Is having an empty bank of Halloween email ideas giving you the spooks? Don’t let fright night scare you because we’ve curated our favorite Halloween email campaigns and subject lines in this article.
All these examples are available on Panoramata, a valuable tool if you want to check out Halloween (and more) and prepare for your yearend campaigns by viewing past campaigns run by different brands.
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Why should you send a Halloween email to your list?
Halloween is not to be underestimated. It might not be in the league of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but it is a crowd-favorite holiday that people love to shop for.
In 2024, Halloween sales reached a record of $12.2B. Trends also show that people like to do early Halloween shopping because they are looking forward to fall and want to stock up for the colder season.
According to this study, here are the holiday activities people plan to do during the spooky season:
- handing out candy (67% of consumers)
- decorating their home or yard (52% of consumers)
- dressing up in costume (49% of consumers)
- carving a pumpkin (43% of consumers)
- throwing or attending a party (29% of consumers)
It pays to be prepared for promotions, especially when demand strikes early for Halloween and the holiday’s global popularity ensures that people are ready to spend some serious cash.
Read on for ideas on how to create a Halloween email marketing campaign that will bewitch your audience!
Tips for Halloween Emails
Create email series, not single emails
When brainstorming your Halloween promotions, go beyond single emails.
Think of this campaign as a series of emails that will nudge your audience closer and closer to adding to their carts.
Examples of great Halloween email campaigns to send include:
- Flash sales
- Limited-time promotions
- Buy-more-save-more offers
- Halloween-themed messaging
- Pre-Halloween campaigns
- Mystery sales
Have fun with email design
Create emails that catch the eye, whether it’s through colors, high-impact images, animated GIFs, and the use of contrast. Halloween is a great time to be playful with designs and layouts.
Make it urgent
Whatever you do, don’t forget to add urgency to your offers. It makes the promotion more irresistible when you emphasize that it’s not going to last for long.
Highlight the value in the email and make sure your CTA button is unmissable.
In 2024, Halloween sales reached a record of $12.2B. Trends also show that people like to do early Halloween shopping because they are looking forward to fall and want to stock up for the colder season.
Add pizzazz to discount offers
You can use also discount codes that integrate Halloween-themed language like TRICK or BOO. You can even offer a 31 percent discount, alluding to the date of Halloween (October 31).
Don’t overpromote
However, don’t bombard your mailing list with excessive promotions. Guides, recipes, recommendations, and other valuable content will delight any subscriber.
Recommend movies and playlists that fit the fright night theme. Add gift guides. Share what you’re doing for Halloween. The options are endless.
The Most Spooktacular Halloween Email Subject Lines
- 🎃👻🖤Ready. Set. BOO!…Spooky Szn Is HERE🖤👻🎃
- Throw away the 🎃 candy! [sent by a health and wellness brand]
- No tricks, just treats with 25% OFF select items
- Viewer Beware! ☠️ Last call for 25% off select items
- Get ready to scream, these looks are to die for. ͏
- Scary-Good Deals. Creep it real.
- Hall🎃ween Flash Sale >>>
- Trick or Treat 🎃🍬
- 🎃 No tricks...ALL TREATS!
- 👻👻👻👻 We have a gift for you [a mystery gift email]
- Trick or treat? Discover the Halloween Collection
- No bones about it - we've got your Halloween costume covered ☠️
- Halloween season = now 🕯️
- ALMOST GONE! Plan your Halloween glam 🎃
- Halloween treat! 👻 Double up on our best-loved balm💜💜 [Halloween duo promotion]
- TODAY ONLY: HALLOWEEN EXCLUSIVE
- 20% OFF HALLOWEEN SALE
- 🎃 Halloween Special: Enjoy 35% OFF EVERYTHING!
- Treat Yourself This Halloween
- Boo! It’s a Halloween flash sale! 👻
- Perfect your Halloween skin prep 🎃Steps to scarily good makeup
- Final few hours for a scary good Halloween deal 👻
- 55% OFF | Sweet Halloween Savings Inside 🎃
- 50% Off Halloween🎃It's HERE!
- Make It The HOTTEST Fright Night EVER With HALF OFF [insert product here]!
Show a quick guide to making your audience Halloween ready
One of the best ways to offer a range of your products is by creating a tutorial or a guide for audiences to create something related to the event, occasion, or celebration. Creativity matters here.
Also, make your tutorial quick and easy to digest, otherwise, the customers will bounce right to the next email in their inbox since they usually do not have much time due to their work or personal errands.
Take for instance this email example from Floom. Floom is a lifestyle brand that offers flowers and same-day delivery across the United Kingdom for occasions like birthdays, housewarmings, weddings, anniversaries, etc.
In this email, they put together all their Halloween-themed bouquets in one block.
They made the layout so convenient that you can already see the range of items for a good selection, plus a CTA for each item that redirects to the product page. You didn’t have to scroll through or choose from the website if you’ve already made a choice.
