Resources Hub » Blog » Labor Day Newsletter Ideas for Your Holiday Campaign

Marketers put a lot of effort into designing email campaigns for holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween.

It’s easy to forget that you can connect with your audience throughout the year on virtually every holiday.

Between the Fourth of July and Halloween is American Labor Day: the perfect time to craft a prompt and personalized newsletter for your subscribers (or segment of your subscribers).

Read on to discover how to create a winning Labor Day newsletter for American subscribers, as well as some examples of brands that recently got it right.

How to design a winning Labor Day newsletter

Start your email on the right foot by following some excellent organization and design principles.

Segment your audience.

American Labor Day—like Mother’s Day—isn’t an international holiday. Most countries around the world celebrate labor on May 1, also known as International Workers’ Day or May Day (including Canada).

Since most businesses run in a global economy, it’s especially important to segment your subscriber list based on location to avoid any holiday faux pas.

You can further segment your audience based on several factors to personalize your campaigns even more:

  • Gender
  • Behavior
  • Parental status
  • Job

It’s always important to recognize everyone’s unique participation in the labor force. Don’t leave parents and caregivers out, either: Homemaking and caregiving are also labor and are just as deserving of special recognition on this day of remembrance.

Many brands throw around the phrase “Labor Day” to promote their marketing campaigns without giving real recognition for actual workers and their sacrifice. By doing this, you can truly connect with your audience on a deeper level than your competitors.

Take advantage of automation.

Automation tools make it easy to create your stunning Labor Day newsletter designs weeks ahead of time and send them out at the perfect moment.

You can use a drag-and-drop editor to design your emails, add links and specials, test your landing pages, and schedule your campaigns to go out based on each subscriber’s time zone.

Factoring in time zones as you schedule your emails will ensure that your subscribers receive emails at a time that’s right for them.

Offer a great deal.

Instead of thinking of Labor Day as an end-of-summer holiday, think of it more like a subscriber’s birthday or a Thank You email.

You’re thanking them for their hard work and societal contributions. Use it as an opportunity to hit them with an excellent coupon or special that shows you recognize their work.

Thank You emails generate a 42% open rate on average, while birthday emails deliver 342% more revenue than standard campaigns. These outstanding results are due to two reasons: subscribers know there’s a great deal inside and they like feeling appreciated.

You can also accomplish that with your Labor Day newsletter.

Treat them to something special.

Discounts are great, but free goodies are even better. Throwing in a freebie or special surprise with every purchase on Labor Day can serve as a great push for subscribers on the fence (just like a birthday email).

Labor Day is also a wonderful time to highlight your social contributions. 47% of Americans now consider themselves belief-driven buyers who vote with their dollar.

You could use your Labor Day newsletter to announce that you’ll be giving a percentage of sales on that day to an organization that supports a related cause.

Keep your layout clean and concise.

A lot of brands use their newsletter as an opportunity to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

Unfortunately, this also means that your subscribers will feel overwhelmed. They may feel overwhelmed by all the content they can read, click, and explore, leading to choice paradox.

For a Labor Day newsletter—as opposed to a purely promotional email—a few widgets, images, and links are fine. However, you should personalize the content to ensure that it’s all relevant to each subscriber.

If you’re sticking with a newsletter format, choose a ratio of about 70% informational or entertaining content (like videos, podcasts, and blog posts) and 30% promotional content for your exclusive offer.

Make it clear what you want readers to do, don’t overwhelm them with choices, and they’ll be more likely to take action.

Write a punchy subject line.

What’s inside your email doesn’t matter if it never gets opened.

Sixty-one percent of all emails are opened on mobile devices. To compensate for small mobile screens, keep your subject lines around 30 characters. That’s not a lot of room to express yourself, so it’s important to get to the point quickly.

Let them know what’s inside right away.

You could also take a different approach to build anticipation and play on your subscribers’ sense of intrigue with something like, “We’ve got your Labor Day surprise….”

Learn about subject line formulas here.

8 Labor Day newsletter examples of brands that got it right

Use these awesome examples below as inspiration for creating your own Labor Day newsletter that appeals to different segments of your audience and delivers the recognition they deserve.

