Timing plays a big role too. Our guide on the best time to send holiday emails breaks down when audiences are most likely to engage, helping you get more from every Valentine’s Day send.

And with that, we’ve rounded up nine standout Valentine’s Day email examples to inspire your own. These examples show how top brands combine creativity, emotion, and strategy to engage audiences and drive results.

1. Guide purchase decisions with your top-sellers

Customers can often feel overwhelmed by choice during seasonal shopping. But highlighting your best-selling products helps remove that friction, guiding subscribers toward confident decisions.

Example:

You can take inspiration from MAC Cosmetics, who created a Valentine’s campaign featuring a curated selection of top-selling lipsticks.

With a captivating email design and on-theme copy, the email campaign directly addressed the desires of its audience, inspiring them to choose lipstick shades that made their Valentine’s Day feel extra special.

Besides, who can resist the appeal of a 30% off special offer on their favorite products?

Why it worked:

• Best-sellers remove uncertainty, making purchasing decisions simpler
• Eye-catching visuals paired with themed copy increased engagement
• A limited-time discount motivated quick action

Takeaways:

• Use your top-performing products to guide customers
• Combine visuals and copy to tell a cohesive seasonal story
• Add offers strategically to drive conversions without overselling

2. Inspire subscribers with Valentine’s newsletters

Your regular newsletter series doesn’t have to take a back seat during seasonal marketing. A Valentine’s themed newsletter that highlights helpful ideas, relevant content, or ways to celebrate can add value and strengthen your connection with subscribers without pushing a hard sell.

Example:

In its “Five Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day” newsletter, Tattly offered subscribers a seasonal guide rather than a straight promo. 

The email shared ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day including suggestions for ways to enjoy the occasion with friends, family, or partners, presented in a clean layout that’s easy to scan. 

This approach positions the brand as a helpful resource and subtly ties back to its products without feeling overly commercial.

Why it worked:

• Focusing on ideas and inspiration gave readers something useful, not just another sale
• The Valentine’s connection was clear, but the tone was informative rather than directly salesy
• A straightforward format made the newsletter feel accessible and easy to digest

Takeaways:

• Use newsletters to provide value, not just sell
• Put together seasonal tips, guides, or ideas relevant to your audience
• Tie newsletter content back to your products or services subtly, so it feels natural rather than promotional

3. Capture attention with your subject lines

A great subject line can make the difference between your email being opened or skipped. For Valentine’s Day, the best subject lines combine urgency, relevance, and emotional appeal, whether that’s playful, romantic, or practical.

Example:

Below, we’ve collected real-world examples from top brands. These examples show different approaches, from last-minute reminders to early inspiration and playful puns, giving you ideas you can adapt for your own campaigns.

Why it worked:

• Creative, emotionally meaningful subject lines increases open rates
• Testing multiple approaches identified what resonated with the audience
• Humor and urgency made the email feel timely and engaging

Takeaways:

• Experiment with playful, curiosity-driven, or urgency-focused subject linee
• Use A/B testing to see what works for your audience
• Align subject lines with the email content to maintain trust and reduce unsubscribes

General examples of Valentine’s subject lines

4. Make gifting simple with a Valentine’s gift guide

Gift guides have become a popular and effective way for brands to showcase their products and help customers make purchasing decisions during special occasions.

Example:

BarkShop created an excellent Valentine’s Day email campaign that offered a collection of Valentine’s gifts for dogs. 

Their pawsome gift guide combined eye-catching visuals, playful copy, and persuasive calls to action to both amuse and entice its subscribers. 

By highlighting an assortment of Valentine’s Day-themed toys and treats, BarkShop made it easy for dog owners to choose the perfect gift for their furry friends.

Why it worked:

• Curated recommendations simplify decision-making
• Fun visuals and copy increased engagement and brand affinity
• Targeted messaging aligned with audience interests

Takeaways:

• Tailor guides to your audience’s preferences and needs
• Make the guide visually appealing and easy to scan
• Highlight products that solve a clear problem or desire

5. Boost engagement with interactive content

Email marketing has evolved into a more interactive conversation with customers, where you can create engaging content to make your emails more interesting. Things like quizzes, polls, or clickable elements keep readers interested while reinforcing that brand connection.

Example:

If you’re looking to strengthen the bond between your brand and customers during Valentine’s Day season, then Moosejaw is one to look at. 

The brand’s eye-catching email campaign featured a quiz that revealed customers’ love language. The visuals were custom-made and told a heartwarming story that made it difficult for customers to resist taking the quiz. The quiz also created shareable content that extended the campaign’s reach.

Why it worked:

• Interactivity increased time spent engaging with the email
• Storytelling and visuals created emotional resonance
• Fun, shareable experiences extended campaign reach

Takeaways:

• Experiment with quizzes or gamified content to boost engagement
• Pair interactivity with storytelling for stronger impact
• Make sure interactive elements work seamlessly on mobile

6. Strengthen relationships beyond promotions

Not every Valentine’s Day email needs to sell. While promotional emails have their place in your Valentine’s Day marketing efforts, the focus should be on appreciation and connection, which is what strengthens loyalty and builds long-term engagement.

Example:

Charity: Water does this very well with personalized Valentine’s Day e-cards for donors, supporters, and fundraisers. 

By expressing heartfelt gratitude for its community’s efforts and making each card unique, it inspires people to continue supporting the brand’s cause and strengthen its connections with existing supporters.

These messages can also show your audience that you care more about other matters than just selling products or services.

Why it worked:

• Emotional messaging built deeper relationships
• Personalization made subscribers feel recognized
• Non-promotional content showcased brand values and credibility

Takeaways:

• Use holidays to show appreciation, not just sell
• Personalize messages to strengthen bonds with subscribers
• Share stories or tips that resonate with your audience’s interests

7. Connect through good storytelling

Valentine’s Day is a good time to create an email campaign that shares real-life love stories or memorable moments related to your brand and customers. One of the ways you can do this is by using really good storytelling to share emotionally compelling content that connects with your audience’s heart.

Example:

Warby Parker created an impactful email campaign that skillfully merged visual storytelling with a touch of romance and humor. 

Its visual narratives engaged customers, drawing their attention to the brand’s products while also evoking lighthearted enjoyment. Customers were also invited to share their own stories, which not only raises brand awareness but also strengthens social media engagement in a heartfelt way.

Why it worked:

• Storytelling built emotional connections with subscribers
• Humor and visuals made the email enjoyable and shareable
• Subtle product placement maintained authenticity

Takeaways:

• Share stories that resonate emotionally with your audience
• Combine visuals and copy to create an engaging narrative
• Encourage user-generated content to increase reach and engagement

8. Stand out with creative copywriting

Clever copy makes your emails memorable in crowded inboxes. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to use innovative and witty email copy to entertain subscribers, make your brand memorable, and show that you think outside the box.

Example:

Beardbrand seized the opportunity to get creative with its Valentine’s Day email copy and subject lines. 

They used playful language and humor that captured attention, poking fun at traditional marketing techniques while still promoting products. 

By being imaginative with their email copy, they’re able to leave a lasting impression and make their brand stand out during the Valentine’s Day season.

Why it worked:

• Creative copy captured attention in a busy inbox
• Humor aligned with brand personality and delighted subscribers
• Engaging messaging encouraged interaction without being pushy

Takeaways:

• Experiment with witty, imaginative copy to stand out
• Keep tone consistent with your brand voice
• Use creativity to reinforce brand personality while still driving action

9. Reach last-minute shoppers via SMS and WhatsApp

When Valentine’s Day gets close, inboxes fill up and attention drops. That’s why mobile‑first channels like SMS and WhatsApp are great for time‑sensitive reminders, urgent offers, and quick nudges that convert procrastinators into buyers. Because text messages are read quickly and directly, they’re ideal for last‑minute deals and delivery cutoffs.

Example:

Imagine a Valentine’s text campaign that goes out on February 13 and 14 reminding subscribers that they can still get gifts delivered in time or pick up in‑store. The message could include a one‑click link to a last‑minute gift guide or fast‑delivery productsmaking it easy for customers to act immediately rather than search your full site. 

In regions that support Whatsapp, it’s a great channel for personal follow-ups, in-chat order links, or more engaging reminders.

Why it worked:

• Immediate, attention-grabbing channel reached subscribers directly
• Short, clear copy and CTAs reduced friction for last-minute purchases
• Personalization increased relevance and boosted engagement

Takeaways:

• Use SMS and messaging apps to reach urgent buyers
• Keep messages concise, actionable, and time-sensitive
• Consider segmentation for loyal or high-value subscribers for better results

Capture hearts this Valentine’s Day

Whether your audience consists of hopeless romantics or practical shoppers, these nine Valentine’s Day email examples will help you craft messages that resonate with emotion and drive sales. 

Remember, a successful email campaign during this season of love is a balance of presenting your offerings and showing genuine appreciation for your customers. By adapting these examples to your brand’s tone of voice and values, you’re on your way to deepening customer connections and making the most of this Valentine’s Day.

Go too early and you risk giving away margin, overwhelming your audience, or prompting unsubscribes. Wait too long and your competitors may have already captured attention and sales. There’s real pressure in getting this timing right, that’s where data can make all the difference.

Because all kinds of brands send campaigns through the Dotdigital platform every year, we can see exactly when marketers begin referencing key holidays in their subject lines.

We’ve analyzed the last three years of holiday email sends to see how early brands are starting their campaigns. See how this differs by region, looking at the UK and Europe, the United States, and Australia and how this behavior is changing year-on-year. The result is a clear, numbers-led guide you can use to time your holiday emails with precision.

Valentine’s Day email marketing stats

Valentine’s Day has one of the shortest run-ups of any major holiday in this list, and it’s getting shorter each year. In 2025, brands began referencing Valentine’s Day in subject lines an average of 9 days before.

When to send

That short window also creates an opportunity. Because most brands move late, you don’t need weeks of build-up to be competitive, but you do need to be ready. If you can get into inboxes a few days earlier than the pack, you give yourself more room to influence buying decisions before the noise peaks.

What to send

Valentine’s is a perfect excuse to show some love to your subscribers. Take the opportunity to offer something just for them like:

• Early access to your Valentine’s Day sale
• A stackable discount to layer onto your website offers
• Free shipping or a free gift

Perks like this reinforce that being subscribed has real value and builds loyalty long after the holiday has passed.

With a short promotional window, urgency-led messaging and promotions like flash sales or free next-day delivery will encourage conversions in the moment.

Valentine’s Day marketing email marketing campaign statistics

The number of days before Valentine’s Day that brands begin referencing the holiday in subject lines.

2023

• Global average: 11
• APAC: 13
• EMEA: 10
• Americas: 12

2024

• Global average: 10
• APAC: 11
• EMEA: 10
• Americas: 9

2025

• Global average: 9
• APAC: 10
• EMEA: 10
• Americas: 8

Halloween email marketing stats

Falling on the last day of the month, October is the official spooky season. Europe and America both begin sending around 23-28 days before Halloween, and this is consistent over recent years. However, Australia has changed how early Halloween campaigns are sent, with a steady year-on-year decline and 2025 seeing a much shorter lead-up of around 13 days.

