Sweet Q4 Holiday Subject Lines: CAKE’s Favorites from the Season!

Joy to the world, the holiday season is here! While this is the most wonderful time of year of holiday shoppers, brand owners and marketers may feel spread a little thin. From promotional planning to inventory checks and gift guides, there’s always so much to do. To make your marketing wishlist a little nicer this year, we’ve whipped up a few tips and tricks to make the holiday season a piece of CAKE. 

As you may already know, an email marketing strategy is a Q4 must-have. Email is essential to nurture leads and entice both loyal customers and abandoned cart shoppers back to your holiday shop with a little sugar, spice, and everything nice! If you’re a smart cookie (or, in this case, cupcake), you’ve already put a good bit of elbow grease into your holiday email flows – but a little inspo can go a long way. 

The secret ingredient to a chef’s kiss email is a super sweet subject line that really grabs users’ attention. To help you make the most of this holiday season (and all the more to come), we’ve taken a peek back at some of our top-tier email subject lines of the season! Here’s our recipe for sweet holiday subject lines that get users hungry for more.

Our Recipe for Success

First things first, let’s take a quick look at the ingredients. To bake in a strategy that converts, your email subject lines will need to be:

  • Concise. The last thing you want is for your message to get cut off – so be mindful of the character limit (four to six words and under 30 characters). Too much information can overcomplicate things. Keep the subject line short and sweet! Provide the necessary information customers need but don’t be afraid to add a little spice of secrecy to entice them to learn more. Something like, “Your super sweet discount code is inside!” This informs customers of the necessary information (a sale) and that the code is inside the email. If you need a little more wiggle room, the preview is a great spot to put secondary information.
  • Key information goes first! Lead with the essential details. Don’t leave them to the end – they could get cut off if you go over the character limit.
  • Create urgency and FOMO. It’s the holiday season, which means your customers’ inboxes are already flooded with emails. So, how do you stand out? FOMO! Make sure subscribers know that this deal is a limited-time offer and that they need to click the email to actually get their discount. The more urgency you create, the sweeter your success!
  • Use actionable verbs. Now is not the time of year to be vague. Shoppers are hungry! Provide an action that you want your customers to take. Something like, “Get this deal while it’s HOT!”
  • Include numbers. Numbers have power. Instead of “twenty percent off,” say, “20% OFF!” See how much more striking that is? It grabs the customer’s attention. Stats are another thing to bake into your subject lines. For example, say something like, “95% of customers LOVE this product!”

The Sweetest Seasonal Subject Lines: Our Favorite Flavors from the 2022 Holiday Season

Halloween

While Halloween may be behind us, we’ve whipped up a few scream-worthy subject lines to save for 2024! After all, it’s never too early to start thinking about next year. Have a slice of these spooktacular subject lines:

  • We’re Creepin’ It Real With Scary Good Deals! 🎃
  • Don’t Get Ghosted – 👻Last Chance To Save 15%!
  • The Afterlife Of Our Sale Is Approaching…🪦🥀
  • No Tricks, Just Treats! 🎃🍬
  • Don’t Be Haunted By Bargains You Missed! 💀
  • You’re The 🎃Of Our Eye!
  • BOO! A Scream-Worthy Sale Is Coming…🧟‍♀️
  • Happy Spooky Season From Us To “Boo!”🎃👻

Thanksgiving

Gather around for subject lines to be thankful for! Tapping into all the fall feels is key here. Play up gatherings with family and friends, celebrating all the things we’re thankful for, and of course, all the feast-worthy food to get shoppers hungry for sales. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, these subject lines are sure to work up an appetite:

  • Autumn New Arrivals + Fall Favorites! 🍂
  • Gobble Up These Thanksgiving Deals!🦃
  • Gather ’Round For Sweet Savings! 🥧💸
  • We’re Thankful For You. 🧡Enjoy 50% Off!
  • Gobble Up An Additional 50% OFF! 🍽️🦃
  • Your Fall-Nomenal Deal Is Inside!🍂
  • Seasonal Styles Worth Falling For…🍂

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping days of the year. With so many shoppers taking advantage of sweet savings to make their holiday purchases, this is a huge opportunity to make sales. But informing your customers about your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals is just half the battle. You’ll need to create a lot of hype, urgency, and FOMO to get customers from their inboxes to your site’s storefront. Here are a few subject line ideas for inspo:

  • The Sale You’ve Been Waiting For All Year Is Here!
  • The Countdown To Black Friday Is ON! ⏳
  • BFCM Deals Like This Don’t Last Forever…⏳
  • Your Black Friday Survival Guide 👀
  • See What You Can Save Cyber Weekend 💸
  • Blink…And You’ll Miss It 👁
  • The BIGGEST Savings Of The Season
  • TGI Black Friday! 💥
  • Why Wait ‘Til Friday? Black Friday Deals Came EARLY!
  • Friday Is Just The Beginning…💰

December Holidays

From wishlists to season’s greetings, the most wonderful time of year would not be complete without email subject lines that target the long-awaited December holidays! While Christmas usually dominates content this time of year, we believe in inclusive marketing to target a much larger target audience. Here are a few ideas to sweeten up your December promo emails: 

  • Season’s Greetings From Holiday Savings ☃️
  • Be The World’s Best St. Nick With Just One Click! 🎅
  • Rock The Christmas Clock With Time-Saving, Last-Minute Gifts! 🎄
  • The Joys Of Holiday Savings Await…✨💸
  • Wrap Up Super Savings That Keep Your Stockings Stuffed! 🎁
  • ‘Tis The Season For Savings! 🎄
  • It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of Year For A Sale! ❄️
  • Sleigh Your Wishlist With These Last-Minute Gifts 🎁
  • Challah For These Chanukkah Deals 🕎
  • 8 Days of Savings! 💸
  • We Like You a Latke! 🌟
  • Gift Ideas For All 8 Nights Inside…🎁🕎
  • The Best Host Gifts For Your Hanukkah Celebrations 🌟🥂
  • The Best Favors For Your Holiday Party 🥂 ​​

New Year’s and End-of-the-Year Deals

Whether you’re clearing out your inventory with a flash sale or dropping a new collection for the new year, now’s the time to keep shoppers consistent following the holidays with top-tier subject lines! With 2023 on the horizon, customers are in the mindset of becoming the best version of themselves. New Year’s resolutions are top-of-mind (like eating healthy, working out, checking off bucket-list items, and meeting career goals), so take advantage of this. Play up how your products can help customers kick off the new year and meet their goals. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • The Last Sale Of The Year
  • Send Off 2022 With A SALE!
  • New Year, New YOU!
  • Inside: Your First Look For 2023
  • Glow Up Your Wardrobe This Year 🛍️✨
  • Your Closet Is So Last Year…
  • The  🗝️To Becoming The Best You
  • Unlock The Best Version Of YOU 🔓
  • Cheers To NEW Products 🥂
  • Celebrate The New Year With A Deal! 🍾
  • Get THE Looks Of The Year…
  • The 🗝️ To Meeting Your 2023 Goals
  • CRUSH Your New Year’s Resolutions!
  • New Year, New Arrivals

Crush Your Email Marketing Goals with CakeCommerce!

The secret to making this year the sweetest one yet: CAKE. To learn more about how we can elevate your email marketing strategy, contact our team.

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