How to Succeed With Your Halloween Email Marketing
It’s time again for Halloween, a holiday that presents a great opportunity for companies to cheer up consumers with playful activities – and for marketers to make their marketing a bit spooky. Last year, Halloween was in the middle of a pandemic and companies were a little more restrained in encouraging consumers to have events and activities such as trick or treat. This year we finally have better conditions. We have begun to return to normal with eased restrictions and we are once again allowed to spend time with loved ones.
Every second Swede stated last year that they intended to celebrate Halloween in some way and every third retailer stated that they intended to carry out some form of Halloween campaign. Statistics from previous years show the potential and opportunities of the holiday – therefore we of course want to help you along the way with a guide to successful Halloween email marketing.
Spice up the marketing with Halloween themes
If you don’t sell costumes or sweets, you as a retailer may think that Halloween isn’t a relevant sales holiday to invest in. But here you should think twice! There are creative ways for companies operating in all possible industries, to take advantage of the holiday and give your customers what they want during Halloween. In this guide, we highlight a few different ways to spice up your email marketing with Halloween themes.
Word games is successful with Millennials
Word games are an art that causes divided opinions. Some love them, others roll their eyes as soon as they hear them. Middle-aged dads are stereotypically fond of so-called ‘Dad jokes’, but new studies show that word games are most popular with millennials. Regardless of the top demographics of your business, playful word games are a hallmark of Halloween. It’s a pretty easy way to inject some warmth and personality into your Halloween email marketing!
Give your discount codes a Halloween twist
Halloween is a great time to master the art; emotionally driven marketing. Take advantage of the customer enthusiasm that is brought to life during this holiday and offer a festive discount. By taking the time to make sure that the discount code is also synchronized with the rest of the Halloween content, you boost your email marketing.
Arouse curiosity with the help of a layer of mystery
While this is usually not the best idea and we would not recommend that you make it harder than usual for your customers to take advantage of an offer, Halloween is a time when customers are more receptive to playful tricks.
Recommendation:
There are lots of creative ways to create some mystery in your Halloween campaigns, where you include secret offers that require a click to unlock. Just be careful about how you use this tactic so it’s not perceived as misleading!
Change a little in your automations
Automations in Marketing Automation flows are generally considered as ‘Arrange-once-then-let-it-be’ bets. You create communication such as cart abandonment mail, welcome loops and win back mails and then let them roll. But a smart move is to update your automations continuously throughout the season. By adding some eye-catching graphic Halloween elements to some selected automations, you stand out in the mailbox and make your emails even more efficient. It also gives you the ability to automatically market your Halloween promotions further.
Psst! Just be sure to add a reminder to your email marketing calendar to change the content back in early November.
Don’t forget the basics
An effective Halloween marketing campaign requires more than seasonal content – make sure you also send the content to the right recipient at the right time.
If you have created halloween email marketing before, there is data in Rule about which recipients have engaged with the content. You can consider creating segments that include customers who have opened previous Halloween emails and target offers to them. Or segment based on offers around specific products where customers who have bought similar products in the past are certainly extra interested in your Halloween offer.
A good idea is to keep time in mind when planning your Halloween campaign. If your e-commerce doesn’t sell Halloween specific products and you simply just want to get in the mood, you can schedule this communication until mid-October until Halloween.
Bonus tips for successful halloween email marketing
Halloween has been used as an opportunity for extra income for decades. Your brand is unique and the holiday offers a great opportunity to show your brand’s personality, while driving sales. Here are some bonus tips for successful Halloween email marketing:
- Think outside the box and try to capture the interest with more than ‘Boo’. Nothing against ghosts – but we think you can do better than that! If you need help figuring out creative headlines, try using resource resources to find ways not to misuse phrases that are already overused.
- Upcoming Halloween and Christmas holidays are associated with ‘giveaways’ and are a time for companies to show appreciation to their loyal customers. Why not also send a branded candy giveaway, discount code and a wonderful Halloween greeting with the orders. A great way to use Halloween to build deeper relationships and encourage repurchases!
- Use referral marketing and your loyal customers to get new customers. By getting your customers to recommend exclusive Halloween deals to their loved ones, you build your customer base and increase your sales.
To summarize:
Halloween offers trading companies a unique and fun opportunity for additional sales and to build deeper customer relationships. The secret to successful Halloween email marketing is to embrace the playful holiday, get really creative with the marketing content and create Halloween-themed campaigns that are still in tune with your brand. By segmenting your customers and adapting Halloween communication accordingly, your marketing becomes more effective and you increase the engagement on your mailings. Particular demographics may be more enthusiastic about Halloween than others; Gen Z is a good starting point! Given the prevailing circumstances, consumers can appreciate a playful and friendly gesture from companies – we wish you a successful Halloween sale and we are here to share digital strategies with you.
Do you have an e-commerce and need help getting started with newsletters or do you want to update something in your templates for Halloween? Contact Us! Don’t have a Rule account yet and want to get started with digital communication? Explore Rule for free for 30 days.