When to send

Your audience, your product, and the offers you have to share will all influence when to start sending, but you won’t be creating jump scares in your audience’s inbox if you send any time within October.

What to send

Halloween gives you tons of room to have fun with your email design. There are lots of ways to lean into a Halloween styling, even if you don’t have Halloween product imagery. Get five frightfully good Halloween email campaign ideas in this blog. We share how to make your campaigns captivating, no matter what industry you’re in.

Halloween email marketing campaign statistics

The number of days before Halloween that brands begin referencing the holiday in subject lines.

2023

• Global average: 26
• APAC: 28
• EMEA: 25
• Americas: 28

2024

• Global average: 23
• APAC: 17
• EMEA: 24
• Americas: 26

2025

• Global average: 23
• APAC: 13
• EMEA: 23
• Americas: 28

Black Friday email marketing stats

Black Friday originally began as an in-store discount event in the US, marking the day after Thanksgiving. Now, it’s a worldwide sales holiday that is very much online, blurring the lines with Cyber Monday. This overspill of the day has led to terms like ‘The cyber five’ and even ‘Black Friday month’.

The data shows that around two weeks before is the sweet spot for brands. This is consistent across the three regions studied, proving that Black Friday is cemented as a global sales holiday.

When to send

Aim for two weeks before Black Friday itself, and use the lead-up to encourage people to subscribe to mobile marketing channels like SMS, MMS and WhatsApp. This gives you another direct line to your audience on one of the busiest weeks for email inboxes.

What to send

Get inspiration for Black Friday campaigns with this lookbook full of inspiration and tips from the 2025 season.

Black Friday email marketing campaign statistics

The number of days before Black Friday that brands begin referencing the holiday in subject lines.

2023

• Global average: 9
• APAC: 8
• EMEA: 8
• Americas: 15

2024

• Global average: 12
• APAC: 9
• EMEA: 12
• Americas: 16

2025

• Global average: 12
• APAC: 14
• EMEA: 11
• Americas: 16

Cyber Monday email marketing stats

Cyber Monday was the online equivalent of Black Friday, bookending the holiday weekend. It’s now simply a continuation of the sales weekend. Cyber Monday has a much shorter lead-up than Black Friday, with 3 days being the average lead-up. This tracks as you don’t want to cannibalize your Black Friday traffic by jumping ahead to Cyber Monday.

When to send

As soon as the clock strikes midnight and Black Friday ends, it’s Cyber Monday lead-up time. In the US, brands tend to start earlier than in other regions. Use this window to warm up shoppers ahead of the peak. Set expectations for what’s coming, and encourage customers to follow you on social media or sign up for mobile marketing so they’re first to know when Cyber Monday offers go live.

What to send

Mix up your promotions and messaging so that it doesn’t feel like a diluted version of Black Friday. For design, brands often lean into a silver color palette to evoke the ‘cyber’ theme of the sales event.

Cyber Monday email marketing campaign statistics

The number of days before Cyber Monday that brands begin referencing the holiday in subject lines.

2023

• Global average: 3
• APAC: 3
• EMEA: 3
• Americas: 4

2024

• Global average: 4
• APAC: 2
• EMEA: 3
• Americas: 10

2025

• Global average: 3
• APAC: 1
• EMEA: 2
• Americas: 7

Christmas email marketing stats

Christmas is the biggest moment in the retail calendar, so it’s no surprise it has the longest build-up of any holiday in this blog. What’s interesting is how consistent this pattern is year-on-year, the timing barely changes. That tells us this isn’t a one-off trend, it’s become an industry norm.

In 2025, the global average time brands began referencing Christmas in email subject lines was 65 days before December 25. In 2026, that puts the starting line at Wednesday, October 21. Meaning, many brands are talking about Christmas before Halloween has even happened.

When to send

If you wait until November to think about Christmas, you’re already behind a large part of the market. Even if you don’t go full festive in October, this is the moment to start warming up your audience with early access, wish lists, or “coming soon” messaging, so you’re not playing catch-up when the peak hits.

What to send

Christmas campaigns work best when they build momentum over time. Start with low-pressure messages like gift guides, wish lists, or early-access collections to help shoppers plan ahead. As the season progresses, layer in urgency with delivery cut-offs, limited stock reminders, and last-chance messaging.

Segment where you can, tailor recommendations, and use clear, helpful messaging to make decision-making easier during the busiest shopping period of the year.

Christmas email marketing campaign statistics

The number of days before Christmas Day that brands begin referencing the holiday in subject lines.

2023

• Global average: 58
• APAC: 41
• EMEA: 59
• Americas: 69

2024

• Global average: 58
• APAC: 46
• EMEA: 59
• Americas: 64

2025

• Global average: 65
• APAC: 43
• EMEA: 67
• Americas: 68

Conclusion

Holidays and sales events are great opportunities to grab engagement and orders, as consumers are often in the mood to shop and are actively looking for discounts. The data in this blog gives you a clear view of when most brands ramp up their sending so that you can plan your promotional email calendar with confidence to time it perfectly. Use this data as your baseline, then test around it to find what works best for your audience.

If you want more exclusive email performance data, check out our Global benchmark report 2026 to add insight to your planning and see how your competition performs.

Hi, I’m Layla, Content Producer here at Dotdigital and your go-to for keeping your social media calendar in check. If you’ve ever felt like the calendar is running you instead of the other way around, I’ve got you. This guide to key social media dates for 2026 is packed with all the fun, quirky, and meaningful moments you can plan content around. 

Trends to keep an eye on this year? Short-form video is still king, but now it’s all about storytelling and creating communities, not just quick clips. Long-term, authentic creator partnerships are where the magic happens, and personalized content powered by AI is making audiences feel genuinely seen. So, plan smart, post strategically, and, most importantly, have fun with it!

January 2026

Themes for the month

Dry January — #DryJanuary 

Veganuary — #Veganuary

National mentoring month — #MentoringAmplifies 

National slavery & human trafficking prevention month

January calendar

January 2 – World introvert day #WorldIntrovertDay

January 4 – World braille day #WorldBrailleDay

January 5 – Twelfth night #TwelfthNight

January 6 – Epiphany #Epiphany

January 14 – World logic day #WorldLogicDay

January 16 – Global word search day #GlobalWordSearchDay

January 18 – Winnie the Pooh day #WinnieThePoohDay

January 19 – Martin Luther King, Jr. day #MLKDay

January 20 – Blue Monday #BlueMonday 

January 24 – International day of education #InternationalDayOfEducation

January 24 – National compliment day #NationalComplimentDay

January 25 – Burns night #BurnsNight

January 25 – Opposite day #OppositeDay

January 26 – Australia day #AustraliaDay

January 27 – International holocaust remembrance day #HolocaustRemembranceDay

January 27 – Chocolate cake day #ChocolateCakeDay

January 31 – Hot chocolate day #HotChocolateDay

February 2026

Themes for the month

National black history month (USA)

LGBT+ History month (UK)

Ramadan: February 18, 2026 – March 18, 2026

February calendar

February 2 – Groundhog day #GroundhogDay

February 2 – World wetlands day #WorldWetlandsDay

February 3 – Golden retriever day #GoldenRetrieverDay

February 4 – World cancer day #WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan

February 5 – Time to talk day #TimeToTalkDay

February 6 – Frozen yoghurt day #FrozenYoghurtDay

February 6 – New York fashion week begins #NYFW

February 7 – Send a card to a friend day #SendACardToAFriendDay

February 7 – Bubble gum day #BubbleGumDay

February 7 – Wear red day #WearRed

February 8 – Boy scouts day #BoyScoutsDay

February 8 – Super bowl #SuperBowl2026

February 9 – Pizza day #PizzaDay

February 11 – International day of women and girls in science #WomenInScienceDay

February 11 – Safer internet day #SaferInternetDay

February 13 – Self-love day #SelfLoveDay

February 13 – Galentine’s day #GalentinesDay

February 14 – Valentine’s day #ValentinesDay

February 15 – Singles awareness day #SinglesAwarenessDay

February 17 – Random acts of kindness day #RandomActsOfKindnessDay

February 18 – Ramadan begins #Ramadan

February 19 – London fashion week begins #LondonFashionWeek

February 20 – Love your pet day #LoveYourPetDay

February 20 – World day of social justice #SocialJusticeDay

February 21 – International mother language day #MotherLanguageDay

February 22 – Thinking day #ThinkingDay

February 23 – Helplines awareness day #HelplinesAwarenessDay

February 24 – London fashion week ends #LondonFashionWeek

February 24 – Tortilla chip day #TortillaChipDay

February 26 – Tell a fairy tale day #TellAFairyTaleDay

February 27 – Toast day #ToastDay

February 27 – International polar bear day #PolarBearDay

February 28 – Rare disease day #RareDiseaseDay

February 28 – Public sleeping day #PublicSleepingDay

March 2026

Themes for the month

Women’s history month #WomensHistoryMonth

Prostate cancer awareness month #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth 

Ovarian cancer awareness month #OvarianCancerAwarenessMonth

March calendar 

March 1 – St David’s day #StDavidsDay 

March 1 – Self-injury awareness day #SelfInjuryAwarenessDay 

March 1 – Zero discrimination day #ZeroDiscriminationDay 

March 3 – World hearing day #WorldHearingDay 

March 3 – World wildlife day #WorldWildlifeDay 

March 4 – Holi #Holi

March 5 – World book day #WorldBookDay 

March 8 – International women’s day #InternationalWomensDay

March 15 – Mother’s day (UK) #MothersDay

March 15 – Red nose day #RedNoseDay 

March 16 – Disabled access day #DisabledAccessDay 

March 17 – St Patrick’s day #StPatricksDay 

March 18 – Global recycling day #GlobalRecyclingDay 

March 19 – Eid al-Fitr #EidAlFitr 

March 20 – International day of happiness #InternationalDayOfHappiness

March 20 – First day of spring #FirstDayOfSpring

March 20 – World oral health day #WorldOralHealthDay

March 22 – World water day #WorldWaterDay 

March 28 – Earth hour #EarthHour

March 31 – International trans visibility day #TransDayOfVisibility

April 2026

Themes for the month

Stress awareness month

April calendar

April 1 – April fool’s day #AprilFools

April 2 – World autism awareness day #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

April 3 – Good Friday #GoodFriday

April 4 – International carrot day #InternationalCarrotDay

April 5 – Easter Sunday #EasterSunday

April 6 – Easter Monday #EasterMonday

April 6 – International day of sport for development and peace #SportForDevelopment

