12 Fall Newsletter Ideas Your Subscribers Will Love

The arrival of fall is a cherished time for many. It’s a period of pumpkins, scarves, PSLs, scary movies, crisp days, and chilly nights.

It’s time to ditch the nautical theming and seashells you used for your business newsletters all summer and enter the new season.

In this blog post, we have 12 fall newsletter ideas that will inspire you to create your own, as well as a few best practices to get the most out of your email campaigns.

Table of Contents

Why do Fall Newsletters Matter?

Seasonal email marketing is smart as well as fashionable. Research indicates that seasonal email marketing results in greater engagement rates than generic ones. Using this potential, engaging fall newsletters may captivate readers more deeply by capturing the season’s essence.

Understanding Your Audience for the Fall Season

Creating engaging fall newsletters requires a thorough understanding of your audience. Surveys or data analysis can be used to determine the audience preferences for fall.

Does your audience crave pumpkin spice treats or cozy home improvement tips?
Are they early Halloween enthusiasts or focused on seasonal outdoor activities?

Creating newsletters specifically for their interests will guarantee higher relevance and more engagement.

12 Fall Newsletter Ideas to Inspire Your Own

Here are 10 of the best fall newsletter ideas we think you’ll love! Get inspired to craft your own fall email campaigns.

Back to School
Fall Arrivals
Fall Deals
Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Sports Season
Fall Outdoors Time
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Seasonal recipes and cooking tips
DIY fall decoration guides

1. Back to School

Back-to-school time is something parents and children dread for different reasons. For kiddos, it heralds the end of the summer season, which means no more days off spent lounging by the pool and nights out under the stars.

For the parents, it’s time to contend with the jam-packed back-to-school shopping list.

Put your customers’ minds at ease by helping them with this critical shopping time. You can begin sending out back-to-school emails in August. Heck, if you want to get a jump on your competitors, do it in July. Any time after the Independence Day holiday is fair game.

Fall newsletter ideas example from MailBakery — *Source*

The above newsletter from the retail brand Ban.do is the right way to send an email about this timely topic. Ban.do sent an animated email with several letters in the word “school” flashing from black to pink.

The large type and bolded subhead do the job effectively enough, even without the animation. It sets up that mood of anxiety around back-to-school shopping perfectly. Then, the email segues into products kids need.

Even if your company doesn’t sell pens, pencils, highlighters, and backpacks, you can still enjoy the back-to-school fun. Perhaps you start a back-to-school drive and promote that or run a back-to-school sale.

2. Fall Arrivals

As fall officially arrives on the calendar, it’s time for many of us to put away our shorts and flip-flops and gratefully pull out the sweaters and long pants. That calls for a wardrobe overhaul.

Fall season is also a great time to stock up on shoes, laptops and computers, backpacks, and all the newest tech. Autumn is one of the best periods of the year for purchasing a new automobile, whether a car, SUV, or RV.

Excite your audience with what’s on the horizon as they bid summer adieu by announcing your fall arrivals. You can launch this email late into summer, such as late July or August, then again before your new line drops.

A fall email campaign for promoting sales — *Source*

3. Fall Deals

You needn’t have anything new on the horizon to throw your audience a bone – say, a 30% off their purchase, as clothing retailer J. Crew did in this deal.

An example of a high converting Fall Email Newsletter — *Source*

That’s on top of the fall sale already happening, and all shoppers have to do is input a code. Card members can save 40%, a mighty tempting offer.

Fall deals give your audience an excuse to shop, and you have a reason to send a few drip emails reminding them of the ongoing sale so they don’t miss it.

4. Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Some still call it Columbus Day, and others Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Banks, the post office, and government offices are closed that Monday in October, so if people have a day off, that’s reason enough to have a sale to celebrate.

This is the most sensitive holiday on the fall slate, so while you should promote your discount, do it with a reverence toward those the holiday acknowledges.

5. Sports Season

Most marketers associate football with February, but the season starts in September (technically, preseason begins in late August if we’re splitting hairs). You don’t have to know a thing about football or sell any sports-related products to get in on the fun.

For example, check out this email from retailer Garrett Wade. The brand sells home, kitchen, outdoor, and garden items, not anything related to sports. However, their simple email about “Game Time” accompanied by a football is a memorable message.

