Are youin the spooky spiritof Halloweenthis week?Not only is Halloweenanespecially fun and festive holiday, but businesses increasingly markit as the start of the busiest shopping season of the year. Halloween-themed emails have been trickling into our inbox all month as brandsseize the opportunity todeliver sweet treats and ghostly content to subscribers.But don't be spookedif you haven't gotten into the trick-or-treat spirit with your emails yet. We've rounded up 9 can't-miss email tips with examples from brands doing it best—and it's not too late tousethese goodiesin your Halloween email newsletter this week!
1. Give out treats
Martha Stewarts treats subscribers to printable pumpkin stencils—easy-to-share content that goes beyond the usual "how-to" post.Providing a free, usable treat that's that's well-timed, on-brand, and in the holiday spirit engages readers and encourages email-opens. Giving away content also helps brands positively position themselves as well as learn about and grow their audience. Get creative with what would your subscribers wouldreally value—like a free-to-download ebook, a coupon, or a printable infographic—and give it away!
2. Get dressed up
We allappreciate it when a brand doesn't take itself too seriously and investstime indesign touches that entertain. The holidays are a great opportunity for brands to "get dressed up" toshow readers how their attention is valued—and with the flood of advertising that comes with each holiday season, it's critical for brands not to scrimp on great design in email messaging. Here's a Halloween email example from Barnes & Noble:
Barnes & Noble uses Halloween as a great excuse to add a dash of funwith animated GIFs that "dress up" their email from top to bottom. The animated GIFs are playful and eye-catching and encourage readers to keep scrolling: little bats fly around between content blocks throughout the email.
Plus, it's easy to bedrawn-in from the get-go with the crawly spider in the email header design:
3. Trim the text
Here's a challenge: see howmuchgreat content you can provide to your email subscribers without making them read it. Etsy is king at this approach in their daily Finds emails—here's a recent Fall Fun one that entices readers to click and shop. Photo-based campaignsare great forcommunicating quickly, piquing readers' interest, and getting them clicking on over to your site. Just be sure to avoid the pitfalls of image-only emails (read our guidelines here),and have fun!
4. Try something new
Elle has a well-established email newsletter structure: it's a single-column with the same format each time—headlines on the left, photos on the right, and social share icons beneath each content block. The consistent approach builds trust with subscribers,letting thenknow what to expect. It looks like this:
But in a recent email, Ellemade a designchange to their Halloween-themedcontent to kick off the email:
The desaturated, circular approach is a striking,fresh break from their typical format. Refreshing your email template for the holidays is a smart way to kick off the season, make readers feel the festive spirit, and, of course, get clicks. Try something simple like aphoto treatment to keep readers on their toes while staying on-brand.
5. Don't scare readers away—be yourself
Consider ways toparticipate in Halloween (or any holiday) while remaining authentic and true to your brand. Food52 does this well by putting a Halloween spin on their content with a candy-themed email.It feels festive and special while remaining in-line with their usual kitchen-themed, recipe-based content. There's no use of run-of-the-millHalloween themes like an orange-and-black color scheme, spooky images, or witches and ghouls. Food52 knows their audience and knows themselves, allowing them to getintothe Halloween spirit withcontent that's still recognizable and appealing to their readers.
6. BOOoost in-email content
This Halloween email from Bliss is too pretty not to share. It's obvious theyinvested time to plan an email that provides high-value content and can stand on its own. Yes, it's highly linked so that readers can click almost anywhere to view productinformation, but readersalso get a lot in the email itself: inspiring illustrations coupled with bulleted how-to instructions for great Halloween looks. Bliss knows that, chances are, high-value content is what made subscribers sign up in the first place, so it's wise to keep them coming back with in-email content that's well thought-out and useful.
7. Readers aren't ghosts—engage them
Last year, Time Out New York invited readers to vote on Halloween costumes, giving out movie vouchers as rewards.What a great call-to-action! It's a nicereprievefrom the usualsales-y or promotional CTA, giving readers somethingfun to do. Plus, the content is user-generated, sonot only is it engaging, but it gives Time Out an opportunity to facilitate an authentic connection with readers through their own lives. Choose a strategic hashtag, enticing rewards, and a catchy holiday-themed idea tostart planning your ownuser-generated-content campaign!
8. Make sharing spook-tacularly easy
McCormick's pumpkin-party themed emailis chock-full of highly shareable microcontent:high-qualityphotos that link to tasty Halloween recipes. The pretty pictures and festiverecipes are alluring, but what makes them super easy to share are the "Pin it" buttons on each one. It definitely seems that McCormick has done its research and knows how itsaudience prefers to share content; instead of listing every social media icon out there (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), the single "Pin it" CTA is focused and intentional. It's worth it to do your research to find out readers' most preferred social network, then tailor your content for that platformand make it easy for readers to share with in-email social buttons.
9. Write wickedly clever copy
Check out how CB2 gets creative withHalloween-themed copytoplayfully promote their products. If you're short on time or resources, don't fret over creating custom Halloween graphics or images; infuse theHalloween spirit into your email with text!
Let's recap: 9 tips to try for a totally bewitching Halloween email:
- Build customer loyalty by offering high-value content for free.
- Use playful design elements (like animated GIFs) to draw in readers.
- Try a photographic approach that's spare on text.
- Experiment. The holidays are a great time to refresh your usual email template.
- Be yourself. Incorporate a festive theme while remaining true to your brand.
- Provide compelling in-email content that makes opening your email worthwhile.
- Engage readers through a user-generated-content campaign.
- Make your content easy to share with buttons (and tailor it to the platform preferred by your audience).
- Don't forget great copy! It's the easiest way to get in the holiday spirit.
Ready to create your own Halloween email? Try designing itfor free in the BEE editor.
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