April 6 – Tartan day #TartanDay

April 7 – World health day #WorldHealthDay

April 10 – National siblings day #NationalSiblingsDay

April 11 – World Parkinson’s day #WorldParkinsonsDay

April 14 – Garden day #GardenDay

April 15 – World art day #WorldArtDay

April 20 to April 26 – Lesbian visibility week #LesbianVisibilityWeek

April 21 – National tea day #NationalTeaDay

April 22 – Earth day #EarthDay

April 23 – St George’s day #StGeorgesDay

April 28 – Workers’ memorial day #WorkersMemorialDay

April 28 – World day for safety and health at work #WorldSafetyHealthDay

April 28 – World day for safety & health at work #SafetyHealthAtWork

May 2026

Themes for the month

Mental health awareness month – #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

National walking month – #NationalWalkingMonth

May calendar 

May 1 – May day #MayDay

May 1 – Buddha day #BuddhaDay

May 2 – International Harry Potter day #HarryPotterDay

May 2 – World tuna day #WorldTunaDay

May 3 – World press freedom day #WorldPressFreedomDay

May 3 – World laughter day #WorldLaughterDay

May 4 – Early May bank holiday #EarlyMayBankHoliday

May 5 – Cinco de mayo #CincoDeMayo

May 5 – International day of the midwife #DayOfTheMidwife

May 6–12 – Deaf awareness week #DeafAwarenessWeek

May 8 – World red cross day #WorldRedCrossDay

May 9 – Europe day #EuropeDay

May 10 – Mother’s day (UK) #MothersDay

May 11–17 – Mental health awareness week #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

May 12 – International nurses day #InternationalNursesDay

May 14 – Ascension day (Christian) #AscensionDay

May 15 – International day of families #DayOfFamilies

May 17 – International day against homophobia, transphobia & biphobia #IDAHOBIT

May 19–26 – Knife crime awareness week #KnifeCrimeAwarenessWeek

May 21 – World meditation day #WorldMeditationDay

May 22 – International day for biological diversity #BiodiversityDay

May 25 – Spring bank holiday (UK) #SpringBankHoliday

May 25 – Africa day #AfricaDay

May 28 – Menstrual hygiene day #MenstrualHygieneDay

May 28 – World hunger day #WorldHungerDay

May 29 – International day of united nations peacekeepers #UNPeacekeepersDay

May 31 – World no tobacco day #WorldNoTobaccoDay

June 2026

Themes for the month

Pride month

June calendar 

June 1 – Global day of parents #GlobalDayOfParents

June 1 – World reef awareness day #WorldReefAwarenessDay

June 2 – Leave the office early day #LeaveTheOfficeEarlyDay

June 3 – Global running day #GlobalRunningDay

June 3 – World bicycle day #WorldBicycleDay

June 4 – National cheese day #NationalCheeseDay

June 5 – World environment day #WorldEnvironmentDay

June 6 – D-day anniversary #DDayAnniversary

June 7 – National cancer survivors day #NationalCancerSurvivorsDay

June 7 – World food safety day #WorldFoodSafetyDay

June 8 – World oceans day #WorldOceansDay

June 12 – World day against child labour #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour

June 14 – World blood donor day #WorldBloodDonorDay

June 15–21 – Refugee week #RefugeeWeek

June 17 – Clean air day #CleanAirDay

June 19 – Juneteenth (US) #Juneteenth

June 20 – World refugee day #WorldRefugeeDay

June 21 – Summer solstice #SummerSolstice

June 21 – World humanist day #WorldHumanistDay

June 22–28 – School diversity week #SchoolDiversityWeek

June 22 – Windrush day #WindrushDay

June 25 – Armed forces day #ArmedForcesDay

June 27 – PTSD awareness day #PTSDawarenessDay

June 30 – Social media day #SocialMediaDay

July 2026

Themes for the month

Plastic free July

Summer fun and relaxation (Northern hemisphere)

Christmas in July (Southern hemisphere) 

July calendar 

July 1 – International joke day #InternationalJokeDay

July 1 – Disability pride month begins #DisabilityPrideMonth

July 4 – Independence day (US) #IndependenceDay

July 4 – National sidewalk egg frying day #SidewalkEggFryingDay

July 7 – World chocolate day #WorldChocolateDay

July 11 – World population day #WorldPopulationDay

July 12 – Malala day #MalalaDay

July 12 – Orangemen’s day #OrangemensDay

July 14 – Bastille day #BastilleDay

July 15 – National give something away day #GiveSomethingAwayDay

July 16 – National cherry day #NationalCherryDay

July 16 – World snake day #WorldSnakeDay

July 18 – Nelson Mandela international day #MandelaDay

July 19 – National ice cream day #NationalIceCreamDay

July 20 – Moon landing anniversary #MoonLandingAnniversary

July 20 – International chess day #InternationalChessDay

July 22 – National hammock day #NationalHammockDay

July 24 – International self-care day #SelfCareDay

July 26 – Parents’ day #ParentsDay

July 28 – World War I day #WorldWarIDay

July 28 – World hepatitis day #WorldHepatitisDay

July 29 – International tiger day #InternationalTigerDay

July 30 – International day of friendship #InternationalDayOfFriendship

July 31 – National avocado day #NationalAvocadoDay

August 2026

Themes for the month

National immunization awareness month

Black business month

August calendar 

1 August – National girlfriends day #NationalGirlfriendsDay

1 August – World lung cancer day #WorldLungCancerDay

2 August – Sisters’ day #SistersDay

4 August – National chocolate chip cookie day #ChocolateChipCookieDay

5 August – National underwear day #UnderwearDay

7 August – National lighthouse day #LighthouseDay

8 August – National bowling day #BowlingDay

10 August – National s’mores day #SmoresDay

12 August – World elephant day #WorldElephantDay

13 August – International lefthanders day #LefthandersDay 

14 August – National financial awareness day #FinancialAwarenessDay 

15 August – National relaxation day #RelaxationDay 

16 August – National tell a joke day #TellAJokeDay 

17 August – National non-profit day #NonprofitDay 

18 August – National fajita day #FajitaDay 

19 August – World humanitarian day #WorldHumanitarianDay 

20 August – National radio day #NationalRadioDay 

22 August – National tooth fairy day #ToothFairyDay

24 August – National waffle day #WaffleDay 

25 August – National banana split day #BananaSplitDay 

26 August – National dog day #NationalDogDay 

27 August – National bow tie day #BowTieDay 

28 August – National chop suey day #ChopSueyDay 

31 August – Summer bank holiday

September 2026

Themes for the month

Childhood cancer awareness month

Suicide prevention month

Back to school

September calendar 

1 September – World letter writing day #WorldLetterWritingDay 

2 September – World coconut day #WorldCoconutDay 

4 September – Janmashtami (Hindu Holiday) #Janmashtami 

4 September – National food bank day #NationalFoodBankDay 

5 September – World beard day #WorldBeardDay 

5 September – International day of charity #DayOfCharity 

6 September – Read a book day #ReadABookDay 

7 September – Organ donation week begins #OrganDonationWeek 

8 September – World physiotherapy day #WorldPhysiotherapyDay 

8 September – International literacy day #LiteracyDay 

10 September – World suicide prevention day #WorldSuicidePreventionDay 

12 September – End digital poverty day #EndDigitalPoverty 

15 September – International day of democracy #DayOfDemocracy 

15 September – World afro day #WorldAfroDay 

16 September – International day for the preservation of the ozone layer #OzoneLayerDay 

21 September – International day of peace #DayOfPeace

21 September – World Alzheimer’s say #WorldAlzheimersDay 

22–28 September – Recycle week #RecycleWeek 

27 September – World tourism day #WorldTourismDay 

29 September – World heart day #WorldHeartDay 

October 2026

Themes for the month

Breast cancer awareness month

Domestic violence awareness month

Global diversity awareness month

National bullying prevention awareness month

National cyber security awareness month

Black history month (UK)

October calendar

1 October – World vegetarian day #WorldVegetarianDay 

1 October– International coffee day #CoffeeDay

2 October – International day of non-violence #NonViolenceDay

4 October – World animal day #WorldAnimalDay 

5 October – World teachers’ day #WorldTeachersDay 

10 October – World mental health Day #WorldMentalHealthDay 

10 October – World egg day #WorldEggDay

11 October – International day of the girl #DayOfTheGirl 

15 October – Global handwashing day #GlobalHandwashingDay 

16 October – World food day #WorldFoodDay 

17 October – International day for the eradication of poverty #EndPoverty 

20 October – World statistics day #WorldStatisticsDay 

24 October – United nations day #UNDay 

October 26 – Pumpkin day #PumpkinDay

31 October – Halloween #Halloween 

November 2026

Themes for the month

Lung cancer awareness month

Men’s health awareness month #Movember

November calendar

1 November – All saints day #AllSaintsDay

1 November – World vegan day #WorldVeganDay

2 November – Stress awareness day #StressAwarenessDay

3 November – Sandwich day #SandwichDay

5 November – Guy Fawkes night #GuyFawkesNight 

6 November – Nachos day #NachosDay

8 November – National cappuccino day #CappuccinoDay

11 November – Remembrance day #RemembranceDay 

12 November – Chicken soup for the soul day #ChickenSoupForTheSoulDay

13 November – World kindness day #WorldKindnessDay

14 November – Spaghetti day #SpaghettiDay

15 November – Clean out your fridge day #CleanOutYourFridgeDay

16 November – International tolerance day #ToleranceDay 

17 November – Homemade bread day #HomemadeBreadDay

18 November – Princess day #PrincessDay

19 November – Talk like a pirate day #TalkLikeAPirateDay

22 November – Cappuccino day #CappuccinoDay

23 November – Netflix day #NetflixDay 

24 November – Celebrate your unique talent day #UniqueTalentDay

26 November – Cake day #CakeDay 

27 November – Black Friday #BlackFriday 

28 November – Small business Saturday #SmallBusinessSaturday 

29 November – Electronic greetings day #ElectronicGreetingsDay

30 November – St Andrew’s day #StAndrewsDay #Scotland

December 2026

Themes for the month

Hanukkah: December 4 – December 12

Christmas: December 24 – December 26

December calendar

1 December – World aids day #WorldAIDSDay 

2 December – Eat a red apple day #EatARedAppleDay 

3 December – Make a gift day #MakeAGiftDay 

4 December – Santa’s helpers day #SantasHelpersDay 

5 December – Volunteer day #VolunteerDay 

6 December – St Nicholas day #StNicholasDay 

7 December – Cotton candy day #CottonCandyDay 

8 December – Brownie day #BrownieDay

10 December – Human rights day #HumanRightsDay 

12 December – Gingerbread house day #GingerbreadHouseDay

13 December – Ice cream day (yes, in winter!) #IceCreamDay

14 December – Monkey day #MonkeyDay

15 December – Wear your Christmas sweater day #ChristmasSweaterDay 

16 December – Chocolate-covered anything day #ChocolateCoveredDay 

17 December – National maple syrup day #MapleSyrupDay

18 December – Answer the phone like buddy the elf day #BuddyTheElfDay 

20 December – International human solidarity day #HumanSolidarityDay 

21 December – Winter solstice #WinterSolstice 

24 December – Christmas eve #ChristmasEve 

25 December – Christmas day #ChristmasDay 

26 December – Boxing day #BoxingDay 

31 December – New year’s eve #NewYearsEve 

Let’s wrap up

Don’t miss a single chance to connect with your audience and spark meaningful engagement. Planning your social media strategy ahead of time is key! Use this complete list of key social media dates for 2026 as your guide, and schedule content around these dates to maximize visibility, boost interactions, and help your brand shine all year long.

