For many, Summer can be a time of fun and excitement. For those who work in digital marketing, however, it can mean plummeting engagement amidst changes in consumer behavior.
If you dread the dip in engagement that’s so characteristic of this season, this article is for you. We provide 14 must-try ideas to create a summer newsletter that engages a distracted audience.
Why do audiences tend to disengage more in the summer?
People have a lot more going on during the summer season. Here are a couple of reasons that explain why they aren’t as engaged:
- Vacations and travel: Nothing says summer more than a holiday, and many people plan getaways months in advance to get the most out of their paid leave. The time these audiences spend away from their computers translates to lower click-through rates, fewer conversions, and reduced engagement with your marketing campaigns in general.
- Outdoor activities: The hot summer months provide opportunities for outdoor activities like barbecues and hiking. Many of your customers will be basking in the warm weather, socializing with friends, and pursuing recreational activities.
- Family time: Summer means your customers’ kids will be out of school for at least months. This summer holiday will provide plenty of opportunities for family bonding activities, which many of your customers will want to prioritize.
- Shift in priorities: People’s priorities shift during the summer months. Before, they were fine with being inside, but these people want to spend more time outdoors. The priority shift means they spend less time checking their emails, making it more challenging to keep your audience engaged.
With the above factors in mind, it’s important to craft a summer newsletter campaign that adapts to your customers’ changing habits during the summer season.
Importance of summer email newsletters
Having established that people disengage with email during the summer, it isn’t difficult to see why a summer newsletter is essential.
You need a summer email campaign because it helps keep your brand in your audience’s consciousness during a time when their habits have changed.
Using a mix of educational and entertaining content, you can use a summer email marketing campaign to gently insert your brand into your customers’ summer plans. You can do that by providing helpful advice on how they can make the most of summer, beat the summer heat, and so on.
Additionally, you can promote summer-themed offers to audiences willing to spend on summer getaways, summer-themed products, and activities.
In summary, summer marketing campaigns can help you subtly generate sales when your audience would rather soak up the sun than stare at a computer screen.
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14 Summer email Newsletter Ideas for 2024
Here are 14 summer newsletter examples to inspire:
1. Summer essentials guide
A summer essentials guide effectively uses summer vibes to engage your audience and position your brand.
Here’s what it entails: you’ll give your subscribers a list of must-have products they’ll need to have a wonderful summer. The products on your summer checklist can be anything from food to drinks or even essential utensils or equipment for summer-like activities.
Ideally, every product you promote will belong to your brand, though you can also promote products as an affiliate.
The above newsletter from the e-commerce company Bubble is the perfect example of a summer essentials guide done right. Bubble uses it to promote a range of products in the company’s summer collection focused on a summer staple: the barbecue.
This newsletter works because it excites Bubble’s subscribers for Summer while promoting the company’s burgers, sauces, and other barbecue-related condiments.
2. DIY summer projects
Not everyone will celebrate Summer away from home. For some newsletter readers, the sunny season provides an opportunity for DIY activities in their backyards. You can capitalize on this interest by creating a newsletter entry around DIY summer projects.
The world’s your oyster when curating a list of DIY projects for Summer. Your subscribers can build outdoor furniture, create patio lights, mow their lawns, fix drainage, etc. Any activity that gets them off their couches and into their tool sheds during summer is fair game.
Thumbtack has used a similar seasonal email marketing campaign to engage its subscribers. In the above image, the company provides seven easy outdoor projects its audience can DIY.
The newsletter suggests projects like outdoor repairs and improvements its readers can do to keep themselves busy while taking advantage of the warm weather.
We think it works because it appeals to DIY-minded readers and people who’ve been itching to carry out repairs around the house. Also, it provides useful information for the above-mentioned people.
3. Labor Day deals
Celebrated every first Monday of September, the Labor Day holiday straddles the line between Summer’s end and Autumn’s start. It also provides opportunities for pushing Summer deals that bid farewell to the sunny season and welcome the incoming Autumn.
Help your subscribers celebrate Labor Day by offering exclusive discounts and amazing deals on your products or services. Think price slashes on summer clothing, two-for-one offers for food and drink, and the like.
In the above image, Eight Sleep sells its products using special discounts while piggybacking on the Labor Day celebration. The company offers special deals on some of its sleep-related products, including a whopping $200 off some items.
The campaign works because it creates a sense of urgency. Eight Sleep offers enticing exclusive summer discounts while highlighting that the offers are part of its extended Labor Day sale. In doing so, it encourages readers to spend before the deal ends.
4. Healthy summer recipes
One thing every customer will do during the Summer months is eat. If your brand sells food, help customers eat healthy by curating healthy summer recipes in a newsletter.
This newsletter entry is straightforward: you give them recipes they can follow. In keeping with the summer vibes, the recipes should be for foods that scream “summer.”
Delicacies like low-fat ice cream, paella, fruity desserts, and salads are some examples of summer recipes your subscribers can try. And if you’ve got a product that goes with some of the said recipes, that’s even better.
