May brings vibes of approaching summer and new opportunities for your business. Customers are getting active and enthusiastic, anticipating summer vacations, fun, and holidays. As a business owner, you must prove your validity by addressing their needs. May comes after April, and spring is fully charged with inspirational beginnings for the new warm, summer season. There are numerous days to send email newsletters; that’s why we have created this guide to fill your email marketing calendar with May newsletter ideas.
From a marketing point of view, the last spring month has one of the highest conversion rates, losing only to November and December. Studies show that many consumers look forward to splashing their hard-earned cash and treating themselves during this period.
With that said, your messaging should be spot-on to capitalize on these moods and needs. Your target audience might be sales-hungry, but with tough competition and ever-changing preferences, you need more than just a regular blast. Planning your moves to seize every opportunity and establish a stable dialogue with prospects during the month is crucial to make May work for you.
Let’s consider the May email newsletter guide ideas and examples. It will help your brand burst with creative and compassionate digital messages to resonate with the audience and effectively achieve your marketing goals in the middle of the second fiscal quarter.
In May, businesses across niches witness increased traffic and shopping activity. However, despite being an active month, it comes with its challenges. Perhaps the biggest is that the only big, traditional sales opportunity is Memorial Day (U.S.) at the end of the month.
The best strategy for the last spring month is to focus on small yet vital local holidays and observances and reach the close-knit target audience with well-segmented and hyper-personalized email marketing campaigns.
It is also a good time to take advantage of month-long celebrations, show community spirit, build collaborations, re-engage audiences with modern approaches in newsletters like Postcards-powered interactive initiatives, and emphasize burning issues.
Here are lists of one-day holidays, week- and month-long celebrations, and niche-specific dates that you can introduce in your sending schedule and use as a foundation for a strong strategy.
One-day holidays:
- International Labor’s Day / May Day (May 1)
- Star Wars Day (May 4)
- Cinco De Mayo (May 5)
- World Laughter Day (May 5, the first Sunday of May)
- VE Day (May 8)
- Mother’s Day (May 8)
- Europe Day (May 9)
- Eurovision Song Contest (May 11)
- Mother’s Day (May 12)
- Fair Trade Day (May 13)
- International Mother’s Day (May 14)
- National Children’s Day (U.K.) (May 14)
- International Day of Families (May 15)
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day (May 16)
- Tax Day (May 17)
- International Museum Day (May 18)
- Memorial Day (May 27, the last Monday of May)
- National Creativity Day (May 30)
Week- and month-long celebrations:
- Deaf Awareness Week (May 1-7)
- Small Business Week (May 1-7)
- National Sun Awareness Week (May 6-13)
- Black Inclusion Week (May 13-19)
- Walk to School Week (May 16-20)
- National Doughnut Week (May 20-27)
- ALS Awareness Month
- Global Employee Health & Fitness Month
- National Military Appreciation Month
- National Mental Health Awareness Month
- National Photography Month
Niche-specific holidays and events:
- World Asthma Day (May 3)
- Lemonade Day (May 7)
- Ovarian Cancer Day (May 8)
- National Eat What You Want Day (May 11)
- International Nurses Day (May 12)
- World Cocktail Day (May 13)
- National Apple Pie Day (May 13)
- International Astronomy Day (May 15)
- Freelance Hero’s Day (May 16)
- World Baking Day (May 17)
- International Tea Day (May 21)
- Wine Day (May 25)
- Africa Day (May 25)
- National Hamburger Day (May 28)
- National Biscuit Day (May 29)
- National Macaroon Day (May 31)
Email events calendar by Louisem
May bursts with small, local yet creative and compassionate marketing opportunities. From Cinco de Mayo to National Sun Awareness Week to National Photography Month, businesses have many chances to exercise their creativity in email channels. If you lack ideas, you may start pushing summer products, get connected with Star Wars fans, and show your support for Mental Health Awareness Month. Here are some hints on how you can do that.
Pre-Summer Campaigns
Summer is approaching: its hot breath is in the air. With such good weather, shopping might be the last thing on a customer’s mind. But who does not like to treat themselves with season-appropriate goods? There is a strong sense of anticipation of good times coming. Late May is the perfect time to capitalize on this interest with a spot-on email marketing campaign.
Running pre-summer email campaigns is a great way to increase the excitement levels of your target audience, promote your products to match the crowd’s moods, attract potential customers, and reconnect with existing clients. However, it is important not to overdo it.
