Email best practices
Tips and tricks to create stunning Halloween emails
Dreaming up fun and creative Halloween email marketing campaigns on the spot is never easy. We’ve curated some of the best examples to grace inboxes over the years.
Email best practices
Getting ready for Halloween is fun, but it can be hard work, too. Hollowing out a pumpkin. Carefully applying fake blood. Trying to put together a costume to rival Chica the spider dog’s. Like most prep, crafting a Halloween email marketing campaign that gives your subscriber goosebumps (in a good way) takes preparation and creativity.
To help you out, we’ve handpicked some scarily good ideas to help you spice up your Halloween emails. Check out these tips and start brainstorming how to turn your campaigns from good to…devilishly good.
Email marketing is an incredibly important communication tool, especially in our current climate. But despite all the doom and gloom, US consumer spending around Halloween increased 5% in 2023 to $12.2bn. And that doesn’t look like stopping in 2024 either (well, for those with a sweet tooth anyway). Candy and food shoppers are predicted to purchase 2.5x more ($51+) this year vs last.
And no matter how things change, email still remains the best digital marketing tool for ROI.
Statista: Planned annual Halloween expenditure in the US from 2005 to 2023.
Wondering how to make the most of this spooky time of the year? Check out these timeless Halloween email tips to help you create a thrilling Halloween-themed campaign.
Take a look at how Postable incorporates a fun GIF into their email to catch your attention and add a good offer of 15% off with a themed code. Not only is this Halloween email example a good way to give the customer a good laugh, but it also cleverly encourages free brand marketing. Take this as an example and start thinking about how you can leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing (WOM).
A real treat for those who know Pumpkin Man.
Halloween is the perfect time of year to dress up your emails to give them an edge. LendingTree combines its tried-and-true informative, helpful tone with fun graphics and memorable copy. The subject line is eye-catching, and the email expands on the reader’s curiosity while keeping the tone light. As a bonus, LendingTree cleverly describes the idea of becoming debt-free as being “easy like magic” – thus sticking to the Halloween theme while giving their services a positive connotation.
LendingTree’s Halloween email design is eye-catching and tidy.
A mystery Halloween sale can be a great way to keep your subscribers hooked and get them to visit your website. EmailMonks’ (now Uplers) “Face Your Fears” Halloween-themed email campaign invites customers to face their fears and step into a haunted house.
Spicing up your emails with a sense of mystery will help your click-through rate, as your contacts are likely to be tempted to try their luck, which translates into visits to your website.
Try including a game in your Halloween email campaign.
Engage subscribers with helpful, relevant email. This includes anything from on-trend topics, customizing email to their preferences, or catering to their Halloween needs.
This Crate & Barrel campaign includes useful content for the time-strapped shopper, with links to everything one might need to transform their home into a haunted house radiating that Halloween spirit.
Let the reader know that you have a cure for all their pain points, that you have what they are looking for, and that they won’t need to look anywhere else. They won’t need to do any tiring Halloween decoration shopping after work or trying to craft their own. No more hollowing out pumpkins or applying fake blood…sort their Halloween party in just a few spooktacular clicks!
Crate & Barrel’s email includes everything you need to throw the perfect Halloween party.
Make your Halloween email stand out by being bold and using fresh, innovative content. Lands’ End does this cleverly – by bringing its products to life with animation, an element that will most definitely attract the reader’s attention. They also give their email a different twist, opting for “Black Magic” as their title, rather than the usual “Trick or Treat.” They even top it off with a short Halloween-themed email poem. Talk about spellbinding!
Be creative, innovative, and original, then see how your effort pays off.
Want to see the animation in Lands’ End’s Halloween email? Check it out here.
The other factor you’re going to have to keep in mind is your Halloween email subject line. Just like your Halloween costumes, they should be creative and eye-catching. Remember to keep it short, ensure it’s relevant to the contents of your email, consider adding some spooky emojis (but not too many), and have fun with it! We have a couple of great examples for you below:
For some industries, Halloween-ifying their email content can be quite straightforward, but others might have a bit of brainstorming to do. If you’re not feeling your most creative self before the witching hour, here are a few ideas on how to give your holiday email metrics some magic:
Bring your products to life in Halloween style. List the essential ingredients for the perfect peculiar party, and let the reader know that you have everything they need for it. Mango stays true to its personality with this elegant yet rather cheeky message. The title is eye-catching, set in sharp contrast against the white background, and the paragraph adds a twist, combining its spooky theme with some intrigue.
Hand-drawn sketches can really make a featured image pop.
Add a spooky twist to your product, perhaps include an invite to an exclusive Halloween-related event or link to some exclusive content. If you have software updates or changes to your service, you can put a boo-tiful spin on your email copy. Ensure your email is clean and informative but take the time to nod to the time of year and make the email more engaging than a flat, traditional update email. Use your own design and copy to put a new spin on software emails.
Google shows customers creative ways to use their software for Halloween
Draw together some Halloween events or experience days local to your subscriber, or use this opportunity to promote some inspiring destinations. Many places have their own local traditions around Halloween (like Día de Los Muertos) – it could be a great opportunity to promote them! Check out Airbnb’s email below, where they promote spooky properties for the more adventurous traveler.
Give your contacts Halloween recipes that are so good, your readers will want to stay up cooking all night. Focus on classic ingredients (pumpkin!) and fang-tastic dishes. Want to make it even better? Run a contest and ask your subscribers to share photos of their creations with you. User-generated content will be your new best friend!
Let your subscribers know that whether they want the perfect make-up for their costume or to look a bit less like a monster, your products can work magic. Check out Lush’s Halloween season email below, where they nod to the concept of a “sugar high” to promote their wellness products. What can you offer your little monsters?
Need a little help creating the perfect Halloween email? Don’t be scared – Sinch Mailjet has your back. With our advanced Email Editor and personalizable Halloween email templates, you and your team can quickly and easily create campaigns that will be spooktacular treats for your recipients.
Template examples from Mailjet’s Email Editor
And when it comes to tricks and treats, email marketers know that it takes work to turn a great idea into great copy and design. Draw inspiration from these Halloween email campaigns and make sure your email wins best dressed in the Halloween inbox. As for your own winning costume, you might need to look elsewhere. Happy Halloween!
This blog post is an updated and expanded version of the post: “Fright School Friday: Email that wins the holiday inbox”, published on the Mailjet blog on October 30th, 2015 by Sasha Seddon.
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