Are you scouring the web looking for email inspiration for August, but finding the examples lackluster?
Are you unsure about how to maintain momentum in August, right when people tire of summer and are preoccupied with back-to-school to-dos and autumn?
August campaigns deserve more than reused summer content or premature fall promotions.
It may be tempting to go silent with emails, assuming everyone’s uninterested, but this month offers a plethora of opportunities from pet holidays and meaningful observances.
This isn’t just an in-between month between summer and fall; it’s a treasure trove of engagement opportunities.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to make your August email calendar a month of curated, purposeful campaigns that your subscribers look forward to receiving. You’ll learn how to use underutilized holidays and find the balance between fun and substantial messaging.
Let’s get started.
The Major August Marketing Moments
August 2: International Beer Day
International Beer Day celebrates beer culture, brewers, and the camaraderie that comes with sharing a cold one. Observed on the first Friday of August, it's a global celebration that transcends borders and brings beer enthusiasts together.
While the obvious audience is breweries and bars, the holiday offers surprising opportunities for brands across industries to tap into beer culture's social, celebratory nature.
Newsletter Idea: Beer Pairing Guides
Create detailed pairing guides that connect your products with beer styles.
A food brand can showcase recipes that complement different beers—spicy dishes with IPAs, grilled meats with stouts, or light salads with pilsners.
A subscription box service might curate "beer night essentials" featuring snacks, glassware, or entertainment options.
Even non-food brands can participate creatively. A furniture company could promote "the perfect setup for beer tasting at home," while a tech brand might feature "gadgets every beer enthusiast needs."
Or you can also take advantage of the effects of beer to position yourself as a great accompaniment after a night of drinking.
For example, the digestive relief brand Wonderbelly celebrates International Beer Day with a recommendation of their antacids.
The key is making authentic connections between your offerings and beer culture rather than forcing relevance.
Newsletter Idea: Go alcohol-free
Non-alcoholic beverage and wellness brands can join the Beer Day revelry, too by naming it Booze-Free Beer Day.
The easiest way to create a newsletter around this is by sharing your own non-alcoholic drink recipes. You can also further add substance to your email by explaining the effects of beer on the body.
This email from supplement brand Apothekary follows that playbook by concocting their own zero-proof Girl Beer recipe.
August 8: International Cat Day
International Cat Day celebrates our feline companions and raises awareness about cat welfare and adoption. With cat content consistently ranking among the internet's most engaging material, this holiday offers built-in virality potential.
The US pet industry exceeds $136 billion annually, and cats represent a significant portion of pet ownership. Even brands without obvious pet connections can leverage cat content's universal appeal and shareability.
Newsletter Idea: Feature your team or your customers’ cats
Launch a subscriber cat photo contest where customers submit pictures of their feline friends.
Feature winning entries in follow-up newsletters, offer prizes like branded merchandise or product bundles, and encourage social sharing with a branded hashtag.
To connect this to your business, ask subscribers to include your product in photos—a cat lounging on your furniture, reading near your book subscription, or sitting by your home goods. This generates user-generated content while celebrating cats authentically.
Alternatively, if your team is feline-inclined, feature photos of their cats for a surefire way to add cuteness and engagement to your Cat Day newsletter.
Newsletter Idea 2: Show that you’re cat-friendly
Highlight how your product benefits cats—whether it's cat-friendly furniture fabrics, delivery services that work with pet schedules, or simply creating a comfortable home environment for feline companions.
This positions your brand as caring about animal welfare while driving sales through purpose-driven marketing.
On top of that, you can hold a flash sale on all pet-friendly products, just as Bloomscape does here.
August 9: Book Lovers Day
Book Lovers Day celebrates reading, literature, and the joy books bring to our lives. It's a perfect opportunity to tap into the passionate book community, which actively seeks recommendations and engages deeply with literary content.
While bookstores and publishers have obvious connections, countless brands can authentically participate by connecting their offerings to reading culture, self-improvement, or intellectual curiosity.
Newsletter Idea: Staff/Customer Book Recommendations
Curate a newsletter featuring book recommendations from your team or customers, organized by genre, mood, or theme. Include brief reviews explaining why each book resonates and who might enjoy it.
Create a summer reading list format with categories like "Beach Reads," "Professional Development," "Escape Fiction," or "Mindful Living." This provides genuine value while subtly positioning your products as part of readers' lives.
For inspiration on staff-inspired book recommendations, take a look at this email from KraveBeauty.
Newsletter Idea: Position your product as the perfect reading companions
Add "perfect for reading while..." suggestions that connect to your product—"perfect for reading while enjoying our tea," "ideal companion for your commute with our travel accessories," or "great for winding down in our loungewear."
Fashion brands can showcase "Reading Retreat" loungewear or "Book Club Chic" outfits. The key is creating thematic connections that feel natural rather than forced.
For example, Alala created this email around “looks for the bookworm”, showing outfits for different kinds of reading situations and locations.
Include literary quotes, author spotlights, or reading challenge prompts to deepen the content beyond product promotion.
Develop product collections inspired by famous books, literary genres, or reading moments.
A home goods brand might create a "Cozy Reading Nook" collection featuring blankets, lighting, and comfort items. A beverage company could offer "Bookworm Blends" named after literary themes or characters.
This approach attracts book lovers while differentiating your August campaigns from competitors' generic summer sales.
August 26: National Dog Day (US)
National Dog Day celebrates dogs of all breeds and encourages adoption from shelters and rescues. Founded in 2004, it has become one of the most widely recognized pet-focused holidays, generating massive social media engagement annually.