People are in buying mode, checking their inboxes more frequently, and looking for connection as much as discounts.

Why seasonal marketing works beyond retail

The holidays aren’t just for shopping, they’re also for reconnecting. It’s a great time to build an emotional connection with your audience to build on customer loyalty. This is a key time of year for engagement as your audience is checking inboxes, planning budgets, and reflecting on the year gone by.

In this blog, we’ll explore how B2B marketers can take a page from ecommerce’s playbook, adapting high-performing seasonal strategies to engage decision-makers, nurture leads, and make your brand top of mind during the most competitive time of the year.

Standout B2B holiday campaigns and what we can learn

Cyber Monday and Black Friday for B2B brands

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are often thought of as consumer-focused shopping events, but for B2B marketers, they represent a unique opportunity to engage clients, nurture leads, and accelerate sales before the end of the year. Business people are still people, they’re just at work, and it’s certainly a time where people are in the buying mood, so take advantage of that.

This campaign from writing assistant tool Grammarly shows that B2B can take part in traditional Black Friday style discounts. Offering its software with a huge 50% discount over Black Friday and Cyber Monday the campaign is sure to jump out in the inbox.

The huge discount and short window in which to redeem it encourages urgency, and thanks to the already established nature of BFCM sales, the ‘ending soon’ angle feels genuine rather than pushy.

Subject line: Cyber Savings start now! Get 50% off Grammarly Pro

Why it worked

The email is simple, but still tells you everything you need to know. BFCM is a busy time, just last year Dotdigital sent over 365 million emails on Black Friday alone, so having your main takeaway above the fold (visible immediately without scrolling) is crucial.

The campaign makes the offer clear and then talks directly to the consumer, aligning the product to hitting your goals for the next year. Finally there’s a clear, concise overview of what Grammarly offers – making it the perfect email to simply forward on to a manager or budget holder if required.

How to replicate it

Identify something extra you can provide, while a classic discount is what customers expect over BFCM, you’re not limited to this. For many B2B brands the sales cycle is longer and more complex than a one-off purchase. Instead of offering an on-the-day immediate benefit, try offering a discount or additional benefits to customers who express interest on BFCM. Create a unique sign up form to attract new leads across social media, website, and email with this unique offer and then you have a list of engaged prospects that you can continue to close over the coming weeks.

BFCM isn’t just for ecommerce, see how charity marketers provide enticing offers for BFCM here.

End of year B2B campaign ideas

The holiday season falls at the end of the calendar year, which is nostalgic by nature. This makes it a great time to do a roundup of your year and remind your audience the value you bring, and the community they’re a part of. Connect with your audience by reflecting on the year’s achievements, thanking supporters and customers, and reinforce your brand’s values. By taking a moment to acknowledge and appreciate your audience, you can leave a positive, lasting impression that goes beyond typical marketing communications.

Find an angle that makes sense for your brand. Here are some examples from different B2B brands.

Subject line: The ecommerce trends you cared about most in 2024

Why it worked

Shopify took the opportunity to roundup and reshare its most popular content from the year. Both reminding your audience of all the great content you get for subscribing and getting more eyes on valuable content. It also adds to the community feeling, subtly reminding customers that they’re part of a group of like-minded Shopify fans working towards a similar goal. Plus, social proof comes in all forms. Highlighting this ‘most popular’ content makes for a great reading list.

Subject line: Celebrate the end of the year with The Drop

Why it worked

MOO put its team center stage, sharing a blog where employees talk about the changes the brand has experienced that year. This is a nice way to add humanity and personality to your brand and build community content.

Subject line: Everything we shipped in 2024

Why it worked

Figma took the opportunity to remind customers of all the updates they released that year to show the progression and value of being a Figma user. The email also reminisces on the successful conference, Config. Overall, the campaign is full of positive energy, reminding customers of the brand’s commitment to serving its audience and providing what they need.

How to replicate it

Think about what you’re most proud of from this year and create a campaign around that. Is it product launches, events, an award win? Whatever is worthy of celebration and of interest to your audience is best here.

Pull in some user-generated content (UGC) in the form of reviews to bring the community element into your campaign. Look at ways you can make this campaign personal to the recipient, everyone loves Spotify’s annual Wrapped campaign. Perhaps you can create a personalized campaign that pulls in personal data fields such as events attended, new features used, or similar.

You can also send the campaign from a recipient’s dedicated account manager if appropriate to give it that extra relevancy. Our 2025 loyalty report found that while 78% of consumers feel brands personalize their marketing at the right level, only 23% consider those messages to be truly relevant.

A B2B approach to holiday campaigns

A happy holiday message is a simple and effective way to strengthen relationships and show appreciation to clients, partners, and collaborators. This is your digital equivalent of a holiday card, and with Dotdigital it’s completely eco friendly as our platform is carbon-neutral.

Subject line: Happy Holidays, from our work family to yours

Subject line: A wish from MOO to you

Why it worked

Unlike transactional or sales emails, a holiday greeting is personal and thoughtful, reminding recipients that your business values the relationship beyond revenue. It helps humanize your brand, foster goodwill, and keep your company top of mind as the year closes, setting a positive tone for future collaboration in the new year. Also bare in mind that not everyone celebrates the holidays and it can be sensitive for some, so give your audience the opportunity to opt out of holiday content in your preference center.

How to replicate it

These campaigns can be super simple. The Quill example shows how a heartfelt thank you can work and MOO’s simple image-led campaign with just a couple of lines of text is something you can put together quickly.

We’re all about humanizing B2B marketing, and this is a good opportunity to show the faces behind your brand. Position your message to come from someone notable like your founder or CEO, include a photo, and be sure to personalize that ‘friendly from’ name for better engagement. Segment your customers and your prospects so you can send a tailored and highly relevant message to both groups.

As this is your virtual holiday card, incorporate seasonal imagery and colors to make the design deliver on the warm and fuzzy feeling. Just remember to send this before Christmas week to avoid your email being missed as people log off from work for the holidays.

So, can B2B brands win at seasonal marketing?

Absolutely. Stake your claim in the busy holiday inboxes by offering something different, yet just as exciting. By taking on traditional sales days and tactics with a slight reposition to suit your brand, you can provide relevancy, build emotional connection, and share positive energy to round out your year and set the tone for the next.

In this blog, we’ll unwrap practical, heartfelt strategies to help your not-for-profit connect with supporters, and drive impact when it matters most.

Why holiday marketing works beyond retail

While most marketing advice for the season is geared toward ecommerce brands, not-for-profit organizations are sometimes left feeling like Kevin McCallister in Home Alone, forgotten amid the festive frenzy. We may not be able to give out free turtle doves, but we can share some ideas and advice.

Vimal Patel, Co-founder and Managing Director, Giant Digital, a not-for-profit digital agency, says:

“The holiday season is a time of generosity, reflection and hope, when supporters are most open to connecting with the causes that move them. For charities, it’s a powerful opportunity to inspire compassion and turn that goodwill into lasting impact.

Working alongside Help for Heroes on their Send Hope to a Veteran Christmas appeal, we helped enhance the digital experience to better capture the emotion of the season. Together, we tested video and static imagery, linger time and interaction history, as well as building analysis funnels to understand what truly resonated with supporters – insight that continues to inform future engagement today.

When collaboration brings together data, design and storytelling, festive campaigns become more than moments of giving, they become the start of enduring relationships. The true value of seasonal giving lies not only in generosity today, but in the connections that last long after the decorations have come down.“

Inspiring not-for-profit seasonal campaigns and the tactics behind them

How not-for-profit organizations can celebrate 11:11

11:11, also known as Singles’ Day, has become one of the biggest global shopping events of the year. It originates from China, and is now growing in popularity with many brands around the world offering discounts on November 11.

11:11 isn’t just a commercial moment; it’s also culturally known as the “make a wish” time. When people see 11:11 am on their clock, some pause and take a moment to hope for something good to happen.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation cleverly embraced the date, turning November 11 into a powerful opportunity, encouraging people not just to make a wish, but to grant one.

Why it worked

The campaign positions itself perfectly in line with the cultural moment and brings the attention straight to the children the charity supports. The email explains the connection between the numbers 11:11 and making a wish for anyone unfamiliar, and jumps into a real life story.

Including real, tangible stories to show what donations provide gives subscribers a clear understanding of exactly where their money could go and how it will help.

How to replicate it

Any charity can tap into the spirit of ‘11:11 make a wish’. With the holidays being a time for over-consumption, re-framing the moment as an opportunity to grant a wish is a clever way to engage supporters.

Singles’ Day is all about being single and treating yourself, but depending on your organization you can re-frame this to fit your mission. Here are a few ideas:

• Highlight the issues of isolation and loneliness and share how your organization helps combat this
• Talk about the value of independence and highlight how your charity supports people to find freedom and independence
• Simply encourage supporters to donate this Singles’ Day instead of buying themselves a gift

How not-for-profit organizations can drive support on Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is a global movement that kicks off the charitable season each year, taking place on the Tuesday immediately following Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). While BFCM is all about consumer spending and ecommerce deals, Giving Tuesday flips the focus from shopping to giving, encouraging individuals and organizations to support causes they care about.

For not-for-profit organizations, this makes it an ideal day to drive donations, engage supporters, and amplify your impact. With the momentum of the holiday shopping season still high, you can harness the attention and generosity of donors looking to balance the consumer frenzy with acts of kindness.

The Giving Tuesday Data Commons reported that Americans gave a staggering $3.6 billion on Giving Tuesday 2024, marking the most generous Giving Tuesday on record. Subject line: Claim your Giving Tuesday 3X match now

Subject line: Claim your Giving Tuesday 3X match now

Why it worked

This campaign from Doctors Without Borders partnered with a philanthropic fund to offer donation matching. Over Giving Tuesday, donations were triple matched. This makes supporters feel they’re getting more value for their money, mirroring holiday discounting with ecommerce stores but without the not-for-profit organization losing any money themselves. This tactic also encourages donations right away due to the limited time benefits, mimicking flash sales and fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) tactics often used in ecommerce holiday marketing.

How to replicate it

Supporters love to feel their gift goes further. Even without monetary incentives, there are creative ways to add value that benefit both your supporters and your mission.

