can send campaigns about:

• Backyard barbecues. BBQ is a favorite activity for many during the summer. If it is relevant to your company or products, you can share recipes and tips or recommend appropriate gear.
• Beach and pool parties. Here, you can write about summer fashion trends, swimwear, beach accessories, and skincare products for days spent by the water. You can also create a playlist for your customers to listen to while they swim.
• Summer travel. Summer is the season for vacation, so offer your readers guides, travel ideas, packing tips, or a selection of hand luggage-friendly products from your brand. 
• Outdoor sports and activities. Center your email around hiking, biking, camping, water sports, or other popular summer activities. In your sport-related campaigns, promote related equipment or adventure travel packages your customers can enjoy.
• Music festivals. If your target audience includes music enthusiasts, promote upcoming music festivals, share lineup announcements, or give away tickets. You can also create festival lookbooks or collaborate with musicians or music influencers.
• Summer reading. Recommend books your customers can enjoy this summer,  create book club promotions, or partner with authors for book signings or virtual author events. The book genres depend on your customer persona, but we would suggest picking lighter topics like romance or travel and opting for pocketbooks people can take with them on vacation.
• Gardening and outdoor decor. You can write about gardening tips, showcase outdoor furniture, planters, or tools for those who want to work on the exteriors of their homes. You can still explore this topic even if your customers live in cities — just focus on indoor plants.
• Family fun. Make newsletter guides for local family-friendly activities or give general recommendations like a day at an amusement park, a visit to a zoo. Another idea is to focus on summer camps for kids they can attend during the school break.

Summer events make your campaigns more relevant to the season and make the content relatable for your subscribers. Just remember that the emails need to complement your industry and not be in conflict with it. For example, if you specialize in travel insurance, promoting local music festivals would probably be a bit odd.

Effective summer email marketing ideas for your campaign

Seasonal email campaigns need to be relevant or else your customers will not engage with them and won’t buy what you recommend. That’s why it’s important to zero in on summer topics and make your email marketing campaigns full of summer vibes.

Send out summer greetings

This is a simple campaign you can send to welcome summer, announce your plans for the season, and maybe present your new collection. Some brands like to introduce a new email design each season, and you can use this strategy too — choose vibrant, summer-related colors and design elements. 

This newsletter campaign has a message filled with summer vibes and joy with words like “rejoice”, “blaze with sunshine”, etc. It’s reminiscent of summertime vacation, which really adds to the campaign. The call-to-action button is exciting and suggests that the brand has events in-store for their customers all season.

Promote summer-themed products or services

Summer is hot, and people dress down. Some also search for new garments and shoes to go on vacation. The first days of the season are a good moment to present your summer collection or to simply promote products you already have that have become newly relevant.

Greats released a special summer-themed shoe collection all about blue hues. The reason for that is simple: As the message above states, the color blue is reminiscent of the summer’s color palette. The photo of one of their shoe models is followed by a call-to-action button that creates a sense of urgency. 

Offer exclusive summer discounts and promotions

Newsletter readers don’t want to open their inboxes and read countless marketing emails in the summer. To make them interested and engaged, marketers can use exclusive newsletter discounts and sales. Create a sense of urgency by emphasizing limited-time offers. Also, consider using catchy summer-themed coupon codes to encourage swift action.

The Lane Bryant email above is dedicated to huge summer sales. The discount amounts are the focal point of the entire message. The background is a photo of blue skies, which is reminiscent of sunny summer weather. Below the percentage numbers are three call-to-action buttons. Each one contains a link to a different section of Lane Bryant’s online store. All in all, the email here is the perfect summer email, as it’s focused on grabbing the subscribers’ attention, encouraging sales, and making them think of the summer. 

Host summer contests, giveaways, and collaborative campaigns

Engage your audience with interactive summer contests, giveaways, and collaborative campaigns, such as influencer marketing campaigns. To encourage participation, offer enticing prizes that align with the season. These could range from beach accessories and outdoor gadgets to cash prizes.

Cover FX decided to combine a summer giveaway with a collaborative marketing campaign. Subscribers just have to follow both its and the other company’s accounts and complete one of the actions listed under a photo featured in the message. The photo is very aesthetically pleasing, which reflects the brand’s image and messaging. It also features the company’s top products used in the summertime. To add to the message and make it more engaging, the company offered a discount code and a CTA button leading to the online store. 

Provide summer-related tips and advice

Establish your brand as a source of helpful information with summer-related tips, advice, and hacks. From skincare tips to travel itineraries, offer content that keeps your subscribers engaged.

EyeBuyDirect educates its customers on prescription sunglasses. The message begins with a photo under which is a paragraph of text and a call-to-action button. Both encourage the newsletter recipient to check out the company’s guide to UV light and prescription sunglasses. The topic itself is relevant to the brand and its customers. There’s also a discount code and yet another call-to-action button close to the bottom of the message to make more sales.