So, how do you play safe? Kick off your marketing strategy by launching a summer product collection preview. Introduce products that resonate with summer vibes to build anticipation among your customer base. You may offer an early-bird discount to maximize impact and heighten excitement.
Alternatively, you may use this campaign to collect some feedback from your clients. This real-life insight helps you define the most appealing products and what to push during your summer campaigns, giving you a knowledgeable base for June email marketing campaigns.
When advising marketing strategy for the end of May, following the best practices in the niche is crucial. Analyze customer’s purchasing history to segment your list accurately. Define the right time and cadence to reach your subscribers with a hyper-personalized email. Do not push it with too many newsletters. Start with one letter and a follow-up to see how it goes.
Star Wars Day
You might not be a big fan of George Lukas’s epic space opera media franchise, but 102 million U.S. citizens are. According to recent studies, the Star Wars fandom exceeds hundreds of millions across the Globe. Each year, it generates a big fuss in social media, especially during the official Star Wars Day, which is the 4th of May.
As practice shows, even if your products do not relate to the franchise or film industry, there is always a way to join the cultural Zeitgeist. For example, last year, Scholastic’s email newsletter helped customers “Turn Your Child Into a Reading Jedi” with a range of popular books in their first May digital blast. In contrast, Target generated excitement with their special offers presented under the email entitled “Star Wars Fans: May the deals be with you.”
So, regardless of niche, you could use this golden opportunity to connect with your target audience, drive engagement, and generate conversions.
Here are some good ideas for creating forceful Star Wars emails:
- Showcase Star Wars-themed products. Even if your business is unrelated to the franchise, you may wrap your products in the corresponding decorations or work them into a saga-inspired environment.
- Align your products with the Star Wars brand. The latter has its own color scheme, theme, and recognizable elements. You may easily find products that perfectly complement them; for example, a pair of black boots perfectly matches Darth Vader’s iconic black robe.
- Spread your benevolence and wisdom through helpful listicles and guides.
- Encourage subscribers to show off their fanboy.
- Let your fan side shine through mind-blowing interactive emails and gamification. Use Postcards email builder to create an engaging experience without much effort.
Plan your tactic wisely to play to your strength, and may force be with you.
Star Wars-themed email from MeUndies
Support Mental Health Awareness
Do you know that the mental health industry will reach over $500 billion in 2030? The market is experiencing significant growth as people are more concerned about their mental well-being than ever. This trend impacts all industries because customers prefer brands with social responsibilities and a strong focus on providing a stress-free environment.
With Mental Health Awareness Month, which started in the 1950s and became relevant to a huge population, May is a great period to try meaningful initiatives in this direction.
To join the movement, you may launch a thoughtful campaign to support your community members. But do not go to an extreme. This subject is sensitive. Pushing too hard may make you sound cynical. Stay on the safe side and approach the issue sensitively and authentically. Here are some ideas to try:
- Share helpful resources
- Raise awareness with statistics and facts
- Collaborate with mental health professionals or advocates
- Engage subscribers in an online discussion
- Offer products where a portion of the revenue goes to mental health charities and organizations
Choose a solution that relates to the products or services you sell. Show your understanding and promote empathy across your audience. Create a safe space, maintain a respectful tone, and get the message right for your subscribers.
Mental Health Awareness-themed email from AllTrails
May is rich in small opportunities to engage your audience. However, if you want to focus on only several occasions, you should center your strategy around International Labor Day, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day. Spread across the month, these three provide a solid base to maintain a consistent dialogue and presence in the channel.
International Labor Day
International Labor Day is celebrated annually on the first day of May and is recognized by many countries worldwide. It is popular not only with European Union members, where it is the date of the European spring festival of May Day and an official day off, but also in England, Australia, China, Japan, and numerous countries in Africa and South America.
As an international event that honors working classes across the Globe, it can also be a perfect excuse to connect with your customers in the United States and Canada, showing a united front and raising awareness of this important date.
There are many tactics to try during this holiday. Perhaps one of the safest and most popular is celebrating your customers. The majority of them are hard workers. Use an email channel to recognize their achievements. You may create a special offer for your subscribers to encourage them to proceed with their work and careers.
Alternatively, you may praise your employees and send a digital newsletter featuring people who stand behind your brand, thereby humanizing your company and revealing its inner working culture.