If you can’t get a donation matching offer like Doctors Without Borders did here, look at other ways to add something extra. This could be something that doesn’t cost much, such as sending a digital holiday card to donors who donate on that day, entering them into a prize draw to win something donated by a local company, or inviting them to a future, exclusive fundraising event.

The American Red Cross used this tactic on Black Friday, offering anyone who donated over $75 on Black Friday a free hat. It’s similar to a classic ecommerce ‘spend and save’ offer where people need to hit a minimum spend to get a unique offer.

Subject line: Black Friday Gift Status: [UNCLAIMED]

How not-for-profit organizations can celebrate Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday, it’s a season that naturally encourages reflection, giving back, and giving thanks. For not-for-profit marketers, it’s the perfect moment to truly connect with your supporters, thank them for their support, and strengthen relationships.

Subject line: Happy Thanksgiving

Why it worked

This Thanksgiving campaign from St Jude Children’s Research Hospital hits you right in the feels. The copy is pretty simple and to the point, while the art work from St Jude patient, Ellen, of a Thanksgiving turkey reminds the reader who they’re supporting.

The campaign also includes a block encouraging readers to share quotes and images from St Jude patients, families, and supporters. This is a great way to get your organization on the social media feeds of others. This act of advocacy from your existing supporters broadens your charity’s reach for free.

Subject line: A New Tradition of Gratitude This Thanksgiving

Why it worked

This example from Food For The Poor is another great approach to Thanksgiving. People really respond to messages of thanks from notable members of your organization, such as your CEO. This heartfelt letter-style email thanks supporters and then suggests fun activities to make the holiday more memorable.

How to replicate it

Find a campaign style that makes sense for your organization and lean into the spirit of the holiday and thank your supporters. Include subscribers who haven’t donated yet, thank them for any interaction, whether that’s liking or sharing your posts on social media, suggesting your charity to others, or donating time. Not everyone has the means to donate financially at the moment, and letting people know you appreciate whatever support they can offer will help build the relationship and keep them engaged.

Not everyone will be checking their emails on Thanksgiving, so be sure to use a cross-channel approach. Use social media and mobile messaging such as WhatsApp, SMS, and MMS to make sure your message is seen by your supporters.

A not-for-profit approach to Black Friday

Black Friday is traditionally known as the biggest shopping day of the year, dominated by discounts, deals, and consumer frenzy. While it’s primarily associated with retail, you can also leverage the attention and urgency of the day to your advantage.

Subject line: The only Black Friday deal that makes a difference for children

Why it worked

This campaign from Save the Children uses really powerful, direct language. ‘by the time black Friday ends, millions of children will go to bed hungry’ and ‘So, before you shop the discounts and deals today, make a gift that has the power to change lives.’ Black Friday is all about consumption, the day when everyone is shouting the loudest to get attention in the inbox, so being direct is necessary. This subject line grabs attention due to the blunt and powerful message and the campaign forces you to consider how you use your money and what’s really important.

How to replicate

Be bold in your messaging, especially on the big sales days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Last year Dotdigital sent 365 million emails on Black Friday alone, and it’s one of the biggest email send days in the calendar. Use your subject line and preheader to get your message in front of supporters, and deliver impact in the campaign itself. Remind people exactly who your organization helps, and include plenty of clear CTAs to capture donations.

A non-commerce approach to holiday gifting

The holiday season is all about gift buying for others. There are a few clever ways not-for-profits can tap into this style and encourage supporters to donate in place of gift buying.

Subject line: Shop gifts for animal lovers in your PJs!

Why it worked

This email campaign from Best Friends Animal Society taps into the comfort angle to get attention in the inbox, highlighting that you can get your holiday shopping done from the comfort of your couch, in your PJs.

In terms of encouraging donations, by packaging up donation amounts into tangible benefits, such as ‘bunny care package’ or ‘life saving road trip’ it helps people visualize exactly where their money is going and the impact it will have.

This approach makes it feel like a better gift, providing something tangible, rather than ‘I made a $20 donation in your name’. The email also calls out that you can send your chosen gift via an adorable e-card or printable card to further add to the gift giving experience.

Why it worked

Save the Children put its own spin on traditional gift guides. It also gives clear outcomes according to donation amounts, making it clear where your support will go. Just like the earlier Black Friday campaign, the copy is still direct and punchy, reminding people what’s important and why now matters more than ever.

The inclusion of a free bag of specialist coffee beans with donations over $150 is another example of a classic ‘spend and save’ tactic.

How to replicate it

Splitting up donation values into corresponding outcomes is a really strong way to drive donations. Even if your website isn’t set up for this kind of positioning yet for collecting the money, you can use a few examples of what different amounts, such as $50, $75, and $100 would do, in your email itself.

For a ‘spend and save’ tactic there are lots of ways to give supporters something extra when they donate above a certain amount. One low cost option is to create an asset that your supporters can post to their social media platforms, telling people they’re a ‘star supporter’ this holiday season. You can set up an automation program to email supporters this asset once they’ve donated a set amount. This is a good way of encouraging supporter advocacy and broadening your brand’s reach on social media too.

How to encourage giving over the holiday season

Holiday marketing isn’t just for retailers, it’s a powerful time for not-for-profits to stand out, tell stories that resonate, and invite action when generosity is at its peak. Relevant messaging is crucial for capturing attention and driving action.

Phil Aiston, Director of Digital Marketing at Manifesto says:

“To cut through the holiday noise, non-profits can go beyond generic appeals and embrace contextual relevance to boost engagement and donations. The key is to demonstrate a clear link between the immediate challenge and the donor’s action.

For The Salvation Army, we used weather-triggered ads in Meta Ads campaigns as part of an omni-channel Christmas campaign. When local weather conditions (rain, snow, cold) were activated, the ad copy became immediately relevant, highlighting how their services protect the homeless during severe weather. This simple innovation created a powerful amplifying effect across the campaign. When weather-triggered ads were live, the Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) was 25% higher, and the average donation was £8.78 larger.

This principle applies directly to email marketing too. Segment your list by location or past donation history to tailor subject lines and content. By making your appeal specific to the supporter’s known context, you transform a distant cause into a local, urgent call to action, driving higher engagement and conversion.“

Whether it’s re-framing commercial events like Black Friday into opportunities for good or thanking supporters on Thanksgiving, the key is to lean into the spirit of the season. By combining heartfelt storytelling, bold copy, and creative campaign ideas, you can inspire supporters to see giving not as an afterthought, but as the most meaningful holiday tradition of all.

1. Captivating visuals and graphics

Halloween is the perfect time to unleash your creativity and design email campaigns that are visually stunning and drive clicks.

We asked our in-house design team, the people who design emails for a living, to share their top tips for Halloween campaigns that are scarily good. Senior Digital Creative at Dotdigital, Sharon Godfrey, says:

“Mix it up to keep your audience engaged. There are lots of fun designs and formats you can tap into for Halloween. Animated GIFs, seasonal images, autumnal color backgrounds, and spooky fonts can really make your emails pop.

If you use text in images, don’t forget to make sure they are legible in the mobile view and always add image titles in alt tags so screen readers can access them.”

One of the lesser-known things about Dotdigital is that we offer a people and platform solution, so our in-house creative experts are on hand to support with specialist campaigns and design advice, in addition to the super intuitive in-platform tools.

How to embrace Halloween email styling without Halloween products or imagery

No Halloween-themed products or product images? No problem, you can still lean into Halloween styling to make generic photography relevant. This example from Huel uses a regular product image, but the black background and clever white outline shapes to create ghosts, highlight the product, and instantly make the campaign Halloween-themed.

This also keeps the campaign in line with Huel’s overall color palette and styling, adding a Halloween spin without losing brand identity. The fun copy, swapping out Halloween for ‘Hueloween’ also works really well to make the audience smile. Halloween is all about spooky puns and play-on-words.

How to put your Halloween products front and centre

If you do have Halloween products or Halloween-themed imagery you can use, then of course, you can rely on the images to bring the Halloween vibes to your email campaigns.

Crocs’ Halloween email marketing campaign is a great example of putting your Halloween products in the spotlight. The email highlights the Halloween collection by showing the product, explaining why it’s so great, and does it all without overcrowding the design. The layout it clean, clear, and the playful copy adds to the Halloween theme.

2. Exclusive Halloween promotions and discounts

No enchanting Halloween email marketing campaign is complete without an enticing reason for your subscribers to click through.

Flash sales and limited-time offers are sure to grab attention. Phrases like “today only” or “ends soon” make subscribers act quickly, ensuring they don’t miss out on exclusive deals. Offers with a short window are a great way of driving sales, but you need to be wary of disappointing customers who read a flash sale email after the deal has ended. You don’t want their inbox to be full of ghostly reminders of deals that are now dead.

SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp are all great options for flash sales. These channels put your message directly on customers’ phones, helping it get noticed even when email alerts are off.

Also add a section to your email for anyone opening it late. You can use this situation to your advantage and encourage SMS or WhatsApp signups. Adding an offer in exchange to signing up (ideally of equal value to the flash sale they missed) will negate customer disappointment and drive signups, so it’s win-win.

Use copy like ‘You missed the flash sale, but don’t worry. Get 15% off your next order when you subscribe to mobile alerts and never miss a flash sale again’. And include a phone number capture block.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the peak holiday season aren’t long after Halloween, so it’s a great time to collect phone numbers for future flash sales.

3. Showcase valuable content

Halloween is the perfect time to go beyond the promotional and offer your audience something valuable. Helpful or editorial content gives your readers something for free, adding value to the relationship.

Halloween emails can be effective without relying on heavy-handed promotions, fostering long-term customer relationships that last beyond the spooky season.

Here are some ideas for helpful Halloween content:

• Seasonal tips and tricks: Offer practical advice related to Halloween, such as costume ideas, decoration tips, or safety guidance for trick-or-treating.
• DIY tutorials: Provide step-by-step guides for Halloween-themed crafts, makeup looks, or home decor projects.
• Themed recipes: Share festive recipes that align with your brand and appeal to your audience’s interests.
• Curated gift guides: Create themed gift guides that help your subscribers find perfect Halloween presents for friends and family.
• Behind-the-scenes content: Give subscribers a peek into how your company prepares for Halloween, humanizing your brand.

Betty Crocker’s Halloween email campaign is a sweet example of how valuable content can drive engagement.

By providing festive cookie recipes, Betty Crocker offers practical and actionable content that subscribers can use to celebrate the season. The engaging headlines and clear calls to action encourage readers to explore the recipes further on the brand’s website.

This campaign perfectly aligns with Betty Crocker’s brand identity as a trusted baking resource. By focusing on value and helpful information, the email subtly promotes the brand’s products without being overly sales-driven. This approach builds trust and encourages long-term customer relationships.

4. Reward loyal customers

Don’t forget your loyal fans this Halloween! A special treat can turn loyal customers into raving fans. Our 2025 customer loyalty report found that the top 5 loyalty rewards customers crave are:

• 1. Cashback on purchases
• 2. Freebie products, gifts, or samples
• 3. Free shipping or return services
• 4. Birthday or anniversary rewards
• 5. Personalized discounts or offers

During the busy season, inboxes are packed with promotions, so your subject line must communicate value instantly.

