Will Halloween 2020 be the equal of circus peanuts and peanut butter chews? Or will we discover some full-size sweet bars hiding in our deal with sack?
Now that October is lastly right here, entrepreneurs are rising extra assured that customers won’t sit out Halloween due to the COVID-19 pandemic—they’ll simply have fun it otherwise.
What’s Different With Halloween This Year?
In the U.Okay., giant gatherings are out due to a ban on events with more than six people collectively, and trick-or-treating (or guising) is being actively discouraged.
In the U.S., some cities have banned door-to-door trick-or-treating, however others, like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, are permitting it with modifications. Parties will shrink to shut family and friends, and the costume parade would possibly occur on Zoom or Google Meet as an alternative of the neighborhood sidewalk.
The National Retail Federation, which tracks key spending occasions like Halloween, predicts whole U.S. spending on Halloween will dip to $8 billion, down from $8.8 billion in 2019. But the NRF additionally says per-person spending will go up as those that do plan to have fun will spend extra on decorations, sweet and greeting playing cards.
5 Tips for Halloween Email Campaigns That Wow
Email entrepreneurs can nonetheless get loads of mileage out of their Halloween advertising and marketing plans, even when the day isn’t the blockbuster it may have been pre-pandemic.
If you want some help and inspiration creating last-minute Halloween email campaigns, these 5 suggestions might help.
1. Use copy and pictures that replicate shopper wishes to combine security and enjoyable
Halloween spending may be down, however there’s nonetheless $8 billion up for grabs, and probably extra if customers determine to take part in any case.
Still, with three-quarters of U.S. customers telling the NRF that the COVID-19 pandemic has modified their Halloween plans, it’s a sign that email content material ought to replicate this 12 months’s revised actuality so as to resonate with prospects.
Try reviving the “we’re all in this together” theme that ran by way of many email campaigns earlier this 12 months. It might need worn skinny over the summer time because the pandemic appeared to subside in lots of components of the U.S. and world wide. But it’ll sign your concern for buyer security, particularly as a result of the virus is on the rise once more in lots of components of the U.S.
This marketing campaign from HalloweenCostumes.com will get many issues proper with its well timed deal with face masks as part of the costume. It’s consistent with CDC recommendation to hold sporting fabric coverings as a result of Halloween masks don’t shield in opposition to the coronavirus.
The email additionally hyperlinks to a bit on protected trick-or-treating and promotes a digital costume parade by inviting prospects to submit their photos utilizing the model’s hashtag.
This HalloweenCostumes.com email combines security, enjoyable and a digital costume parade on social media. Image via MailCharts.
2. Add some DIY editorial content material to assist prospects really feel like winners
Okay, so the large Halloween bash isn’t occurring this 12 months. But you’ll be able to assist your prospects really feel particular in regards to the plans they really feel snug about protecting.
Offering tips about entertaining or making a fun-but-safe costume for your self or relations, or offering tutorials on make-up strategies, as on this PromGirl email, might help nudge prospects towards a sale in case your recommendation helps them resolve an issue.
PromGirl’s make-up tutorial movies present prospects how to create distinctive appears that might work even beneath a masks. Image via MailCharts.
Need a little bit content material inspiration?
Check out the “Halloween Like We’ve Never Seen” marketing campaign, sponsored by commerce teams just like the NRF, the Halloween & Costume Association, the National Costumers Association and the Paper First Affiliates and allied manufacturers like Party City and Hershey.
It pairs a county-by-county map color-coded to present protected and dangerous areas and a listing of acceptable actions for 5 ranges of danger.
3. Help Halloween procrastinators be part of the occasion
Take a web page out of your vacation playbook, and let consumers know once they want to order to allow them to get their merch on time. In the email under, Hot Topic posts its delivery cutoff date prominently, in Halloween-appropriate orange and black, so consumers might be hard-pressed to keep away from it.
And should you really need to goal your last-minute consumers, allow them to find out about your Buy Online, Pick-up In Store (BOPIS) service should you supply it.