Olive oil brand Wonder Valley uses this strategy to engage its subscribers. The company provides a guide that contains summer-themed recipes its readers can try. It also takes the opportunity to promote its olive oil brand since every recipe requires olive oil as a key ingredient.
5. Summer travel tips
For the adventurous people in your audience, Summer means travel. You can engage these subscribers by providing summer travel tips.
Your tips can cover anything from a guide detailing how to handle common situations to a curated list of desirable summer vacation rentals. Since this type of newsletter content can be wordy, include a link to a blog post on your website. The link will also let you gather feedback on the effectiveness of this campaign (in the form of link clicks).
The municipality Ouray spotlights Ouray County, Colorado, in the above newsletter. It reveals the stunning mountainous backdrops, powerful waterfalls, and other natural elements that make Ouray the “outdoor recreation capital” of Colorado.
This newsletter works because it paints a convincing picture of the adventures to be had in Ouray during summertime. Readers interested in sightseeing may be encouraged to put Ouray on their bucket list of destinations to visit when touring the US.
6. Outdoor activities guide
If your overall email marketing strategy focuses on providing helpful information, create an outdoor activities guide for your summer newsletter.
Curate a list of activities your subscribers can do under the summer sun or stars. Some suggestions include camping, stargazing, fishing, and gardening.
In the above newsletter, Elysium approaches this strategy by melding summer activities with healthcare. Not only does the company provide a list of summer activities, but it also discusses the health benefits of said activities.
This newsletter’s unique angle is what makes it work. Elysium encourages its health-conscious audience to get out there and enjoy the summer while keeping the focus on their wellness.
7. Memorial Day campaigns
Aside from its main significance (honoring fallen US military servicemen), Memorial Day is said to mark the unofficial start of Summer in the States. No other holiday kicks off a summer newsletter campaign quite like it.
Your Memorial Day campaign can offer exclusive discounts on items in your inventory or put products from your Spring collection on sale. In keeping with the solemn theme of this holiday, you could offer free shipping on all orders.
Sleep company Tuft and Needle runs a Memorial Day sale in the above newsletter. The company offers between 10% and 30% off on its sale items and throws in free shipping to sweeten the deal.
The campaign works because the company uses aspirational copy to paint a picture of the benefit its subscribers will get from shopping during this campaign. The unmissable call-to-action button is also a nice touch and one of the essential things to include in a summer newsletter. It prompts readers on the next steps to take.
If this campaign sounds like an excellent idea, check out these inspiring Memorial Day emails for more inspiration.
8. Summer learning courses
Some newsletter subscribers plan to spend their summertime learning new skills. Depending on the nature of your brand, you can target these customers by building a course.
There’s no shortage of ideas for courses with a summertime flare. You can teach people DIY skills, provide gardening tips, help them build cooking skills with summer recipes, and so on.
Your course doesn’t necessarily have to incorporate summer elements, either. For example, if you plan to build a course that helps your subscribers change careers, launching it in the summer will suffice. After all, your prospective students will be more interested in the skills they can build than whether or not the course has a summer vibe.
If you plan to launch a course, consider using our course builder for the job. GetResponse’s content monetization platform provides an all-in-one suite you can leverage to share your knowledge with the world. Our platform offers the tools you need to create, market, and monetize your course idea seamlessly.
9. Staycation ideas
Staycations provide an excellent alternative to an overseas trip for newsletter subscribers who can’t afford to travel far. Engage these people by providing staycation ideas they can implement to get the most out of their summer vacations.
Interesting staycation ideas include wine tours, museum trips, nature walks, and picnics. You can curate a list of activities along with the destinations your subscribers can travel to for the experience.
Hospitality company Suiteness promotes staycation ideas like museum visits and walking tours in the above newsletter. The company also takes the opportunity to promote the suites available in the locations its subscribers can visit to experience the staycation.
This newsletter is effective because it includes high-quality images of the suites. These images help make staycation a real prospect for potential Suiteness customers. Including call-to-action buttons beside each suite also helps reduce friction by allowing subscribers to book a suite fast.
10. Summer fitness challenge
Outdoor activities provide opportunities to work out during summertime. Craft a summer newsletter that challenges your subscribers to stay fit. The challenge can revolve around activities like hiking, rowing, nature walks, or sprinting.
Anything that gets the blood pumping and muscles working will do.
The above newsletter is Tempo.fit’s fitness challenge to its subscribers. It challenges them to join Tempo.fit’s “community of members summiting mountains, competing in their first races, and discovering how strong they really are.”
This newsletter is effective because Tempo.fit includes testimonials from some of its members. Mountain bikers, traveling physical therapists, and others share their stories of how the Tempo.fit community has helped them.
These testimonials provide much-needed social proof that could be the catalyst for a subscriber’s decision to join the Tempo.fit community. It also helps that Tempo.fit provides $400 off in discounts.
11. US independence shopping guide
Roll out an Independence Day campaign this 4th of July that gets your audience excited about the holiday. An effective way to do that is to create a holiday-inspired shopping guide.