Sugarfina’s campaign subject line: ‘Loyalty Exclusive! 15% Off Halloween ’ does this perfectly. Highlighting that the offer is only for loyal customers instantly creates a sense of exclusivity and makes it worth clicking.

The email itself continues the loyalty exclusive messaging, offering Reward shoppers 15% off. The campaign itself is simple, letting the product imagery and offer do the heavy lifting, giving customers a clear CTA to click through and shop the discount.

The only other thing in the email is the inclusion of an SMS subscription block, which is a great idea to get more data from these loyal customers.

Our 2025 customer loyalty report found that only 32% of consumers are happy to give their phone number to brands. Adding a good incentive is imperative to encourage subscribers to give you their number. This example from Sugarfina maintains the loyalty exclusive theme by highlighting that reward members who sign up for SMS will get an extra special offer too.

5. Hauntingly clever Halloween subject line ideas

Your email’s subject line is the first step to captivating your subscribers. It should be intriguing and mysterious to draw them in. Crafting an eye-catching subject line is crucial for the success of your Halloween email campaign, as it determines whether recipients will open your email or simply ignore it.

Here are some tips for creating effective subject lines:

• Try out WinstonAI: Dotdigital’s AI-powered generative tool WinstonAI can help you brainstorm new ideas, adjust the tone, or refine the length of your subject lines. The subject line generator also analyzes your recent subject line performance to suggest ones that are statistically more likely to appeal to your audience.
• Use engaging language: Choose words that evoke emotion and curiosity.
• Create urgency: Phrases like “limited time” or “ends soon” can prompt immediate action.
• Offer a mystery: Encourage intrigue with phrases that suggest surprises or secrets.
• Incorporate questions: Engage readers by prompting them to think about their desires or fears.
• Keep it concise: Aim for 50 characters or fewer for optimal readability.
• Personalize when possible: Use subscriber names or past purchase data to make it more relevant.

Here are some Halloween subject lines you can use in your email marketing campaigns:

Get ready for a spooktacular surprise
Unlock your exclusive Halloween treats
Limited time only: hauntingly good discounts
Join our costume contest for a chance to win
Don’t miss out on our witching hour flash sale
Creepy goodies await: open if you dare
Trick or treat? Reveal your mystery discount now
Spooky savings just for you—limited time offer
Enter if you dare: our Halloween giveaway awaits
Get your ghoul on: exclusive Halloween recipes inside

Don’t forget to experiment and test your subject lines. By analyzing email metrics and engagement, you can determine the best words and themes for your Halloween email campaign. With this knowledge, you can create subject lines that not only capture attention but also increase the success of your campaign.

Summary

With these spellbinding email marketing ideas, your brand will be well-prepared to captivate and engage your audience this Halloween. By combining these creative elements, you’ll create fun campaigns your subscribers will love, and improve your marketing success. Enjoy the excitement of the season and let these tips guide your email strategy – your customers will be thrilled, engaged, and inspired to take action. 

What is Cyber Week?

Cyber week, also known as the “cyber five”, is the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday and is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Adobe data reveals that last year saw record spending online during the buster weekend in the US, and 57% of this spending was via mobile devices.

Thanksgiving spending was up 8.8% year-on-year to $6.1 billion, Black Friday sales were up 10.2% year-on-year to $10.8 billion, and the weekend of November 30 and December 1 saw sales totalling $10.9 billion, up 5.8% YoY. The biggest sales day of the period was Cyber Monday, seeing an increase of 7.3% year-on-year with sales of $13.3 billion.

So there’s a lot of revenue to be made, let’s explore how marketers played their part.

Black Friday statistics for 2025

Email sends grew 22% year-on-year

There’s often talk around Black Friday fatigue, but the data shows that the sales phenomenon is not slowing down. In 2024, the Dotdigital platform saw a 5% year-on-year increase in email send volume throughout the whole month of November. Black Friday promotions often begin early and span the entire month.

On Black Friday itself, 365 million emails were sent using the Dotdigital platform, an 8% increase on Black Friday 2023. The 4-day weekend, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, saw 14% more emails sent year-on-year, and Black Friday remains the highest send day of the bumper weekend.

This tells us that email remains a crucial part of any marketer’s strategy over the busy period. It also means competition in the inbox is super fierce, so your subject lines need to be on point to get your campaigns noticed. Busy inboxes, coupled with consumer preferences, are also why you should be incorporating mobile marketing into your strategy, such as SMS.

SMS sends grew 20%

SMS, or Short Message Service, is a powerful channel. Thanks to the fast turnaround time for marketers and the high read rates among consumers, SMS is a great channel for busy sales periods. In 2024, we saw a significant increase in SMS sends over the month of November, up 20% from November 2023. This growth indicates that marketers are really beginning to recognize the power of SMS as a targeted and effective marketing channel.

Dotdigital delivered a staggering 12 million SMS messages over the BFCM weekend in 2024, up 22% on 2023. As well as being quick to make, SMS campaigns drive action. SMS has a click-through rate of 19%, which is over six times higher than email’s 3%.

Text message marketing is a strategy designed to cut through the noise and there’s no noisier time of year than the holiday season. Bypassing the inbox entirely, SMS lands right on a consumer’s lock screen, making it the perfect channel for short, sharp, and time-sensitive messages such as flash sale alerts.

Many brands offer discounts to subscribers as an incentive to sign up for SMS. This is a smart tactic, as handing over a phone number can feel like a bigger deal than sharing an email address for consumers, so the incentive should be stronger.

Looking ahead to 2025

We anticipate even higher volumes of SMS sends. With the statistic that mobile shopping grew 57% year-on-year, mobile marketing is essential. To make your mobile messaging campaigns stand out visually, use multimedia messaging services (MMS) or WhatsApp. These offer a richer, more engaging experience, allowing brands to share images, videos, and GIFs along with their messages. This can be particularly effective for showcasing products, creating a sense of urgency, and driving clicks.

When is Black Friday 2025?

Once again, Black Friday falls on the last Friday of the month, November 28, coinciding with payday for many consumers. This also means that Cyber Monday is falling in December again this year.

There is also China’s Singles’ Day, also known as 11.11 on November 11, and Giving Tuesday the day after Cyber Monday. These once regional holidays are now celebrated globally, giving more opportunities for brands to drive sales.

Retailers are increasingly launching Black Friday deals well in advance of the main event. Many of these deals remain competitive throughout the entire sale period, emphasizing the importance of starting your marketing efforts early.

How to capture Black Friday attention early

To maximize your impact, align your email marketing and social media campaigns with this pre-Black Friday shopping trend. By launching campaigns earlier, you can capture the attention of early adopters and drive sales throughout the extended shopping season.

To avoid overwhelming your audience with repetitive emails, switch up your offers by focusing on a different category each day. Position it as a Cyber Week countdown or advent calendar-style promotion so customers look forward to something new every day. Also, encourage shoppers to curate their own wishlists in anticipation of the big discounts to come during Cyber Week. This means they’re already committing to your brand ahead of the promotion going live.

If you’re a Dotdigital customer you’re able to utilize our easy-to-use campaign builder to create beautiful, responsive, and engaging campaign designs without needing to rely on a team of designers or coders. This is especially valuable during the busy holiday period, when all teams are incredibly busy and you might have to create a last-minute email from scratch.

What about Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday falls on December 1, kicking off the busy lead-in to Christmas. Back in the day, when Black Friday was all about bricks-and-mortar, in-store sales, Cyber Monday was the online equivalent. Today, however, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have more in common as both days see online promotions galore.

At Dotdigital we saw 12% more email sends year-on-year and 21% more SMS sends year-on-year. Adobe data reveals that in the US last year, Cyber Monday saw the biggest spend of the ‘Cyber Five’ and the biggest growth year-on-year. Shoppers spent a total of $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, up 7.3% on Cyber Monday 2023. During the peak hours of 8 pm to 10 pm, shoppers spent $15.8 million every single minute.

Cyber Monday saw the highest use of Dotdigital’s generative AI tools. This included the use of WinstonAI’s subject line assistant, grammar check, and copy rephrase. It’s safe to say that by Cyber Monday, marketers were tired and out of witty copy ideas – we totally get it.

Gen Z takes Black Friday sales seriously 

When planning your Black Friday marketing strategy, don’t forget to consider the purchasing power of Gen Z.

84% of Gen Z are planning to spend this Black Friday, and nearly 40% are in “reconnaissance mode” (conducting serious research) for a full month before the peak season officially begins. This is because between 15% and 18% of Gen Z shoppers believe that the best deals happen before Black Friday itself.

The digital natives are also living up to their reputation, with 60% of their purchases happening online. Be sure to tap into mobile-first channels such as WhatsApp, MMS, and SMS – as well as activating social retargeting on sites like TikTok.

This tech-savvy and bargain-conscious generation holds remarkable potential for boosting your Black Friday sales performance. Ensure your marketing campaigns resonate with this younger audience by understanding their preferences, providing great value, and delivering an exceptional shopping experience tailored to their unique tastes.

Get ready for Black Friday

The holiday shopping season, particularly Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is an exciting time for both shoppers and marketers. This year, focus on utilizing multi-channel strategies, offering early promotions, and creating engaging content to capture shoppers’ attention. By embracing these trends and refining your marketing tactics, you can maximize your impact during this busy sales period.

Black Friday, closely followed by Cyber Monday – and Cyber week – is the global retail sales event that officially kicks off the lucrative holiday season. A strong performance here sets you up for a successful holiday period, through to the new year and beyond.

Read on for exclusive insights taken from the millions of campaigns sent from the Dotdigital platform during last year’s Black Friday weekend. Alongside fresh research conducted this year with both marketers and consumers, we outline four winning tactics for your most successful Black Friday yet.

The numbers

This year, Black Friday lands on Friday 28 November. Black Friday is no longer confined to the Friday after Thanksgiving. In 2024, Dotdigital saw a 5% year-on-year increase in email volume throughout the whole month of November. In 2023, Cyber Monday fell in November, but in 2024 it shifted to December. Even without that key sales day, November 2024 still saw a big rise in sends, highlighting the growth of month-long Black Friday promotions.

When looking at a month-on-month change, the number of emails sent in November increased by 14% compared to October.

On Black Friday itself, 365 million emails were sent using the Dotdigital platform, an 8% increase on Black Friday 2023.

The 4-day weekend, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, saw 14% more emails sent year-on-year, and Black Friday remains the highest send day of the bumper weekend.

Quick win tip 1: Make it personal and relevant

The data

Our customer loyalty survey of 3,000 consumers revealed that while a huge 78% of consumers feel brands personalize their marketing at the right level, only 23% consider those messages to be truly relevant.

Personalization vs. relevance: What’s the difference?

