To help you prepare for the upcoming shopping frenzy, we’ve curated a selection of ten standout email and SMS examples from successful Black Friday campaigns. These examples showcase effective strategies for engaging target audiences, creating a sense of urgency, and enticing customers with time-sensitive deals.

1. Make your Black Friday email promotions pop with countdown timers

A great way to drive clicks and sales is through urgency, scarcity, and FOMO (fear of missing out).

Adding countdown timers in emails gives a sense of urgency, and the design can make the email feel interactive and visually engage the reader.

Virgin Atlantic’s Black Friday email campaign is a great example of how to effectively use a countdown timer. The brand ingeniously combined an animated countdown timer with a boarding pass.

The whole ticket graphic looks personalized, with the first name field matching the email body copy. Now, imagine you’ve been searching flights to a particular destination, and then you get this email land in your inbox. Seeing your name on that ticket would certainly tempt you.

The email is undeniably on-brand and different from generic campaigns, so it stands out from the competition.

2. Showcase your brand values 

The Black Friday and entire Cyber Week period isn’t just about huge discounts. Campaigns that show your brand supporting a charitable cause or giving back to the community can be a refreshing change of pace that stands out and is well received by your audience, improving brand loyalty overall.

This campaign from clothing brand Everlane is as refreshing as the alpine air in the photograph used. The email lets readers know how their support of the brand has in turn supported cashmere farmers and the regeneration of Mongolian grasslands.

The brand shares what it’s doing for good, but doesn’t make it about them, rather about the support of the customers. It also educates, in a non-preachy way, letting people know why this is important.

The campaign’s mixture of blocks showing stats, meaningful copy, and real-life photography of gorgeous Cashmere goats makes it one of the best email examples out there.

3. Don’t be limited to Black Friday itself

This campaign from Thortful, a card marketplace, is a couple of years old now, but we still love it.

Black Friday is a busy day for inboxes, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box and make your own occasion.

From November 24 to 27, Thortful introduced “Thortsgiving” – a celebration that gives back to its creators. This unique take on a Black Friday message sends a powerful message to customers: Thortful is not just a place to buy meaningful cards; it’s a tight-knit community that stands by its creators and supports small businesses.

Thortful skillfully establishes an emotional connection with its customers, using the attention around holiday promotions to drive sales and build deeper connections with its audience, all the while remaining true to its core values.

4. Create memorable copy

Writing memorable copy is important during the holiday rush. With so many messages fighting for attention, your goal should be to create copy that stands out and leaves a lasting impression.

Use persuasive language to stimulate your subscribers’ curiosity and emotions, and create a sense of urgency that encourages them to take action.

For instance, Coach was able to successfully target its SMS subscribers during Black Friday by weaving a sense of urgency into its message, without resorting to shouty ALL CAPS messages with lots of exclamation marks.

In the brand’s typical quiet luxury style, the urgency is conveyed, but not pressured, with the copy emphasizing that it was the final chance for customers to save big on their purchases before the deals disappeared.

Why use SMS for Black Friday sales

SMS gets a click-through rate seven times higher than email at 25.7%. You can learn all of the basics on SMS marketing here, written by our SMS expert, Lucia.

SMS lends itself especially well to flash sales, which are very popular during Black Friday. We know that Black Friday is a hectic time for marketers, so adding SMS into your channel mix isn’t much extra work at all.

If you want to send cross-channel campaigns but are short on time, Dotdigital’s AI tools mean you can convert your existing emails into SMS messages in one click. It will automatically adjust your message to fit the character limit, suggesting copy that aligns perfectly with your email content.

5. Offer exclusivity with VIP deals

Technically, this is another example of Black Friday campaigns not being tied to Black Friday as it’s about a ‘spring Black Friday’ offer, but the part of this campaign we love is the exclusive early access for email subscribers.

Making your customers feel valued and giving them perks for being subscribed is never a bad idea. Dotdigital’s recent survey of 4,000 global consumers found that 27% of shoppers want loyalty schemes to offer early access to new products and sales.

This example from PLUSH + OAK tells subscribers that they’re on the brand’s VIP mailing list, so they’re getting access to a big discount a whole three days before other people will even know about the sale. This is extra valuable to subscribers as the email highlights how the brand anticipates certain items to sell out, so this pre-sale window is a valuable perk for email subscribers.

6. How to say more with fewer words

On Black Friday, shoppers are eager to find deals from their favorite brands quickly and effortlessly. As SMS messages have a limited character count, getting your message across in just a few words is necessary, but you can still build excitement.

BCBG’s SMS campaign is a great example of how keeping things short and clear can really pay off. During its Black Friday promotion, BCBG sent out a simple and clear SMS message to subscribers that provided all the essential information about the offer, without overwhelming recipients with unnecessary details.