Examples of summer email subject lines

Compelling subject lines are needed to make people open your newsletters. If you don’t know how to do it just yet, don’t worry! In the following section, you will find examples of subject lines for the summer.

Flag Day email subject lines

Celebrate Flag Day with these captivating email subject lines. They capture the patriotic spirit and the significance of the American flag.

Father’s Day email subject lines

Subject lines for Father’s Day can range from warm and thoughtful to fun and playful. This day, dad jokes are just the right thing to draw your subscribers’ attention.

Juneteenth email subject lines

Juneteenth is an important historical holiday worth celebrating. In the email subject lines, aim for education and convey a sense of unity.

Independence Day email subject lines

Celebrate America’s birthday with emojis and patriotic messaging in your subject lines.

Labor Day email subject lines

Remind your subscribers that they need to rest, promote sales and deals, or tell your workers’ stories — these are all good strategies for your Labor Day campaigns. If you’re not sure which emojis to use for this holiday, we recommend general celebratory ones like fireworks or a party popper, hearts, and a US flag.

General summer email subject lines

Explore the sun, warm weather, vacations, and adventures in your general summer subject lines. Don’t forget to add value and pique your readers’ curiosity so they open your emails.

Top summer email examples

You probably have a good idea of what copy to write in your summer emails, so here are 3 campaigns for your design inspiration. Each is as unique as seashells on the beach, and we hope you’ll find at least one interesting trick to use.

Clare V.: A summer look breakdown

This email’s design uses yellow as the accent color — the same shade many items in the photos are. We found this design interesting because of the layout of the products in the body section. The product photos have the same background as the email, plus, there is a slight asymmetry between the two rows, so it all looks like a paper collage. Overall, the design is playful but not overpowering, and it stays true to the campaign’s purpose — promoting and selling summer products.

OffCourt: Moving elements

GIFs in emails can make a campaign feel interactive and interesting to look at. This email is no exception. It features three different GIFs, two of which are cyclical, so they appear endless. The banner resembles printed vacation photographs that feel summery and nostalgic. The copy, on the other hand, is practical and on-point, informing readers about the benefits of exfoliation and promoting the brand’s exfoliating soap.

Glow Recipe: Holiday collaboration

Juneteenth is a holiday deeply rooted in history, and to make the messaging more authentic, you can collaborate with an expert, someone who can be the face of your holiday campaign. For example, Glow Recipe invited an abolitionist educator Solaris to explain the origins of the date and ways to express support. This collaboration makes the campaign more genuine and attracts new customers from an influencer’s audience.

The design of the campaign is also nice. The red, pink, green, and light purple colors in combination remind viewers of strawberries and watermelons.

Tips and best practices for summer email marketing

Engaging email experiences for your subscribers this summer may require some extra work to be just right. To ensure your summer email marketing campaigns reach new heights, follow a few essential tips and best practices. 

Keep your emails mobile-friendly

In 2021, 42.4% of email opens were via mobile. In the summertime, many of your subscribers will be on vacation, so they will probably check email on the go. That’s why you should optimize your summer email newsletters for mobile. Stick to responsive email template design and clear CTAs to provide a seamless user experience across all devices.

Analyze and measure your campaign’s success

Keep a close eye on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Your analytics panel is the best indicator of your customers’ behaviors and engagement patterns. Data can inform your strategy and help to make data-driven decisions for your future campaigns.

A/B test your emails

If you want to improve your results, use A/B testing to experiment with different subject lines, content variations, and design elements. Tests make it easier to understand what your audience likes best and strengthen your connection.

Continuously improve your email marketing strategy

There’s no improvement without change. Although basic strategies will always work, you need to evolve your approach according to industry trends, customer preferences, and feedback. Be on the lookout for new strategies, techniques, email template designs, and tools to elevate your campaigns. 

For example, Selzy has an editor with a built-in AI to generate copy and images. The AI assistant can also analyze the content, and you can use it right in the builder. Start for free to explore this cutting-edge technology!

Final thoughts

Ready to summer-ize this guide to seasonal email marketing? Here are the most important takeaways you should remember before sending your campaigns:

• Create subject lines that resonate with the summer season. Make them relevant (for example, holiday-themed), use a sense of urgency, emojis, and personalization to make your readers want to open your emails. 
• Make your products and services season-appropriate. Promote summer-themed offerings and provide exclusive discounts and sales. And if your products aren’t that seasonal, offer valuable tips and advice related to summer activities.
• Follow best practices. Run A/B tests, measure your campaign’s performance, and use the best email marketing service possible. Keep on refining your overall email marketing strategy for maximum impact.

Follow these recommendations, and your summer email campaigns will be easy as a breeze and as memorable as fireworks. 

This article was originally published in July 2023 and was updated in May 2024 to make it more relevant and comprehensive.