• Personalization = how the consumer’s personal data (like name, birthday, or location) is used in marketing
• Relevance = whether the ad, email, or mobile message actually matches their current needs, interests, and behaviors

Personalization helps with engagement, trust, and relationship building, and having relevant content that appeals to the current needs and interests of the customer will drive sales.

Tools to help: Customer modeling tools offer great insights into your customer base. Engagement, recency, frequency, and monetary value are measured by eRFM tools and identify different customer groups and their needs, so you can decide how often and how early to target each group. You can then create relevant campaigns that will appeal directly to your different customer groups, for example, a ‘needs nurturing’ segment of currently unengaged customers will require an approach that is very different from your frequent and loyal shoppers known as ‘champions’. Unengaged customers can be won back over Black Friday with strong discounts and relevant ‘we miss you’ messaging, while your loyal customers will respond well to messaging that celebrates them as a VIP and offers exclusive early access or other perks to reflect their status.

Top tip: Many marketing tools now have AI features to help you better understand your customers. Make use of these! Within the Dotdigital platform, you can use AI insights like predictive analytics to see a customer’s predicted next purchase date and create a segment of customers due to purchase anytime throughout November. Use personalized product recommendations such as ‘best next’ (which analyzes recent purchases and shows what similar customers went on to buy next) and ‘also bought’ (which shows what similar customers often bought at the same time). You can be proactive and generate anticipation for Black Friday by including these product recommendations in a campaign that encourages your customers to build Black Friday wishlists and sign up for early sale access to sales.

Quick win tip 2: Use mobile messaging for fast engagement

The data

SMS (short message service) sees a click-through rate (CTR) over 6 times higher than email. Our 2025 Global benchmark report found that in terms of SMS list growth over the year, October had the highest list growth at 0.68%, conversely, December had the lowest growth at 0.07%. This shows that marketers are focused on growing SMS lists in time for peak season, and customers are willing to share.

Dotdigital platform data also shows that there was a 22% uplift in SMS sends throughout the November sales season. December then saw a drop of 6% compared to November, and January saw an even steeper drop of 21%, proving that the holiday season is SMS season.

How to boost SMS contact lists

Use website popovers and in-email SMS capture blocks to encourage your audience to share their phone number. As a phone number can feel more personal than an email, be sure to offer a stronger incentive than you offer for email signups, e.g., a stronger discount or free next-day delivery in exchange for sharing their number with your brand.

Clearly explain the benefit of signing up for SMS marketing to the customer and tap into FOMO (fear of missing out) by highlighting that SMS alerts are the perfect way to learn about Black Friday flash sales and limited offers in time and get products before they sell out.

Tools to help: SMS campaigns are super quick and easy for you to make, making them perfect for any last-minute promotions you want to get out fast. Dotdigital’s WinstonAI is the AI engine that sits within our platform to lend a helping hand at every stage. It allows you to convert an email campaign into an SMS campaign in one click.

Top tip: Remember that SMS campaigns are a lot more intrusive than email, often popping up on a user’s lock screen, accompanied by their ringtone if they’re not in silent mode. Be mindful of send times and always check out the local SMS marketing regulations for the region you’re sending to.

Quick win tip 3: Let AI reduce your workload

The data

You probably don’t need us to tell you that AI is changing how marketers work. 44% of marketers say AI has made them more effective, and 39% of marketers say AI has directly supported the ideation and creation aspects of their role.

Interestingly, when looking at our 2024 data, over the four days that make up the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, Cyber Monday saw the highest use of our generative AI tools. This included the use of WinstonAI’s subject line assistant, grammar check, and copy rephrase. It’s safe to say that by Cyber Monday, marketers were tired and out of witty copy ideas – we totally feel you.

Ways to optimize with AI this holiday season

• Running A/B tests is highly recommended when sending a high volume of emails. AI’s generative copy capabilities can rewrite your copy with tone or length changes to provide alternative test versions quickly
• Create a variety of subject lines with AI and A/B test every send to make each email more engaging than the last
• Let the data lead you and use predictive insights (e.g., a customer’s predicted next purchase date) to target high-intent customers with relevant campaigns and offers
• Use AI translation tools to launch multilingual campaigns fast and reach new markets
• Use one-click campaign generation to turn your emails into SMS campaigns for cross-channel reach that doesn’t add to your workload during the busy holiday period

Tools to help: There are just too many AI tools to cram in here – it’d turn into an entirely different guide. (Good news: we’ve already made one of those!) For the full lowdown of all of Dotdigital’s AI marketing tools, check out our AI playbook.

Top tip: Our AI prompt checklist shows you how to write clear prompts that will speed up editing and keep your brand’s tone of voice sharp, human, and on point.

Quick win tip 4: Add peer reviews to boost trust

The data

Black Friday often attracts new customers who are actively searching for the best deals, rather than shopping with a specific brand in mind. Many are also doing their holiday shopping and buying gifts for loved ones, not just shopping for themselves. This means you’ll have lots of people browsing your site who may not know or trust your brand yet.

Our recent consumer survey asked ‘what would encourage you to buy when in doubt about an online purchase?’ and the top answer was peer reviews. 55% of Gen Z, 53% of Millennials, and 50% of both Gen X and Baby Boomers all said that seeing peer reviews encourages them to buy online.

How to build instant trust

Consumers naturally trust their peers more than brands, so let your reviews speak for themselves and include them at key conversion points throughout the customer journey, from ads to emails, and especially checkout pages – you don’t want to lose them at the final hurdle.

Shopping with a new brand requires trust, especially in ecommerce, where you’re only seeing a photograph on a website versus seeing and feeling a product in store. Including reviews from people your audience can trust creates a smoother path from interested to ordered.

Tools to help: Dotdigital works with leading review partners, including Trustpilot, Reviews.io, and Yotpo so that you can easily include social proof in your campaigns. You have the flexibility to choose which reviews will pull through to your campaign and the format they will take. You can see our full list of reviews and user-generated content (UGC) integration partners here.

Top tip: Match your social proof to the moment. In a welcome email, a user-generated content (UGC) carousel like ‘As seen on you’ featuring tagged Instagram photos can showcase your community and brand personality. Later in the journey, adding star ratings to products in an abandoned cart email reinforces trust right at the point of decision.

Black Friday 2025

Last year’s data paints a bright future for Black Friday. While talk of ‘Black Friday fatigue’ is never far away, our research shows that customers are still hungry for the right kind of engagement.

Relevancy and peer reviews continue to drive trust, mobile messaging is the fastest way into your customers’ hands (with the click rates to prove it), and AI is smarter than ever – ready to save you time and improve your 2025 campaigns. 

For marketers, the holiday season doesn’t begin in December; it starts six months earlier, when no one’s quite ready to think about snowflakes or gift wrap. Planning holiday campaigns this far in advance is a balancing act: you’re expected to anticipate customer behavior, align your team, and prep your tech for one of the busiest (and most profitable) times of the year.

Most marketing departments are lean, with nearly half (46%) having just 5–10 people and 21% being run by a single marketer. Add in the complexity of shifting budgets and increasing customer expectations, and the workload can feel overwhelming.

With teams stretched thin, prepping early for the holiday season sets you up for less stress and better results. That’s where automation and AI can make a real difference. These tools take care of repetitive, time-consuming tasks like predicting customer behaviors, refining segments, optimizing send times, or adapting content for different audiences, so you can focus on strategy and creativity.

However, even with these powerful tools at their disposal, marketers still face significant hurdles. While 83% of marketers say they’re optimistic about hitting their goals, that optimism is often tempered by messy data, resource constraints, and siloed teams. The difference between those who thrive and those who struggle comes down to one thing: how well they prepare their people and their tech ahead of the holiday rush.

Turn messy data into meaningful segments

In our latest report, The secret lives of marketing teams, 86% of marketers say they experience issues with data confidence. From inconsistent formatting and siloed systems to simply not knowing which data to use to improve a campaign, it’s clear that data causes headaches for marketers everywhere. 

This is where AI takes the pressure off. Instead of spending hours digging through your data, building complicated, granular segments, AI segment templates build customer cohorts based on eRFM insights (engagement, recency, frequency, and monetary data). This means, with just the click of a button, you can identify and target your most high-value customers, and those most in need of nurturing. And it doesn’t stop there.

This is the season of the sale, and you can close even more by tapping into AI’s predictive analytics to inform your campaigns. Using predictions like the next likely order date, you can reach customers with targeted campaigns at the optimal time for conversion during the holidays.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a data scientist to put all of this into action. AI-assisted templates help you turn messy data into clear, actionable audiences. Instead of second-guessing which fields to use or worrying about inconsistent formats, you can rely on AI to surface the groups that matter most, leaving you and your team free to focus on campaign ideas.

Benefits of AI-assisted segmentation

• Target campaigns based on real behavior, not hunches
• Personalize content without creating endless lists of audiences
• Save hours of manual work, so your team can focus on strategy

Segmentation isn’t just a pre-campaign chore; it’s the foundation of meaningful personalization. And with AI, it doesn’t have to eat up your time.

Deliver relevant messages at scale

When the holiday season hits, marketers are under pressure to be everywhere at once: email, SMS, web, retargeting. With small teams, it can feel impossible to keep up. It doesn’t help that 40% of marketers admit they don’t use their marketing tools to their full potential, so when the busiest time of the year arrives, it’s no wonder marketers feel overwhelmed.

The one tool that should never be left underused is your automation platform. Building one-off, batch-and-blast campaigns is time-consuming on a normal day. During the holidays, it becomes unsustainable. Automated flows keep campaigns running in the background, engaging customers at the right moments, while you focus on creative strategy and last-minute pivots.

But efficiency is only half the story. Automation and personalization go hand in hand: automation ensures messages are delivered at the right time, while personalization ensures they land with impact. A timely abandoned-cart reminder, a loyalty discount, or a replenishment nudge can feel far more personal than simply dropping a first name into the subject line.

As the pressure builds, tapping deeper into your automation tools gives you the support you need. Think of your automation platform as an extension of your team. But one that never sleeps, never panics, and always delivers messages right when customers are ready to hear them.

Essential automation flows to build before the holidays

• Welcome series: make a great first impression with new subscribers
• Cart abandonment:  recover high-intent shoppers before they drift away
• Browse abandonment: remind customers of products they viewed but didn’t add to cart
• Post-purchase: build loyalty with thank-yous, product care tips, or upsells
• Win-back campaigns: re-engage lapsed customers with personalized offers after sales are over to keep revenue rolling in

Automation isn’t just about working faster or smarter. It’s about creating personalized, relevant experiences at scale without adding to your workload.

Optimize campaigns as you go

 Holiday shoppers behave differently from your everyday customers: they browse more, buy faster, and expect super relevant experiences. To keep these new shoppers engaged, your campaigns need to adapt in real time, reacting to audience behavior as it happens. That’s where AI comes in: it helps you adjust messaging, timing, and creative on the go, boosting engagement and driving results.

