Raking in the results: Email marketing in October

With autumn in full swing, Halloween just around the corner and Christmas on the horizon, October creates some amazing opportunities for impactful email marketing campaigns to resonate with your audience’s autumnal sentiments.

Below we explore some key shifts in consumer behaviour during October, and how you can create tailored email marketing campaigns to resonate with the season’s spirit, ensuring emails are not just opened – but acted upon.

Halloween spending is steadily growing in the UK market, with consumers spending £687 million on spooktacular products in 2022, and predictions for 2023 of around £777 million. Early October is the perfect time to begin promoting Halloween-related products, ensuring you build some momentum as the 31^st approaches. Campaigns around spooky-themed products, costume ideas and special Halloween deals are key to building consideration as Halloween draws closer.

With the change of the season, consumers are looking for autumnal products that resonate, engage and inspire action – think warm, earthy tones, products that provide warmth and comfort for cosy nights in, and autumn collection launches for a mid-season update.

Fashion, skincare and beauty products are ideal candidates, but nearly any consumer facing business can create and curate an autumn guide that connects key products to the season.

Though October may be more associated with Halloween than Christmas, for many, it’s the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season. According to an Amazon Advertising survey, around 42% of UK consumers start shopping for the Christmas season in October, making it the perfect time to prime your customers and build excitement for your Christmas campaigns.

Integrating your email campaigns with strategic flash sales and short, limited time offers and other seasonal discounts will help you get your audience into the buying spirit and prime them for your campaigns later in the year. Additionally, a strong October can feed into November and December – in our work with a client of ours, we achieved a 261.5% increase in revenue versus the previous period, in large part due to detailed October campaigns.

As well as promoting Autumn and mid-season collections, October offers the perfect opportunity for email campaigns focused on preparing as the colder months approach. Campaigns structured around giving your audience a head start on winter essentials, from winter wear to home décor and books – October marks the ideal time to begin building consideration.

October is an ideal month to recognise and reward customers for their loyalty, either through loyalty schemes or special offers. Not only does this make your emails more likely to be opened and actioned upon, but also helps lay the groundwork for the more intense shopping months ahead, including Black Friday and the holiday period.

Along with seeking seasonal products, consumers are looking to connect and engage with brands. Creating campaigns that resonate and engage with your audience is a great way to capitalise on this and increase open and interaction rates.

Interactive content, such as quizzes or polls on autumnal products help engage target consumers, while promoting customer reviews or stories of those enjoying your products offers a powerful way to build trust and community with your audience.