1. American Apparel

American Apparel’s Labor Day email offers a great deal right away. Who can resist 50% off their full collection?

Another winning factor is the layout here: The email is concise and doesn’t offer any irrelevant or distracting information. Instead, it gets straight to the point with a coupon code. The calming colors, bold fonts, and flashing GIF stars are nice touches too.

 American Apparel Labor Day newsletter example

Source: American Apparel

2. UPS

Understandably, UPS knows how to write a Labor Day newsletter: They’re the largest workplace in the Teamsters Union. Looking at the inspiration for this Labor Day email, you can definitely tell. The deals are specially designed to improve the lives of workers—not promote UPS products.

Nearly 70% off laptops is a pretty sweet deal. Not to mention, everyone deserves to treat themselves and stay healthy, so the coupons for gym memberships and dining supply a perfect touch that shows UPS cares.

UPS Teamsters Labor Day newsletter example

Source: Gmail

3. Microsoft

Microsoft ran a nice series of emails for Labor Day 2019. Plenty of workers can’t afford to buy new laptops and electronics at a moment’s notice. In that case, $500 off a new laptop can make an enormous difference.

Microsoft wins with their layout in this email campaign. The colors are bright and grab attention while the CTA buttons are clear and actionable.

Microsoft Labor Day newsletter specials

Source: Microsoft

4. Casper

Casper always designs beautiful email campaigns, and this Labor Day newsletter is no different. Plus, what worker couldn’t use a new mattress?

The flyer-style layout is clean and uses calm colors with a bold CTA font to encourage action. Staying in harmony with the Labor Day theme, Casper encourages subscribers to visit their nearest sleep center, where Casper sleep specialists don’t work on commission.

Casper non-commission workers Labor Day newsletter example

Source: Casper

5. Entrepreneur Store

Entrepreneur may be a store for entrepreneurs rather than labor, but this email campaign shows that they understand the unique needs of workers.

For the holiday, Entrepreneur Store offered a 20% discount on courses to help workers improve their skills and advance their career. Not to mention, everyone could use a nice deal on electronics like charging cables and external hard drives.

Entrepreneur Store Labor Day newsletter specials

Source: Gmail

6. Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe

Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe sent a highly personalized email campaign for Labor Day. Recognizing that it’s the last long weekend of summer before wintry weather sets in, they offer a special on oil changes geared towards working couples.

Taking it a step further, the email also includes the holiday weekend hours of the subscriber’s nearest Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe and uses her real name.

Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe Labor Day newsletter example

Source: Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe

7. Marriott

Marriott also knows that Labor Day is synonymous with squeezing in last-minute travel plans.

Marriott’s beautifully designed Labor Day newsletter is loaded with stunning images, interesting blog posts, and special coupons to make a trip easier.

While the email campaign packs a lot of information and links, the flyer style is easy to read and scroll through without being distracting or confusing.

Marriott Labor Day newsletter example

Source: Marriott

8. Middle East Children’s Alliance

Part nonprofit, part e-commerce shop, the Middle East Children’s Alliance sent out a personalized email campaign for Labor Day highlighting a product that the subscriber has previously bought.

Not only that, but it also highlights the labor behind the product’s production to appeal to the subscriber’s emotions.

MECA nonprofit Labor Day newsletter example

Source: Gmail

Wrap up

Labor Day is a great holiday to show your subscribers that you value them with awesome deals and stunning emails. Take advantage of some of these basic tips:

  • Personalize every campaign
  • Show your appreciation
  • Make your offer and conversation relevant

By understanding your audience and taking advantage of tools like automation, you can create a unique Labor Day newsletter that delivers solid open rates and revenue.

Looking for some more awesome Labor Day email examples? Check out the 41 greatest Labor Day subject lines and email examples.

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This blog provides general information and discussion about email marketing and related subjects. The content provided in this blog ("Content”), should not be construed as and is not intended to constitute financial, legal or tax advice. You should seek the advice of professionals prior to acting upon any information contained in the Content. All Content is provided strictly “as is” and we make no warranty or representation of any kind regarding the Content.
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