Another good tactic is to raise awareness of this event. After all, it commemorates the movement that has given us the 40-hour workweek, child labor laws, and labor unions that fight for working-class rights till these days. Plus, it salutes a general strike in the United States on May 1, 1886. Therefore, you can reach out to your U.S. subscribers and overseas audiences to inform them about this important date.
Among other email marketing ideas that you can realize this day are:
- Tap into the patriotic spirit of the nation. It may give some great advantages over others. Create a patriotic theme and bring everyone into a festive mood. Make a selection of items in national flag colors or decorate email with symbols.
- Go for an oldie-but-goodie promo discount. Try this approach to break the ice with newcomers or lapsed customers.
- Kick off the summer season with a guide, helpful listicle, or recommended products. After all, the first day of May marks the opening of the beach season for some countries and U.S. states. Use this email to build anticipation for approaching sunshine-filled days created for picnics and outings.
Labor Day email from Masterclass
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is one of the most important events in May. Celebrated on the second Sunday of the month, it honors all the love, care, and sacrifices mothers make for us.
The tendency shows that we have become more thoughtful about motherhood and what it means to different people. We are more sensitive to issues concerning relationships with mothers and being a mom than ever before, supporting this holiday not just in words. Last year, Americans spent over $35 billion on Mother’s Day, proving that they take this holiday seriously and are ready to spend money on their beloved parent.
This opens a great opportunity for businesses across niches to connect with the audience personally, humanize the brand, foster loyalty, and drive conversions. To make it right, it is crucial to strike the right emotional note and find the balance between being helpful and promotional.
Here are a few Mother’s Day newsletter ideas to inspire and set you on the right path.
Create personalized gift guides or recommendations.
Mother’s Day is about showing your care and respect for mom’s important place in your life. It is a special occasion that calls for thoughtful gifts. Help your customers cut out the searching process and decision-making by recommending products that make good Mother’s Day presents.
Inform about the benefits of using your product.
If you want to avoid direct selling but still promote your products, you may center your Mother’s Day email around the benefits of using your service. Explain why your product makes a good gift for mom by showing its advantages and real use-case scenarios. This way, you will help your customers match a product with someone they want to honor.
Establish an emotional connection.
Mother’s Day is a perfect opportunity to connect with your audience personally and strengthen your bonds. Create a campaign to recognize their massive contributions to society and celebrate them for all they do. You may share inspiring stories, create heartwarming congratulations, or feature testimonials demonstrating how your product helps moms in your community. Inviting your employees into discussion and asking them to share what motherhood means would also be great.
Mother’s Day email from Nanit
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a major date on every email marketing calendar. It is a federal holiday celebrated by millions of U.S. citizens. It commemorates personnel who served and died in the United States Armored Forces and honors veterans and military families.
In addition, it is considered the unofficial beginning of summer. Studies show that people use this long weekend not only to place American flags on the graves of military personnel but also to do some shopping, celebrate everyone involved directly and indirectly, and have quality time together outside.
That makes this event a unique opportunity to connect with customers, show appreciation for the brave men and women who have fought for the country, and unobtrusively remind the audience about your brand. With meaningful and thoughtful emails, you may show your loyal customers that you care about community members more than just making a sale.
Here are several good ideas for joining in on the event and ending the last spring month on a positive note.
Capitalize on the spirit of American pride.
American heroes who served their country are the beating heart of this holiday weekend. Patriotism runs high. Use this feeling to market your brand effectively. Tap into the patriotic essence and bring everyone to the same mood.
Turn your digital blast into a thank-you note to express gratitude for the sacrifices. Introduce colors and imagery that symbolize freedom and honor. This will align your brand with the values associated with this holiday and make your product more relatable to the target audience.
Introduce the offer as a thank-you note.
Memorial Day sees lots of promotional newsletters. Savings play in hand these days. Plus, they meet customers eager to spend money on the last week of spring. Therefore, many companies run fully-fledged sale campaigns with discounts and special offers.
However, to avoid sounding cynical, introduce your offer as a thank-you note. Use email design to assist you in this matter. For instance, stick to typical red, white, and blue coloring or feature the American flag and symbolism. Also, remember to add some heartwarming congratulations to ring in an overall festive atmosphere.
Create a heartwarming Memorial Day message.