Dogs represent an even larger segment of the pet market than cats, and dog content similarly drives exceptional engagement across platforms. The emotional bonds people have with their dogs create powerful marketing opportunities.
Newsletter Idea: "Dogs of [Your Brand]" Feature Series
Create a comprehensive feature showcasing the dogs of your employees, customers, or community members. Include dog names, breeds, fun facts, and heartwarming stories about how these dogs impact their owners' lives.
Ask participants to share how they use your products with their dogs or how your service makes life with dogs easier.
Encourage subscribers to submit their own dog stories for future features, creating an ongoing content pipeline.
This email from Homesick invites their subscribers to “raise the woof” and celebrate National Dog Day. Then, they feature a grid of customer-submitted photos of dogs alongside their products.
Newsletter Idea 2: Dog-Friendly Product Bundles or Guides
Develop special bundles or guides specifically for dog owners, regardless of your industry. A travel company can create "Dog-Friendly Destination Guides," or a furniture company could promote "Durable, Dog-Proof Home Furnishings."
This example from Parachute is about finding the best bedding that dogs love sleeping on, too.
Include practical tips like dog-friendly recipes, training advice from experts, or seasonal care guides. The key is providing genuine utility for dog owners while positioning your brand as understanding their lifestyle needs.
August 26: Women's Equality Day (US)
Women's Equality Day commemorates the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote in the United States. It's a day to celebrate women's achievements and reflect on ongoing equality efforts.
Even simple recognition of women’s struggles and striving for equality makes a big impact. You don’t need a lot of frills to show you care.
This observance requires authenticity and genuine commitment to women's advancement. Performative gestures receive swift backlash, so brands must demonstrate real support beyond surface-level acknowledgment.
Newsletter Idea 1: Team Spotlight
Create a heartfelt letter that features the women in your team, what they do, and/or their social media handles.
This can be as simple as a photo grid or as extensive as a short Q and A talking about their career journey, challenges, advice for other women, and perspectives on women’s equality.
Let these women speak in their own voices without corporate sanitizing.
Go further by asking for actionable insights: specific strategies these women used to advance, resources they found valuable, or mentorship advice for emerging leaders.
Include statistics about women's representation in your industry to provide context. This educational approach demonstrates commitment to advancing women's equality rather than simply celebrating it superficially one day per year.
Take a look at this Women’s Equality Day email from the jewelry brand Aurate. It’s simple but sounds sincere and is impactful.
Newsletter Idea 2: Focus on a woman’s journey
Even simple recognition of women’s struggles and striving for equality makes a big impact. You don’t need a lot of frills to show you care.
Take this Women’s Equality Day email from TUMI, for example.
The subject line is simple: “TUMI Recognizes National Women’s Equality Day”.
The main photo is of a woman walking with her TUMI luggage. The angle is all about celebrating a woman’s journey and how TUMI is there to support women every step of the way.
Month-long August Celebrations
- National Wellness Month
- National Breastfeeding Month
- Black Business Month
- National Back to School Month
- National Immunization Awareness Month
- National Psoriasis Awareness Month
- National Eye Exam Month
- Happiness Happens Month
- National Golf Month
- National Sandwich Month
Week-long August Events
- August 4-10: World Breastfeeding Week
- First full week: National Farmers Market Week
- August 11-17: National Health Center Week
- Second week: National Garage Sale Week
- August 18-24: National Aviation Week
- Third week: National Bowling Week
Special Days in August
- August 1: National Girlfriends Day
- August 1: World Wide Web Day
- August 2: International Beer Day
- August 4: National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
- August 5: National Oyster Day
- August 7: National Lighthouse Day
- August 8: International Cat Day
- August 9: Book Lovers Day
- August 10: National Lazy Day
- August 11: National Sons and Daughters Day
- August 12: World Elephant Day
- August 13: International Left-Handers Day
- August 15: National Relaxation Day
- August 16: National Tell a Joke Day
- August 17: National Thrift Shop Day
- August 19: World Photography Day
- August 19: National Aviation Day
- August 20: World Mosquito Day
- August 21: National Senior Citizens Day
- August 23: International Day for Remembrance of Slave Trade
- August 24: National Waffle Day
- August 26: National Dog Day
- August 26: Women's Equality Day
- August 30: National Beach Day
- August 31: National Trail Mix Day
Want more ideas and inspiration? Check out our email swipe file with over 100 newsletter ideas you can use for your next campaign.
Elevate Your August Email Campaigns
Executing polished, click-worthy August campaigns requires understanding what resonates with your specific audience, which holidays your competitors are leveraging, and where opportunities exist to own unique moments before back-to-school season dominates September.
Ready to discover what top brands are planning for August—and access the competitive intelligence that helps you craft campaigns that actually drive engagement?
Sign up for Panoramata to track competitor email strategies in real-time, search thousands of campaign examples across industries, and find the creative inspiration that makes your August newsletters the cream of the crop.
FAQs
Can non-pet brands really benefit from International Cat Day and National Dog Day?
Absolutely. Pet content generates exceptional engagement across all industries because emotional bonds with animals transcend product categories. The key is creating authentic connections—UGC campaigns featuring real pets, or simply acknowledging that many subscribers are pet owners whose purchasing decisions consider their animals.
How do I approach Women's Equality Day without appearing performative?
Focus on transparency and concrete action rather than vague statements. Share specific data about your company's gender equity efforts, and amplify women's voices through substantive profiles that provide genuine value.
Are beer-related campaigns appropriate for brands outside the beverage industry?
Yes, when connections feel authentic rather than forced. Beer culture encompasses food, socializing, entertainment, and lifestyle beyond just drinking. Focus on pairing, hosting, community, or craft appreciation angles that naturally connect to your products.