What’s great about this email is how Garrett Wade makes it fun. You can reveal your offer by clicking to see what percent you’ll get off.

Another deal, a 50% off warehouse sale, accompanies this offer. The only better way to inspire your audience to click through your emails than one deal is by offering two.

What if you missed the start of the football season but still want to send a sports-related email to your segmented audience? Football lasts until February, so you still have plenty of time between September and then.

fall newsletter ideas from Fathead — *Source*

Although the above email is technically Super Bowl-themed, it largely celebrates an accomplishment of all-time football great Tom Brady. If your local team returns from the jaws of defeat or beats a record, you can congratulate them with a deal, even if you don’t sell anything sports-related.

6. Fall Outdoors Time

Autumn is the ultimate time to be outdoors. The weather is cool, the days are sunny, and the temperatures are mild, sometimes still warm but not sweltering. Encourage more adventure in your customers’ lives by emailing about the wonders of the outdoors.

If you’re an outdoor apparel brand like REI, these emails come effortlessly. Even if you don’t specialize in outdoor equipment, you can send tips for healthy outdoor activities.

7. Halloween

It’s arguably the biggest holiday of the fall, so don’t miss the many ghoulishly good opportunities Halloween has in store for your email marketing campaign. Here’s a great fall newsletter email idea for your Halloween-themed campaigns:

Fall newsletter ideas: Halloween Newsletter Design from Postcards — *Source*

For instance, this Postcards.com email knocks it out of the park. Halloween is known for the saying “trick or treat,” which kids shout to get candy. The copy in Postcard’s email reads, “No tricks, just treats.”

The alternating colors in the copy, accompanied by spooky graphics against a simple black background, work well without overdoing it. Even better is how Postcards.com incorporates a deal where you can click a treat to determine how much you save.

How festively fun!

8. Thanksgiving

For a few years, Thanksgiving was the precursor to Black Friday, with deals previewed the night before. Then, the long weekend of shopping bled into Thanksgiving. The public turned against that, so you shouldn’t send a sales email on Thanksgiving. It’s in poor taste.

Instead, now is an excellent time to practice gratitude.

Fall newsletter ideas: festive design from Kate Spade — *Source*

This email from high-end fashion brand Kate Spade gets the gratitude thing down pat. The first few lines of the copy make it abundantly clear this isn’t a sales email, mentioning how Thanksgiving is a day to take it easy and indulge.

Using language like “your friends at Kate Spade” drives home the warm tone of the message.

9. Black Friday

It’s the day every company excitedly awaits: Black Friday!

This is an occasion it’s wise to announce, such as Sun of a Beach did in this example email.

Fall newsletter ideas from Sun of a Beach — *Source*

The beach towel and beach bag brand mentioned the precise day and time its Black Friday sale went live and allowed users to preview the products that would go on sale.

If you’re sending a similar email, do so about a week before Black Friday or even in the lead-up to Thanksgiving. But remember, no sales emails on Thanksgiving. After midnight is a different story!

Who says Black Friday has to end at midnight after Thanksgiving? Many businesses keep the sales rolling all weekend, like National Geographic did here with its email.

Fall newsletter idea: National geographic — *Source*

By extending Black Friday, people can take advantage of deals on Saturday or Sunday if they were out at the stores all day Friday (hey, many people still shop in stores!).

10. Cyber Monday

The shopping that starts during Black Friday has since extended to Cyber Monday. It’s time to announce a new set of deals you can debut late into the weekend to keep the shopping going into the start of a new week.

This email from retailer London Bridge had an attention-grabbing graphic with the mention of a special offer and save on “everything.” That’s a tough deal to resist.

You can even combine Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals if you wish.

Want custom fall newsletter templates for your campaigns? Check out our email templates library, mix and match, personalize, and launch beautiful email campaigns with EngageBay.

11. Seasonal Recipes & Cooking Tips

Seasonal email marketing can include recipes and tips for all the foodies in your subscriber’s list! You can share a collection of easy, pumpkin-based recipes, from savoury soups to decadent desserts. Include beautiful food photography and downloadable recipe cards.