Suppose you want to avoid promotional newsletters this day or do not intend to hold a sale. In that case, you can always create a heartwarming Memorial Day message and remind your subscribers of the holiday’s true nature. This might not generate sales or drive traffic, but it will certainly strengthen your brand image and position in the market.
Bring summer vibes.
For many people, Memorial Day is associated with the start of summer. As an unofficial kickoff to the beloved vacation season in the United States, it witnesses people getting outdoors, firing up the barbecue, and buying season-related goods. Pick up on these habits to connect with the audience and promote your products unobtrusively. Tailor your email campaign along with summer vibes and themes.
Pool parties, barbecues with family and friends, beach trips, traveling, and adventure—choose a topic relevant to your niche and create an atmosphere of warm, sunny days ahead.
Memorial Day email from Simmons
As the last month of the season, May foresees summer. It has undeniable feelings of hope, renewal, and recreation. Using these vibes in email headers and taglines makes a strong and authentic connection between your business and spring for your audience, thereby amplifying the overall marketing effort.
If you lack inspiration, here are lists of May slogans, headlines, and subject lines that naturally align email content with the season and moods of the crowd.
May Slogans and Headlines
Before moving to subject lines, it is important to think through your email content. Along with creating vibrant, season-appropriate designs, you should come up with corresponding headlines and taglines. As content is still the king, they amplify the informative side of the campaign, convey a clear and specific message to your recipient, and underlie a foundation for your marketing tricks.
If you are unsure where to start with spring marketing slogans and headlines, we have you covered. Check out our list of May headlines borrowed from real-life campaigns for some hints.
- May we help you find something?
- May We Suggest a Specialty Product?
- You May Want to Check Out This Deal
- Hi, How May We Help You?
- MAYbe you’ll find something you love here😍
- MAYbe We Can Help? Premium Service with 20% Discount
- May-Day! We Are Ready For It
- Spring into May
- Spring for this product in May
- Stay Cool and Dry this May with Our Products
- Spring back into the well-being of May
- Hello, May! Exciting updates are on the way
- May happiness start with Us
- Here’s a deal you MAY enjoy!
- It’s Getting Hot in May! And so are our deals!
- It’s time for grillin’, chillin’ and fillin’ your cart
- Is it Summer already?
- Are you ready for adventure this May?
- Maycamping and glamping
- To the Armed Forces, Thank You!
- Happy Cinco De Mayo! 5 Hour Sale
- Holy Guacamole, it’s Cinco De Mayo!
- A little something for Labour Day
- Keep Mom Pedaling in Style
- Mother’s Day reward! Savings exclusively for moms
- Join MOMents Photo Contest and Win a Special Offer
May email from Philosophy
Hashtags benefit marketers greatly. They provide at-a-glance visual cues and can be used in rules and filters to generate extra traffic and buzz around your brand. As for customers, they help them sort their emails more effectively and locate the necessary message in seconds.
The best part is that they are easy to introduce in any marketing campaign because they are simple, familiar, self-explanatory, and adaptable. Just find the popular hashtag and insert it into the copy. If you cannot find a relevant option, you are always welcome to invent your own.
Another good news is that hashtags can be used not only on social media but also in email correspondence. Although they will not have an immediate effect like X and Instagram, they still greatly benefit a company. Adding a relevant hashtag to your email’s content or subject line may amplify the overall marketing strategy and generate more conversions and leads.
When introducing hashtags, it is crucial to remember to choose those based on the keywords used in your content. Align them to your marketing strategy on social media or websites so that you can maintain the same conversation across various communication channels. This tactic helps your SEO and email campaigns dramatically.
If you are ready to start, here is a short list of popular May hashtags that you can use in your emails:
#armedforcesday, #celebratemom, #cincodedrinko, #cincodemayo, #cincodemayo2024, #eatwhatyouwantday, #endofschoolyear, #flowerseason, #flowersinbloom,#freedom, #thankyou, #grad2024, #happycincodemayo, #happygraduation, #happymay, #happymothersday, #hellomay, #hellosummer, #ilovemymom, #jedi, #lastdayofschool, #lovespring, #loveyoumom, #may, #may2024, #mayday, #maylove, #maythe4thbewithyou, #maytheforcebewithyou, #mayvibes, #memorialday, #mentalhealth, #mentalhealthawareness, #mentalhealthmonth, #mentalhealthsupport, #military, #mothersday, #mothersday2024, #motherslove, #mymomisthebest, #nationalbbqday, #nationalnursesday, #nationalsmileday, #nomoreschool, #photography, #spring, #spring2024, #springblooms, #springcolors, #springgarden, #springisfinallyhere, #starwarsday, #summervacation, #teacherappreciationday, #thankyoumom, #veday, #welcomemay, #weddingseason, #womenshealth, #womenshealthmonth.