In fact, 44% of marketers say AI has already made them more effective, proving that it’s not just a subject line generator but a real driver of campaign performance.

Testing is no longer limited to manual A/B subject line experiments. With AI, you can generate multiple subject line variations instantly and run split tests to see what resonates best with different segments. This means you spend less time guessing and more time learning and applying those insights at speed.

Optimization isn’t just about tweaking a subject line, either. With AI campaign translation, you can expand your reach into new markets quickly, without the delays of traditional translation workflows. That’s time saved and opportunities gained, especially when international customers are hunting for the perfect holiday deal.

AI insights go beyond clicks and opens; they predict when a customer is likely to buy next. Instead of waiting until January to see what worked, you can make changes mid-season and see results right away.

Ways to optimize with AI this holiday season

• Split-test AI-generated subject lines to boost engagement
• Leverage predictive insights (e.g., next likely purchase date) to target high-intent customers
• Use AI translation tools to launch multilingual campaigns faster and reach new markets
• Identify underperforming campaigns quickly and adjust before peak days hit

AI doesn’t just make optimization possible; it makes it easy, turning complex, time-consuming tasks into quick wins you can scale.

Get your team and tech ready

Holiday campaigns may run for just a couple of months, but the prep often starts far earlier to make sure the right technology is in place. That means Marketing can’t go it alone. Collaboration with IT and Finance is crucial if you want the systems, integrations, and budget approvals ready before the holiday rush.

During our research for ‘The secret lives of marketing teams’, marketers said IT and Finance are among the hardest departments to collaborate with. Yet these are the teams that hold the keys: IT keeps your systems running smoothly, while Finance ensures the budget is available for new tools or expanded usage. Without them on side, holiday readiness can stall before campaigns even leave the planning board.

Marketers also need to frame success in a way that resonates with Finance. While ROI is important, it isn’t the top metric for most marketing teams. According to our research, engagement and brand awareness lead the way. That means Finance teams need to see the bigger picture: investments in the right tools don’t just drive immediate conversions, they also fuel long-term growth by strengthening brand trust and customer loyalty.

The good news is alignment doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional. Building relationships with IT and Finance early gives you a smoother path to the tech you need and fewer last-minute surprises.

Practical steps to align with IT and Finance before the holidays

• Share your roadmap early: give IT and Finance visibility on planned campaigns and seasonal spikes
• Frame martech requests in their language: focus on security, scalability, and ROI rather than just “nice-to-have” features
• Involve them in tool evaluations: IT can assess integrations, while Finance can weigh cost vs. return
• Set shared success metrics: tie campaign outcomes (like revenue or efficiency gains) back to both IT stability and Finance goals

Aligning early with IT and Finance is the fastest way to secure the tech foundation you need for a truly successful holiday season.

Turn holiday pressure into opportunity

Holiday marketing will always come with pressure: small teams stretched thin, data that doesn’t always play nice, and customers with higher expectations than ever. But those challenges aren’t roadblocks; they’re opportunities to explore new tech and ways of working.

Here’s how you can turn today’s marketing challenges into tomorrow’s competitive edge:

• AI-assisted segmentation turns messy data into clear, actionable audiences
• Automation and personalization tools free your team from manual tasks while making every message feel more relevant
• AI-powered testing and optimization keep campaigns fresh and effective throughout the season
• Early alignment with IT and Finance ensures you have the tech and budget foundations in place well before the first festive campaign goes live

With preparation that combines automation, AI, personalization, and collaboration, you’ll do more than just survive the holiday rush; you can thrive in it. By letting your tech take on more of the heavy lifting, you’ll deliver campaigns that scale, stay relevant, and drive results without burning out your team.

We dug deep into the secret lives of marketing teams to identify the trends, tools, and tactics that are shaping the final stretch of the year. This isn’t about copying the competition, it’s about outsmarting them.

Step 1: Lock in your campaign and content calendar

Before you get stuck into specific tactics, think about the bigger picture. Summer is almost over and the final quarter of the year is packed with marketing potential.

Actions:

• Build campaigns around these dates now and start sending at least two weeks ahead of each key date so you can include multiple touch points across multiple channels
• Focus on an email plan first for general updates and countdown/coming soon messaging to warm your audience up for the launch of campaigns and promotions. (39% of marketers say email platforms are one tool they can’t live without, and 65.9% of consumers are happy to share their email address with brands) then bring in WhatsApp and SMS messaging for more personalized in-the-moment contact when the time is right and the content is relevant
• Don’t just sell. Educate, entertain, and build trust with content that shows your audience who you are as a brand. If you’re running promotional campaigns around the above dates and holidays, create some supporting behind the scenes and culture content on the same theme for your socials too. Check out Dotdigital’s LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram for some inspiration

Step 2: Work smarter with AI – while keeping the human touch

AI is now so prominent in the marketing industry that 80% of marketers believe their organization would replace human employees with AI tools if they could, and 13% of marketers fear they could be replaced by AI within the next 12 months.

While the fear itself is very real, the practicalities of replacing marketers with AI tools are still a long way off in most areas. And there is no denying that AI can quickly and easily help us better understand audience wants and needs, create first drafts of some content pieces, and give us a kick up the creativity when coffee alone isn’t doing the trick. But all of this is still completely reliant on a talented human marketer knowing exactly what to ask the AI in the first place and how to fact check, edit, and refine the results.

We’ve put together a handy AI checklist to help you create the perfect AI prompt and editing process for refining AI-generated copy in your brand tone of voice.

Actions:

• Use AI to help with content outlines, audience insights, and quick testing. All of which falls in the category of enhancing marketing capabilities and doesn’t even come close to replacing them
• Keep a human and on-brand tone of voice at the front and center of all your copy and creatives. Some good questions to ask yourself as an authenticity test are:
  When I read this out loud does it sound like a normal conversation, or a sales pitch? If it’s the later – it needs another edit
  Are there and words or sentences in here that I would never use? If yes, it’s time for some switching
• If you’re in a senior role, talk openly with junior staff abut the realities of AI within marketing. Confidence trickles down and we don’t have to believe everything the tech-bros are saying on LinkedIn!

Our AI playbook has lots more advice and tips.

Step 3: Double down on email (and no, we’re not bias, we love all marketing channels equally)

Email is thriving. Especially when it’s personal, automated, and relevant. The more relevant you make your email messaging, the more frequently your audience will be happy to hear from you.

Our 2025 Global Benchmark Report revealed that November is the busiest month for email sends, up 22% compared to October. The holiday season is big business and what were once region-specific holidays, such as China’s Singles’ Day and America’s Black Friday, are now celebrated around the globe. With inboxes busier than ever, segmentation, personalization, and compelling subject lines are essential.

Action:

• Segment like a pro. Don’t just batch and blast, tweak and tailor for each audience group
• Use email to build anticipation for holiday campaigns, adding in personalized images, videos, product recommendations based on previous buyer behavior, personal coupons and discount codes
• Create a preference center that allows your audience to opt of campaigns that are focused on holidays they may not celebrate or feel sensitive about – and then think about what communication you can send the ‘opted out’ cohort instead
• Use AI to help with subject line writing and testing, but always review and edit where needed to retain heart and authenticity

Step 4: Build real relationships on your social channels

37% of Gen Z marketers told us that social media is their top priority for the next 12 months. And from an audience perspective you’ll find every generation hanging out on at least one social platform from Facebook (Baby Boomers, Gen X and elder millennials) to Instagram (Millennials and elder Gen Zs) to TikTok (younger millennials and GenZ) and of course LinkedIn, for basically anyone with a corporate-ish job. Social media platforms are the perfect place to build brand trust. And where your audience decides if they like you enough to buy from you.

Action:

• Show up consistently. Not just with promos, but with personality
• Use TikTok shops and Instagram reels to showcase products in action
• Engage. Reply. Be human. Social is a two-way street
• Work with social media influencers (our friends at Social Snowball can help with this if you work with Shopify) and lean in to user generated content (UGC) for reviews and product recommendations
  

Step 5: Balance data and creativity

49% of marketers say they value data and creativity equally when it comes to making marketing decisions. If you want to get more granular, Gen Z marketers lean slightly more toward the creative, and Gen X leans toward data. Ultimately – you need both. But you already know that!

Action:

• Use data to guide decisions, not dictate them. If you understand your audience well enough to know that your amazing campaign idea will resonate with them, it’s absolutely worth trying it – even if you don’t have the data to prove you should. Marketing instinct and experience is a form of data in itself
• Let creative ideas lead, then validate with performance metrics. Especially if your department is measured on ROI, ROAS, or sales. These are the numbers the wider business will want to see
• Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis, apply the TIMITI tactic. Try it, measure it, tweak it – then try it again!

Step 6: Fix what’s broken (tools, data, collaboration)

We won’t sugarcoat this, we’ll let the survey results do the talking:

• 16% of marketers say they don’t have the right tools to do their job well
• Only 14% of marketers say they have no issues with data
• According to the majority of marketing teams – IT, HR, and finance are the hardest departments to work with. Yet these are the teams who are often responsible for, or influencers of, marketing headcount, budget and tech. Oh dear.

Action:

• Audit your tech-stack. Make a list of what tools you have, what tools you’re using, what tools you’re using well, and how much its all costing. Is anything slowing you down that you could replace or simplify? Does the team need training to make better use of what’s in place? Are you happy with all your providers?
• Get your data house in order before Cyber Week. Chat with your IT team about what migrating to new platforms could look like if your current ones aren’t doing what you need. Openly share the data challenges you’re facing and see if other business functions can help. People want to feel valued, heard, and given the opportunity to share their expertise, this might be all it takes to solve that blocker that’s been in your way for months
• Build bridges with tricky teams. Ask for one small win, even if that’s just a meeting to start the discussion. Offer something back in return. Then build from there
  

Step 7: Prioritize your brand

Brand awareness is the #1 priority for marketers over the next 12 months. And for good reason. Performance marketing is great, but costs are continuously getting higher (especially across Meta platforms) and the channel is getting more saturated every day. Brand campaigns build trust, loyalty, and long-term growth. And they no longer have to break the bank.

Action:

• Invest in video. It’s the most engaging format across platforms. Investing doesn’t always require more budget, it could just mean freeing up a team member to do a training course or letting your social media manager experiment with new formats
• Use generative engine optimization (GEO) to make your brand discoverable in AI-powered search. This requires structuring some landing pages in an ‘answer first’ format and think about structuring content in a way that aligns with AI search queries
• Tell stories. Real ones. From real people. And don’t be shy about showing off your team and your company culture. People buy from brands they like – and they recommend brands they love!

Final thought: stay positive – you’ve got this!

83% of marketers believe they’ll hit their goals this year. That’s not blind hope, it’s confidence backed by action and planning. You’ve got the tools (or you know what’s missing), the insights, and the drive. So take this plan, tweak it for your team, and absolutely smash the rest of 2025.