And do you know the best way to get a foodie’s attention? Through a catchy subject line!
Make sure your subject line mentions a recipe or some mouth-watering and enticing imagery to compel people to open the email and have a look!

For your audience who are dedicated to their fitness regime, you can help them celebrate National Apple Week with a series of emails highlighting apple-centric recipes, nutritional benefits, and fun facts. Partner with your local orchards for special offers.

Calls to action for these ideas include:

“Reserve Your Spot for Fall’s Coziest Cooking Class!”
“Pick Your Perfect Apple and Discover Delicious Recipes”
“Whip Up Some Fall Flavors & Download Your Recipe Cards”

This newsletter from Tasting Table stands out for us because it shares recipes, while also promoting products – which will add to the summer sale in the fall season! What’s even better is the colors they’ve used for the images as well – all orange and golden to stick to the season-specific themes.

Fall newsletter idea from Tasting Bible — *Source*

12. DIY Fall Decoration Guides

Engaging fall newsletters can also offer decoration guides. Provide your subscribers with a step-by-step guide for creating beautiful fall wreaths using leaves, acorns, and pine cones. Provide your audience with the necessary links to purchase these supplies.

Wondering what more you can include in your engaging fall newsletter? Elevate the classic pumpkin carving experience with stencil options for intricate designs, animal portraits, or pop culture references.

A unique fall newsletter idea would be to introduce Hygge in your seasonal marketing email. Hygge is the Danish concept of cosy comfort. Introduce this concept through DIY fall decoration ideas like knitted throws, scented candles, and nature-inspired centrepieces.

Take a look at the calls to action that you can use for this kind of newsletter:

“Gather Your Fall Treasures & Craft Your Wreath”
“Download Your Free Pumpkin Stencils & Get Carving!”
“Bring Hygge Home with These DIY Fall Touches”

Fall Email Newsletter Tips and Best Practices

Now that you’ve seen some excellent newsletter ideas, it’s time to put them into practice with these tips for your fall email marketing campaigns.

Segment your audience
Write creative email subject lines
Use fun fall colors, fonts, and visuals in your emails
Start the hype on your seasonal deals early
A/B test and optimize your newsletters
Comply with regulations
Practice gratitude and appreciation

Segment your audience

Email smarts can’t fall by the wayside, no matter the season. You must always segment your audience to ensure you reach the customers interested in your products and services.

Back-to-school emails are a great example of the importance of audience segmentation. Your customers who have children in school will appreciate these emails, but those who don’t have kids or have toddlers who haven’t entered the school system will wonder why they’re getting these messages.

Sending irrelevant content to your audience segments can lead to spam complaints and possibly losing subscribers.

Write creative subject lines

A fall email newsletter will grab attention for its theming, but spooky ghosts and midnight black cats aren’t enough to ensure a good open rate for your campaign. You must also include a catchy subject line.

According to Omnisend, the autumnal subject line [Company name] color for fall” has a 53.1% open rate and 4% click-through rate.

Here are some great fall email subject lines — courtesy of Omnisend — and their accompanying open and click-through rates:

[Company name’s] back for fall (50.2% open rate, 5.1% click-through rate)
FALL FREEBIE (41.5% open rate, 18.5% click-through rate)
The [Company name] Start of Fall Sale (39.2% open rate, 23.7% click-through rate)
New Post – How to Wear Long Coat This Fall (36% open rate, 2.7% click-through rate)

Rather than use these subject lines verbatim, you should tweak them to fit your company branding and messaging while still resembling the original examples. That will ensure you’re not sending the same subject lines as your competitors (um, awkward) but can still expect a good open and click-through rate.

This is a good season to use emojis in your subject lines. From falling leaves to Jack-O-Lanterns, spooky ghosts, scarves, witches, and turkeys, a well-placed emoji or two could differentiate between your email being opened or ignored.

Use fun fall colors, fonts, and visuals in your emails

Color is as much a part of branding as tone or logo, but you don’t have to use the same hues all year long. Incorporate the richness and vivacity of fall with attention-grabbing golds, fiery oranges, deep reds, and warm yellows.

You can also utilize spooky hues like electric green, dark gray, neon orange, and bright purple.