May Email Subject Lines
With an email marketing plan full of tiny events, email subject lines in May range from sci-fi-inspired (Star Wars Day) to somber and serious (Memorial Day). However, one thing unites them—a spring theme.
As the true spring month, May email headlines could not help but radiate warmth and establish a positive atmosphere. Even serious campaigns like those dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month are presented with a positive and friendly vibe.
This is because, in May, people burst with energy, feeling more optimistic and invigorating. Something special happens daily: World Laughter Day, Garden Meditation Day, World Cocktail Day, or National Apple Pie Day. Every day has at least one special designation with a positive note. Plus, as the weather improves, target audiences start to feel the hot breath of summer, which signifies vacations and traveling. This could not help but elevate their mood even more.
It is crucial to reflect these vibes and feelings in the subject line to meet your target audience and speak to them in the same language. Let it be short or banal, yet right to the point. You may also enrich the conversation with some well-chosen emojis. Try these pictograms to strengthen your message and add emotions to the dialogue:
🌈 🌼 🌸 🌺 🌞 🏃 🐝 🦋🐞🌷🌱 🎣 🍎👩👧👦 💐 🎁 ❤️ 👵 🧁 🌹👒🌊🎫🍒 🥂 🙏 🛍️🪖🚁🏗🏥⛑️🎖️🥇 🏅 🏵️ 💂✌️🕊️ 👊💜🏞️💝🏕️🗺️ 🧭⛺👣 ⚽
Here is a list of May email subject line ideas to inspire you:
- Never Fear, May Is Here!
- No work, all play – It’s May today!
- MAYbe You Should Open This…
- May Madness: Hot Offers for You
- Sun’s out 😎 and so are our May sale items
- Summer is coming
- The #1 Rule of Summer
- May madness sale!
- May-hem sale begins
- May day! Let’s play!
- Maytastic discounts just for you
- May Marvels: Unlock Your Savings
- May Magic Begin With This Sale
- Special Offer for a Blooming May
- Ultimate Maycation is finally here!
- Our Hot May Offers!
- Are You Ready for May Getaway?
- Act fast! May deals disappear fast.
- May we finally start grilling and chilling outside?
- Calling All Moms! Special Deals Inside
- Mother’s Day May Extravaganza
- It’s the mother of all sales!
- Mom’s Day, Your Way: Personalized Gifts for a Special Woman
- Who runs the world? Mom.
- May the Fourth Be With You…
- May The Fourth Sale!
- Calling All Jedis and Siths
- 5 Cinco De Mayo Facts
- Prices worth taco-in’ about
- 🎊 Save A CINCO!
- Monday Off? Yes, Please.
- Memorial Day Your Way
- MDW weekend sale starts now
- Stars, stripes & savings!
- Say ‘yes’ to our new products this wedding season
Email from Boden
Key Traits of May Email Design
Email design plays a huge role in a campaign’s success. It facilitates the acquisition of information by providing a visual representation of the key message and mission of the campaign. It makes understanding and comprehension of the data seamless and unobtrusive. Plus, as customers are visual learners who do not have much time for reading unless they are intrigued, it allows companies to deliver the key message.
Choosing the right coloring, typeface, and graphics has numerous benefits. However, the most important advantages lie in drawing attention to critical details, driving engagement, and supporting the overall tone and language of the campaign. That drastically amplifies marketing efforts. Let’s consider what colors, typefaces, and themes you could use in May to facilitate your email marketing campaign and boost customer dialogue.
Color
May parades blooming flowers: hawthorn, lily of the valley, and peonies. Nature is fully awakened—green trees, bushes, and grass surround us. Such a picturesque backdrop gives way to many gorgeous color schemes that complement the natural hues.
Traditional May color schemes brim with vitality and vibrancy. They are lavish, energizing, playful, and positive. From trivial green to ultra-modern beetroot magenta, you can let your imagination run wild and make the whole riot of colors work for you. Pink, red, rose, yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, and lime easily work for you.