Your guide can showcase products subscribers can use to get their summers going. Whether they plan to spend the holiday at the beach or under the stars, the campaign should give them the shopping inspiration needed to make memorable experiences.
In the above image, Brit+Co promotes beach-inspired products to its newsletter subscribers. In keeping with the holiday, these products sport the colors of the stars and stripes that are reminiscent of Flag Day. From delicious jello shots to stylish tie-dye placements, customers who want 4th of July props for their summer beach trips have plenty of products to choose from.
Want more inspiration for Independence Day email marketing? Check out these inspiring 4th of July email campaigns.
12. Summer safety tips
Even though summertime can be a joyous time for many, a lot can go wrong if precautions aren’t taken. Heatstroke, bug bites, and sunburn are some of the many dangers that can cut an adventurous summer short. To help your subscribers stay safe while having fun in the sun, consider giving them summer safety tips.
Your tips can cover a range of scenarios. They can be as simple as telling your subscribers to stay hydrated while out in the sun. Or, they can be as complex as teaching them how to administer life-saving first aid.
Lifesum’s newsletter (pictured above) provides some tips on how to stay safe during the summer. It lists six habits the company’s subscribers can follow, like eating foods that keep them cool and hydrated. Tke a leaf from Lifesum’s playbook by promoting healthy living during Summer.
13. Juneteenth workplace fun
Juneteenth (also called Freedom Day) celebrates the emancipation of slaves in America. It’s recognized by 47 of the 50 US states and known as Emancipation Day in the state of Texas.
Celebrated every 19th June, this holiday falls in early Summer, making it an event worth celebrating to herald this season.
You can help your subscribers celebrate this holiday in the workplace by providing fun ideas they can implement. Some ideas worth suggesting include:
- Holding trivia contests that test employee’s knowledge of black history
- Serving Juneteenth-inspired lunches
- Hosting a virtual event and inviting a guest speaker to educate their employees about black history
- Arranging a company-sponsored tour of a museum that specializes in black history
- Setting up a Juneteenth-inspired movie night
This newsletter idea is worth pursuing because it could give your subscribers a deeper appreciation of their African-American co-workers. It’s also an excellent way to celebrate workplace diversity.
14. Summer events calendar
Summer is packed with so many events and holidays that your audience can find it difficult to keep track of them all. Do your subscribers a favor and send them a newsletter that curates a calendar of all Summer’s events and holidays.
Some of the holidays that can go on the calendar include:
- Father’s Day
- World Chocolate Day
- Juneteenth
- Independence Day
You can also promote events that will be held in your subscribers’ local areas in the Summer. These events may include upcoming seminars, meet-and-greets, festivals, concerts, competitions, launches, and so on.
The idea behind this newsletter content type is to give your audience a high-level view of the numerous ways they can have fun. Even though this newsletter campaign purely provides information, you may be able to uncover marketing opportunities for your brand.
Tips for crafting a successful summer email newsletter
Use the following tips to craft a summer newsletter that keeps subscribers engaged and boosts summer sales:
- Customize content for each subscriber: Leverage personalized email campaigns to drive engagement during the summer. You’ll need to segment your subscriber list based on factors like their purchase history and demographics. Segmenting customers lets you tailor everything from your email subject lines to your content to meet each subscriber’s unique needs and customer journeys.
- Leverage seasonal themes: Your emails must have a summer vibe to successfully engage subscribers when summer arrives. Leverage seasonal themes like travel destinations, summer food and drink, and outdoor activities to grab your reader’s attention while promoting your offers.
- Focus on one promotion per email: Keep your summer email campaigns focused by promoting one product, activity, etc., at a time. If you’re informing customers about a summer sale you’re running, the email should focus on that. If you’re promoting a holiday (like National Ice Cream Day), let that be the focus of your email. Pick a topic and stick to it.
- Optimize for mobile shopping: Make sure your summer newsletter is mobile-optimized. It’s one of many email optimization strategies worth following. During Summer, your audience will likely spend more time on the go. The ones who check their email at all will likely do so from a mobile device, meaning your newsletter must look good on the small screen as well.
- Provide timely tips for summer success: Ultimately, your audience will want to have the time of their lives in the summer season. Focus on providing tips they can use to spend their summers successfully. Whether that means promoting summer products that will help them enjoy the season or summer activities they can do with their families, help them have fun.
Remember: Summer newsletters are simply newsletters with a summer mood and feel. This means the same principle governing a typical email marketing strategy (focusing on customer needs) applies here.
In closing
Summer doesn’t have to mean poor engagement with your brand’s email campaigns. If you send newsletters with summer-themed promotions, you can grab your readers’ attention and make sales.
When creating your content, remember to focus on one promotion at a time and provide timely tips to help your subscribers enjoy their summer.
Optimize your content for mobile so your subscribers can engage on the go, and personalize content for each user where possible. Follow these tips, and you’ll set your summer newsletter up for success.