5 Creepily Creative Email Marketing Campaigns for Halloween

Achica

This example from Achica contains effective visual impact and enticing offers, with each pumpkin getting bigger in size as the level of discount increases alongside the greater level of spend. How cool is that? Nice and simple, and I imagine it was really successful!

The language is simple and contains a soft and warm tone, to fit the warmth of the orange pumpkins images; “No tricks, just treats." Using Halloween-related discount codes is also a subtle but really nice little addition that sometimes gets overlooked.

Lands’ End

There are so many good things about this Lands' End email example. It is a simple offer they are promoting, but it is a striking piece of email creative. They have designed a hugely eye-catching visual, cleverly using the brand's clothing products to form a memorable, Halloween-inspired image.

The “31% OFF YOUR ORDER” offer – with its relevant discount code – is not only savvy and playful, but it also incorporates the FOMO (fear of missing out) persuasion tactic. The copywriting promotes “spellbinding savings” (until midnight) and uses the enticing phrase, “last few hours”. The key is the boldness and simplicity and the “SHOP NOW” call to action button reflects this. The customer is clear about what to do; shop before midnight with the BOO discount code and they will get 31% off their offer.

I can't help but imagine this creative animated. It would have been awesome to see it all moving! Maybe they'll go one step further this year?

J.Crew Factory

This email design from J.Crew Factory is another great combination of eye-catching visual design and innovative offers. The black and white wording and background – along with the Halloween-related hook, really grabs the attention of the reader, poses questions and builds intrigue.

The tactic is online to offline, as the Halloween offering is all about mystery and in-store sales. The main call to action is to encourage subscribers to go to the website to find their nearest store, to discover what the mystery sale will be on the specified day. In addition, the email refers to a broader 50% in-store sale.

Again, this email could have been animated and taken that little further. It looks great, but just imagine those eyes moving, or a little wink every five seconds!

Hollywood Bowl

Festive fun is the name of the game in this personalised email offer from Hollywood Bowl. They've created a simple Halloween Special family bowling offer, promoted with a colourful and snackable email design. There is a bold primary CTA button to book the bowling offer and a string of fun extras for the kids – including related downloadable content – which all have smaller CTAs. The email is also loaded with playful copywriting to suit the spooky season!

There is however, lots of room to improve this design. The main hero block at the top of the email is crying out for a call to action button and some tightening up of typography. It may sound trivial to suggest this, but these "tweaks" can make all the difference to results. Time and time again, we see the clients that perform best, are those that implement the smaller changes. Sometimes they have the greatest impact...

Asda

This email from Asda, like the Hollywood Bowl example, is a vibrant template full of snackable content and storytelling marketing, as well as being littered with calls to action related to Halloween and Asda's products. The story the marketers have spun is about the fun factor that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. CTA buttons and visually-appealing images and animations direct the reader to recipes, tips, snacks and drinks products, in order for customers to create a festive feast for all ages. The email content is colourful, playful and engaging.

Summary

These creepily creative email marketing examples should inspire you to deliver some fiendishly good email marketing campaigns, for Halloween and other seasonal email engagement opportunities.