In addition, along with focusing on spring motifs and colors found in the landscape, you may also get inspiration from the wedding season since it is about to start. Calming blue, adorable yellow, bright pink palettes with touches of orange and timeless shades of white, there is another area to explore.
It is crucial to note that if you are not ready to commit to the hue alone, you may always consider pairing it with other complementary colors. For example, modern options like Beetroot Purple, which can be overwhelming on itself, play beautifully with navy blue, white, and metallics, giving designs a powerful, trendy feeling.
May color scheme from Color-hex
Typeface
May typefaces allow you to sense the warm season in every stroke, curve, and line. They give off a refreshing vibe and immediately put everyone in a good mood. As a rule, details like refined curls, loops, and rounded edges betray the season spirit.
The range is diverse. You can choose elegant, hand-written scripts that exude the subtlety and beauty of young nature or adopt custom versions with cute spring details like flowers and butterflies inside the letters. You may even exploit a quirky side of the brand’s personality and introduce an eccentric typeface with small, intentional, yet adorable imperfections.
Those who create holiday campaigns should focus on themed typefaces. For example, the best font for a Mother’s Day email conveys love. It could be a hand-written font with heart-shaped letterforms or a time-honored elegant option. In contrast, the best font for Memorial Day should convey seriousness, so you might go for typefaces with strong masculine vibes and classic or bold letterforms, like Roman and Vivaldi.
May typeface from Designcuts
Motifs
In May, nature invites us into its lavish kingdom to enjoy quality time together. Spring is in full swing, so popular themes for email designs often include flowers, blossoms, plants, trees, landscapes, and outdoor activities. In addition, the last month of the season heralds summertime, so you are welcome to add hints about the approaching vacation, family and friends gatherings, and school break.
May’s email designs feature numerous decorations to highlight special occasions and put everyone in a celebratory mood. Events such as Star Wars Day, Cinco De Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day dramatically influence the visual side of the newsletter. For instance, at the very beginning of the month, email designs are built around dark motifs to match the Star Wars theme, whereas, at the end, they burst with patriotic and symbolic graphics.
With such a diversity of options, it is easy to get confused. The way out is to play along with customers’ moods, stay true to the campaign’s goal and mission, and be authentic in your visual message. Choose several illustrations or photos or adorn your email design with tiny yet eye-catching spring-infused graphical elements.
May graphics and motifs
Email from JCrew
Much like May, an email from JCrew is a true spring digital newsletter that a company from any niche could adopt. It radiates the period’s warmth, rejuvenation, and naturalness right from the doorstep. Even though it embraces minimalism with its compact and oversimplified layout, its visual filling is enough to impact the recipient and achieve marketing goals.
The key feature of this design is a powerful combination of decorative and promotional sides. You may see how a 30% discount perfectly incorporates into an overall nature-infused environment. It just could not help but grab attention and put a smile on the customer’s face.
On the marketing side, the newsletter centers around the sale event. Every detail speaks about that: discount, discount code, time limits, call-to-action button, and even a small info block. It is presented so beautifully and seasonally that readers unobtrusively follow the lead.
May email from JCrew is an example of a simple yet powerful solution that capitalizes on nature motifs to make promotion organic and unconstrained.
Email from Headspace
While everyone eagerly awaits Mother’s Day, finding the perfect gift could be a nightmare. With so many options and so little time, pulling this off is a true pressure. Headspace’s team knows that perfectly well.
They have used email to address this issue and provide their helping hand to their beloved customers just in time. Their strategy is not something new. Nevertheless, it works because it meets the crowd’s current needs and proves that the brand knows its customers well.
The email is split into two parts. As expected, the first block is dedicated to a huge holiday announcement and encouragement to honor our beloved moms. The team effortlessly draws attention to the appeal using the inverted pyramid principle. A beautiful spring illustration that concludes the hero area perfectly aligns the email with the period, making the communication look appropriate.
The second part is more informative than the first one. It was introduced to address an issue with gift-giving and cut out the decision-making process by providing valid advice. It concludes with the call-to-action button and another mention of a 20% discount to strengthen the key message.
The overall illustrative approach makes the email so eye-pleasing and beautiful that it turns a promo into a feast for the eye that leaves a positive, long-lasting impression.
Email from Polaroid
Email from Polaroid is vivid proof that with a little imagination and creativity, you can make any holiday work in your favor, even when your product is not aligned with the occasion. Look at how the team blended their iconic photo camera with Star Wars Day. You may get hints to pull off something similar next year and capitalize on the hype to drive traffic to your website at the beginning of the month.
