August 2016 Email Campaign Ideas

In email marketing, there are no vacation days. Even during the dog days of summer, there are plenty of opportunities for revenue-boosting seasonal campaigns. Use these ideas to take advantage of these August 2016 seasonal events and holidays in your next email campaign.

August 2016’s biggest event: the 2016 Summer Olympics

This summer’s biggest event is undoubtedly the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 8/5-8/21.Here are a few sports-themed ideas to try out in your email campaigns.

• Run an email-exclusive, limited-time sale on your most popular (or “gold medal”) products.
  
• Feature a new product or service every day of the Olympics. Bonus points for making it relevant to something your subscriber has already purchased.
  
• Have activewear or sports apparel and products? Here’s your chance to deliver a timely, personalized experience with email.
  
• The travel and hospitality industry can use location targeting to promote local destinations and deals for sports enthusiasts.
  
• Ask your subscribers to vote on their favorite athletes with a live poll.

Ongoing August themes

Back-to-school

Many middle schools, high schools and colleges are back in session in mid to late August, so now is the time to put together your back-to-school email campaign.

• Brick and mortar stores can use location personalization to promote their store locations nearest to their subscribers’ college campus.
  
• Back-to-school season can be stressful for everyone – parents, teachers and students. It’s an opportunity for businesses to promote their best organizational and stress management products. Include content about how to manage back-to-school stress to really win over your subscribers.

Vacation

August is always a popular time for travel, and there are plenty of ways to leverage that for your upcoming email campaigns.

• With so many people on the go, any business can benefit using device-targeted emails. If you have a mobile app, promote it to people opening your emails on their mobile device.
  
• The travel industry can promote last-minute deals to those in need of a break ASAP. Consider using location and weather targeting for hyper-local deals.

Labor Day Weekend, 9/3-9/5

It’s not until September, but the last weekend of summer will be here before you know it. Get a head start on your Labor Day Weekend campaign with these ideas.

• Use Labor Day Weekend as a chance to clear your summer inventory and make way for new offerings. Use an email that automatically pulls in your sale items from your website or API to give your subscribers up-to-the-minute deals.
  
• Are you planning any special fall events or promotions? Make sure your email subscribers are the first to know by giving them a heads up – and perhaps an exclusive discount – on your fall events.
  
• Give your subscribers a sneak peek, or a fall preview, of what you’re working on now.

August 2016 national “holidays”

There are plenty of wacky “holidays” out there, so why not leverage them to bring in some additional revenue?

National Friendship Day – 8/7

• BOGO, anyone? National Friendship Day is the perfect opportunity for buy one, get one free sales or buy one, get one half-off sales.
  
• Add a live social feed to your email and ask your subscribers to dedicate a post to their friends for a chance to be featured.

National S’mores Day – 8/10

• What goes better with s’mores than camping? Outdoor retailers, take note and deliver a limited time sale.
  
• Those in the food and beverage industry can promote special drinks or desserts celebrating S’mores Day.

National Dog Day – 8/26

• Calling all pet retailers! If you have a loyalty program, why not reward your best customers and their furry friends on this special day? Send them an email with special discounts based on past purchases.

Get started on your August email campaign now!

Even if you haven’t thought about your email campaign for August, there’s still time to set one up. Use one of these holidays or events as inspiration and pair it with a contextual email to create a top-notch experience for new and returning customers.

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