Here are some pointers for using colors in your email marketing campaign:

Limit the usage to no more than three colors.
Select contrasting colors so your CTA buttons stand out.
Test your emails to ensure they’re readable before sending.
Never used colored text, only graphics or logos.

Check out our curated list of email marketing best practices.

Color schemes

Embrace the season’s palette! Rich crimson reds, warm golden yellows, and earthy browns evoke the changing leaves and cozy autumnal atmosphere. Add a splash of emerald green for freshness or a hint of deep orange for that pumpkin spice spark. Avoid overly bright neons or clashing colours that disrupt the harmonious seasonal feel.

Fonts

Choose fonts that complement your color scheme and brand identity.

Opt for serif fonts like Garamond or Merriweather for a touch of elegance or playful handwritten styles like Pacifico or Lobster for a more casual vibe. Avoid overly thin or ornate fonts that might be difficult to read on mobile devices.

Visuals

High-quality visuals are your secret weapon.

Feature stunning photos of fall landscapes, seasonal produce, cozy interiors, and smiling people enjoying autumn activities. Use close-ups and textures to create a sense of immersion, and remember to optimize images for mobile viewing.

For a playful touch, incorporate hand-drawn illustrations or seasonal icons.

Templates and design tools

Don’t allow your lack of design experience to stop you. Several websites provide easily navigable templates made especially for newsletters sent in the fall. With the abundance of online design tools or user-friendly fall newsletter templates, customized images, and drag-and-drop capability, these websites help inexperienced designers shine.

Start the hype on seasonal deals early

Your customers expect you to run deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but there’s nothing wrong with announcing them early so everyone knows what’s to come. You should also certainly announce pop-up fall deals that will surprise your customers.

Generating hype for your emails — especially through social media — gets the excitement rolling early so that the anticipation is at a fever pitch by the time it arrives at the station.

A/B test and optimize your newsletters

Testing different elements of your fall newsletters provides valuable insights into what resonates most with your subscribers, leading to higher engagement and conversions.

Fall email subject lines: Pit two intriguing subject lines against each other, testing the impact of keywords, emojis, or urgency cues. Did “Pumpkin Spice Up Your Inbox” outperform “Cozy Up with Fall Essentials”?
Content formats: Compare the effectiveness of a long-form recipe guide versus a series of concise recipe cards. Does bite-sized content pique more interest than in-depth analysis?
Visuals: Test the influence of warm color palettes against cooler autumn tones. Do photos of pumpkin patches outperform images of cozy interiors?
Calls to action: Experiment with subtle CTAs like “Learn More” versus bolder choices like “Shop Now & Save.” Does directness trump subtle suggestions?

Are you curious about the advantages of A/B testing?

A/B testing by Birchbox resulted in a significant increase in the open rate. Patagonia observed a huge boost in click-throughs after doing an A/B test on their video thumbnail, another significant improvement brought about by seasonal email marketing!

Comply with regulations

As you adorn your newsletters with autumnal charm, remember—the legal landscape plays a vital role in ensuring your fall email marketing efforts bloom beautifully, not wither under regulatory scrutiny. Here’s how to navigate the legal terrain with confidence:

Compliance is your closest friend when it comes to long-term success. Take a look at the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR, as these laws specify what information may be collected, who can get your emails, and how to get consent. Make sure that your fall newsletter ideas follow these rules.

For more details, see the official rules provided below.

The CAN-SPAM Act rules
GDPR

You ought to be transparent about the way you gather and handle data. Make your privacy policy easily accessible and provide a clear explanation of it.

Practice gratitude and appreciation

To reiterate, any emails you send on Thanksgiving day should be centered around your gratitude for your customers. You might send another appreciation email around Christmas or as the year comes to an end, but you don’t have to be choosy. By all means, send both.

Customers love being appreciated, and the more often you make them feel that way, the likelier they are to open your emails.

Bottom Line

There you have it: 10 great fall newsletter ideas to inspire your own. It’s not hard to choose a few. The question is – how will you make these ideas your own? We hope you feel inspired to take your email marketing further this fall and achieve new milestones.

Browse our extensive library of free holiday-themed email templates, including Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, and more.