Star Wars is one of the most recognizable movie franchises in the world. With dozens of well-known and unusual-looking characters and props like light sabers or Darth Vader masks, companies in any industry may adopt this theme to their products and campaigns.
Polaroid shows how to do this in practice. Using one of the most successful series in the niche, The Mandalorian, they have managed to grab a piece of this billion-dollar cake and generate conversions and leads for their brand.
The team has created a compact yet themed digital newsletter. Using an image of a recognizable scene and featuring the product’s main mission under Star Wars sauce, they have successfully introduced it in the movie context. Simple, yet ingenious.
Email from On/Go
For some people, Memorial Day is an unofficial start of summer and barbecue season; however, for the majority, it is a day to honor those who served and currently serve the country. This event is a perfect excuse to connect with your subscribers, promote your product, and prove that your brand is an integral community member.
The On/Go company shows how to do this without sounding cynical. They have created a campaign to gather their subscribers around this holiday. Their appeal is to “support military families.” It is simple and banal, but it works because it highlights and celebrates everyone involved by speaking to the audience in the same language and aligning with their emotions.
The email design is well thought out. A big image of a real family brings a warm and personal approach to the discussion. The patriotic theme is organically introduced to add festive vibes. Everything here is about the holiday. Therefore, the promo code feels like a pleasant bonus and an appropriate finishing touch.
Email from Arc’Teryx
May is an official start for adventures. Although summer is not here yet, more people choose to go outside and enjoy nature and its beauty. This could be a perfect theme to explore. Look at the email from Arc’Teryx, which managed to do that.
The email is pretty standard in structure and content. It has several sections, lots of information, and visuals. The latter is the key feature: it builds anticipation and encourages everyone to follow the mainstream and jump into outdoor adventures immediately.
From the marketing point of view, the team has used this theme to introduce their products. Even though they might not be perfectly aligned with the adventure niche, they still find their place and, most importantly, meet the crowd’s needs and moods, making the blast look timely and appropriate.
Email Template – Affiliatoo
If you do not intend to attach an email campaign to any event during the last month of the season, here is a good example of a May email that you can use to stay holiday-neutral yet season-appropriate. Created in Postcards, this high-converting newsletter template has everything you might need to promote your products in May and stay relevant to the period.
Using green as a primary color, the universal tone of May, which parades deciduous trees, plants, bushes, and grass, effectively connects your brand with the period and lets you capitalize on the springtime vibes and spirits.
The mockup has several functional parts. The first is a strong hero section with an eye-catching call-to-action button and a place to promote your service. The second section features the product’s benefits to make a strong case. The third and fourth blocks promote special offers. Finally, an email footer includes crucial data to pass ISP filters and get to the subscriber’s inbox. The template is a perfect base for your every day May email campaigns.
Email from Taco John’s
Cinco de Mayo is one of the brightest events in May. Originally, it celebrates Mexico’s victory over the second French empire at the Battle of Puebla. However, in the U.S., it is widely associated with honoring Mexican-American culture. It has recently gained huge popularity, so you can tap into this tendency and reach your audience with vibrant and positive newsletters.
Typical themes of this event are fun, colors, breaking free, and enjoying life. Follow them to create an authentic Cinco de Mayo newsletter like Taco John’s marketing team has done. Their take on this event bursts with color and energy, which is exactly what you expect from the brand during this period.
The dazzling colors, appetizing pictures of tacos, color-blocked sections, eye-catching call-to-action buttons, and bold headlines make for an overwhelming email. It portrays that vibe, spirit, and sense of fun that have become characteristics of the holiday. The email stands out from the crowd, drives engagement, and makes a long-lasting impression.
Conclusion
Observance-based marketing strategies are a proven way to promote in an email channel. Whether it is a small local feast or an international event, people are more eager to go shopping and look for gifts during this time. As a brand, you could not miss this opportunity to meet your target audience by joining this celebratory atmosphere.
In May, companies have unique opportunities to connect with subscribers. Capitalize on small, local, niche-specific events and well-recognized holidays. Play with themes such as springtime, approaching summer, vacation season, school break, and wedding season.
This rich diversity allows you to keep conversations with customers alive in the middle of the second financial quarter. Use our guide to create your unique May email marketing plan and maintain an authentic and productive conversation.