Right after they presented a variety of stem choices, they also showed a quick guide on how to create something related to the holiday. In this case, they showed simple steps to creating a floral pumpkin, perfect for Halloween decoration.
Halloween ready? 🎃
Sent by Floom
Make them try something new for a giveaway
Some say that candies are overrated during Halloween. And who would want to rush to the dentist because of a sugar rush?
It is not always necessary to manufacture candies or sweets for this special spooky party to offer your audience. You could offer something new and break some old thinking and traditions. Who knows, some people are just waiting for new ideas to bring to the table.
Here’s a perfect example from the popular mattress brand Purple.
Instead of saying Trick-or-Treat, they said trick-or-squishy on their subject line. A squishy is a type of soft toy that slowly returns to its original shape after being squeezed.
The banner showed an image of a pumpkin full of squishies, followed by huge texts convincing the audience to give squishies and not candies this time. You could also try this for your own brand, especially if you have lots of treats to offer (aside from candies) which could be toys, accessories, or any cute stuff.
Trick-or-Squishy this Halloween
Sent by Purple
Create an engaging instant win promo
Promotion examples with scratch & win can help you increase engagement and sales. It is also a great way to promote your products. Most importantly, they help captivate your audience.
Catching your audience's attention is the first challenge during a big marketing season like Halloween. If you are using email marketing, your email copy should be captivating enough to make the customers stop by.
Here are not just one but three examples from Schoolyard Snacks, a food brand that sells nutritional and keto-friendly snacks. Whatever your industry, scratch cards are a great way of drawing people into your sales funnel.
On the 3 emails, sent at a 4 to 5 day interval, you would notice a simple and short message composed of one block only.
In the subject line, they made use of emojis perfect for the season so people would know right away that the message is related to Halloween. It’s also a nice way to spook up your Halloween email subject lines.
The phrase “You qualify” could also be effective as it would make you feel involved and would lead you to open the email. Plus, the images are animated so it created a playful vibe while reading the email body.
Who wouldn’t want to scratch? Anyway, it was just a click away from revealing a surprise.
👻👻👻👻
Sent by Schoolyard Snacks
😱 You qualify !
Sent by Schoolyard Snacks
😱 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL - You qualify !
Sent by Schoolyard Snacks
How about the after-party?
There are a lot of different ways to celebrate Halloween. Most traditions are not complete without the costume party where heavy makeup and prosthetics are involved - making your skin the subject of scary, crazy ideas for the sake of fun and competition.
If you are in the personal care (most especially skincare) industry, you could offer your products in advance so customers could stock up in preparation for the post-party makeup removal and cleansing of their faces and body.
Just like what the two brands below did on their email campaign at least a week before the actual parties. Take them for inspiration to help your customers create a well-planned costume party from start to finish.
Scaryyyy skincare inside 👻
Sent by Crabtree & Evelyn
Don't forget to prep for this...
Sent by busy co
Try hosting a contest
Speaking of costume parties, some brands (especially those that belong to the fashion and lifestyle industries) do host a contest where they could showcase their products and launch new designs and prints too just in time for Halloween. It promotes audience participation and promotes your products needed for the contest.
Here are two email examples from Corro, a brand that sells horse supplies.
In the first email sent more than a week before Halloween, they announced their 2nd annual Halloween costume contest. It was just a simple and short email composed of the details of the contest including the inclusive dates and awards to be given, then a CTA to enter the contest.
👻 🎃 The 2nd Annual Corro Halloween Costume Contest is Here 👻 🎃
Sent by Corro
This second email is an interesting way to help the audience participate in the contest. It also serves as a follow-up email to make sure your audience won’t miss out on this promo.
Those who have not yet found a perfect costume that could wow the judges will have more inspiration this time. And for those still hesitant to try entering the contest, this email would convince them in a way.
Open For Halloween Costume Inspiration 👀
Sent by Corro
As you would notice, most of the brands featured above do not sell horror-related stuff, costumes, candies and sweets. It seems like Halloween is not a natural fit. But regardless of the type of industry you belong to, there are still plenty of creative ways to integrate Halloween into your marketing tactics.
You can always count on Panoramata for all your email marketing (and more!) inspiration to fuel you all year round.
Simply type in the name or keyword of the holiday, season, or event you're creating content for in Panoramata's search engine and you'll have access to all emails, ads, or SMS messages that mention that keyword.
Try it out for free below.
Want more ideas and inspiration? Check out our email swipe file with over 100 newsletter ideas you can use for your next campaign.
FAQs
Why should brands send Halloween emails if they don't sell Halloween-specific products?
Halloween is a crowd-favorite holiday with significant consumer spending, and brands can creatively integrate the theme into their marketing to engage audiences and promote their products, regardless of industry.
What are some good practices for Halloween email design?
Use eye-catching colors, high-impact images, animated GIFs, and contrast to create playful and captivating designs that stand out in the inbox.
How can I create urgency in my Halloween email offers?
Emphasize that promotions are for a limited time, highlight the value of the offer, and make sure your call-to-action button is prominent and clear.