You can’t miss the delivery deadline, with day and time, on this Hot Topic email. Image via MailCharts.
4. Appeal to your bargain-hunters
Many customers are hurting financially from furloughs and job losses on account of the pandemic. Pull collectively a merchandise assortment that might enchantment to individuals who love Halloween however want to do it on a price range this 12 months.
The Party City email featured under is a digital stroll down the discount aisle, with interesting merchandise at budget-friendly costs.
The intelligent copy delivers some contemporary takes on the same old parade of clichés and horrible puns that pervade most Halloween copy, like “Torment the neighbors with these Halloween decoration ideas.” (Time to put a stake by way of the guts of “spooktacular!”)
Party City’s email marketing campaign feels a little bit like trick-or-treating for bargains. Image via MailCharts.
5. Tip for 2021: Start early!
Is August too quickly to begin selling Halloween? Not for décor shops like Grandin Road and Crate and Barrel, which go to the darkish facet on the peak of summer time.
Crate and Barrel’s email, despatched in early August, wins on a number of fronts. The sly copy (“We know it’s early, but …”) makes the email really feel like a VIP sneak peek. The topic line stands out: “Brewing up some new Halloween arrivals.” And the pictures, which model the merchandise in aspirational house settings, are extra interesting than straight catalog photos.
Is August too early to introduce new Halloween décor? True followers will say “Bring it on!” Image via MailCharts.
What’s one of the best time to ship Halloween email campaigns? In 2020, something goes.
In previous years, manufacturers started selling Halloween slowly, typically mixing in content material within the backside half of the message earlier than transferring it to the featured place in early to mid-September, after back-to-school promotions subsided however earlier than vacation/Christmas advertising and marketing started in earnest.
The surge normally started to construct in regards to the third week of September, as model emails mentioning Halloween elevated and themes shifted from “what’s new for Halloween” to promotion-led campaigns. The peak for Halloween frequency and promotion would come within the three to 4 days earlier than the occasion and proceed for 2 or three days afterwards as manufacturers promote post-Halloween gross sales to filter out stock.
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has thrown the same old Halloween promotion cycle off observe. Many manufacturers, even Halloween stalwarts like Party City, have held again on frequency, promotion charge and promotion worth due to uncertainty over rules on giant gatherings and trick-or-treating and shopper curiosity. Others, like HalloweenCostumes.com, are sending extra regularly and rising each the worth and variety of promotions.
Also in 2020, Amazon’s delayed Prime Day event and promotions from opponents like Target and Walmart may divert much more consideration and shopper spending away from Halloween. Retailers ought to work more durable than regular to create attention-getting headlines that seize consideration within the inbox and stand out from the Prime Day hoopla.
Wrapping Up: A Few Words About Subject Lines
Take the time to make them nice. That’s the way you’ll get your Halloween email campaigns observed within the inbox.
These three caught our eye as we browsed emails:
- “Sinister merch for humans & ghosts with the most” (Hot Topic)
- “Give ‘em pumpkin to talk about. Is your ride trunk-or-treat ready?” (Party City)
- “Trick or treat, short and sweet” (Tipsy Elves)
Work in your originality, too. You know all these nice puns you like? So do a whole lot of different entrepreneurs. Spend a while scrolling by way of Halloween email collections on websites like Really Good Emails and MailCharts, and have a look at the topic strains that catch your eye.
(We mentioned earlier that we’re so over “spooktacular” as a result of it’s a cliché. But it has a much bigger drawback: It has a racist historical past as a result of “spook,” derived from a Dutch phrase that means “specter,” developed right into a slur used in opposition to Black folks. Trade it in for one thing else, like “fangtastic.”)
Halloween may not be a significant vacation on your model, however a little bit rigorously chosen imagery and duplicate can spruce up any email and offer you a hook for further consideration.
Want to be taught extra e-commerce traits in the course of the 2020 vacation season? Check out these prime shopper insights from Iterable’s vacation purchasing survey.