Creative Holiday Season Email Marketing Examples

It’s likely that at this point in the holiday season your inbox is full of offers from your favorite stores and companies.

With so many different offers available, it’s important to make sure your emails stand out from the rest. The 6 campaigns below found creative ways to get their message of holiday cheer out for everyone to hear.

1. The Important Announcement & Reputation Booster

Company: Court Street Restaurant & Bar

Email Subject Line: Closed on Thanksgiving

Why This Email Works:

This email from Court Street Restaurant & Bar in Hoboken, NJ accomplished two important things. First, it provided an important news update about the hours of operation for their business. Around the holidays, it’s always helpful to tell your clients about an adjusted holiday schedule or extended hours.

Secondly, and maybe more importantly, by creating a message that says they decided to close for Thanksgiving so their employees could be with their families, they create a very specific reputation — that they care. Building a relationship with your audience depends heavily on how likable and relatable you are. Most people can agree that spending the holidays with their family, without having to worry about work, is a nice thing. By using email to relay your company values, you’ll be able to better connect with your email subscribers.

2. The Activity Email

Company: Birchbox

Email Subject Line: The Closest Thing to a Scratch-and-Sniff Email

Why This Email Works:

The subject line of this email is very creative and draws on people’s memories… who doesn’t fondly remember scratch-and-sniff stickers? By doing this, they create interest which entices people to open the email. Then, they follow it up with a highly engaging email activity.

The quiz to help you find the scent you like best helps to get people even more engaged. Plus, because you’ve answered questions about yourself, it shows that this is a product you can definitely enjoy and creates a reason to follow the call-to-action to shop now.

3. The Suspense Builder

Company: Kohl’s

Subject: Oh the suspense! Discover your Mystery Offer now…

This email from Kohl’s puts a creative spin on the typical discount offer. Each email subscriber is assigned an individual coupon code that’s worth either 20%, 30%, or 40% off your purchase. This is a great way to intrigue your audience and gives them an added reason to get started on their shopping list right away. Plus, it also leaves the option open to follow up later with another set discount email without the message seeming repetitive.

4. The Gift That Keeps On Giving Email

Company: Honey

Subject: The best way to say thank you for the holidays…

Honey is a browser extension that helps shoppers save money online by curating coupon deals that can be applied at checkout. Their subject line reflects the spirit of the season by offering subscribers a way to give back. This alone is a way to engage your audience and create strong interest in the content. But, the goal of this email is to generate as many additional users as possible for their product.

To do this, Honey takes it one step further and offers a personal benefit as well. Once the email is opened, there is an incentive offered for users to make a $5 profit for every person they refer to Honey. This offers an extra reason for email subscribers to share with their friends and family, which is easy to do using the share buttons at the bottom of the email.

5. The Get to Know Us Email

Company: Fabletics

Subject: what we’re thankful for

Why It Works:

People who are on your list want to get to know more about your business. This email helps to do that, all while advertising products as well.

By introducing members of the Fabletics team, and providing a personal quote for what each member is grateful for, the email helps build a personal connection and nurtures your list. It puts a face to various team members and highlights things their grateful for that also relate to the overall Fabletics brand. Plus, each member is wearing something from the fitness clothing company and the email provides a CTA for people to click and shop the look.

6. The Countdown

Company: Top Villas

Subject Line: Amazing Black Friday Deals

Why It Works:

This subject line could be more creative, but the body of the email itself is a great idea. Once the email is opened, there’s a running time clock of how long the 30% off Black Friday Deal is good for. This creates a visual urgency for anyone opening the email and is more effective than just saying “this deal expires on Black Friday”.

It’s sort of like when I tell my son I’ll race him to the car. If I told him to speed it up he wouldn’t feel much of a need to hurry, but by presenting him with a “race” option he starts running right away. Doing this with an email can help to turn prospects into clients more quickly.