In just a few words, the message tells shoppers:

• The crux of the offer (40% off everything)
• Highlights that it’s for a limited time only
• Evokes scarcity and FOMO tactics by saying things are selling fast
• And ends with a simple and clear call to action and link

7. Have fun with it

One way to leave a lasting impression during the Black Friday email scramble is to avoid using basic, overused design templates.

By creating a unique and cohesive design that stands out from generic email layouts, you can set your brand apart and draw attention to the content within.

Vans’ Black Friday email campaign is an excellent example of innovative and fun design.

The email features a mountain-side ski scene that offers a playful interactive game feel in the styling of the design and CTA button placements.

When it comes to the content, the campaign has something for everyone. From regular shopping CTAs to helpfully curated gift selections sorted by price range, and even a holiday playlist option so that people not looking to shop still get something to enjoy from the email.

8. When and how to use emojis

Emojis are part of modern communication and can be perfect for adding emotion and personality to text-based messages.

SMS is still a channel that’s used for chatting with friends and loved ones, so using emojis along with a conversational and relatable tone here can make the message feel less salesy and more natural.

Youth to the People’s message added a clock emoji to deliver the sale information in a more visually engaging way and to show an element of fun to the campaign.

When using emojis in your SMS marketing campaigns, moderation is key. Using too many emojis can overwhelm your audience and feel spammy.

And always be sure that you’re on top of your character count, as some newer emojis can count as two characters instead of one.

9. Prioritize mobile optimization

Across the month of November in 2025, mobile saw 52.8% of all online orders, and on Cyber Monday it accounted for 57.5% of orders, so your Black Friday email campaigns need to be optimized for mobile users.

Your promotional emails need to look good on every device. Whether someone opens them on a phone, tablet, or desktop, a well-formatted email makes it much easier for them to click through and buy.

Most email marketing platforms have mobile optimization built into the email builder, so this doesn’t need to be something you think about too hard. The main thing to check is that elements like CTAs and side-by-side content blocks stack into a single column on smaller screens, making your emails just as easy to read on a phone as they are on a desktop.

10. Send last-minute reminders

Last-minute reminders are a great way to make the most of Black Friday hype and give anyone who’s been on the fence a reason to finally hit buy.

Snacks brand, Nuts, used this SMS to make one thing very clear: this was their last chance to shop the Black Friday sale. The loudspeaker emoji helped dial up the urgency without needing to say much more.

The key is to be clear about what’s ending and when. And keep those deadlines genuine; repeatedly extending a sale can quickly frustrate customers, who’ll see through the urgency tactic. In the EU, brands have also faced fines for misleading practices around fake discounts and deadlines.

A well-timed reminder can bring back customers who missed, forgot about, or simply needed one final nudge to take advantage of your offer.

Get Black Friday ready

As we approach Black Friday, now is the perfect time to start planning your marketing strategy. It’ll be upon us quicker than you know it, and anything we can prep in advance will make it a lot easier. We hope these examples can provide a springboard for inspiration when designing your upcoming email and SMS campaigns. And remember, you’ve got this.

Get the lowdown on the consumer spending patterns from last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend. See how consumers have been shopping on the big sales dates of 2026 so far, and get a clear recommendation for when to send your first sales campaigns based on data from billions of email and SMS campaigns.

What is Cyber Week?

Cyber Week is the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday and is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.

Adobe data shows that Cyber Week in 2025 brought in $44.2 billion online, up 7.7% year-on-year. Cyber Week is big business and marks the beginning of the holiday season. 73% of WooCommerce merchants report that the BFCM and holiday period accounts for over 20% of their annual revenue.

Black Friday statistics for 2026

Black Friday itself saw a record online spend of $11.8 billion in 2025, up 9.1% year-on-year, and for the second year in a row Black Friday growth outpaced Cyber Monday.

Black Friday 2025 commerce stats

Shopify data tells us:

• Shopping peaked at 12:01 p.m. EST on Black Friday as sales reached $5.1 million per minute
• The average cart price on Black Friday 2025 was $114.70
• The hottest product categories were: cosmetics, clothing tops & pants, activewear, fitness & nutrition

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday falls on November 27, 2026. But the opportunity doesn’t start and end on one day. Shoppers are active across several weeks, with key moments building up through November and into peak holiday season.

Key holiday sales dates for your diary

• Singles’ Day: November 11
• Thanksgiving: November 26
• Black Friday: November 27
• Small Business Saturday: November 28
• Cyber Monday: November 30
• Giving Tuesday: December 1

Holiday marketing for good

Giving Tuesday follows Cyber Monday; it’s a day to celebrate donations and support of not-for-profit organizations. It’s not just for the not-for-profit sector either; this is a great time to highlight any charity initiatives your company supports to showcase your brand values.

Check out holiday marketing ideas if you’re in the not-for-profit sector, including Black Friday campaign inspiration.

When to send Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales emails

Knowing when to start promotions around key sales dates is an ongoing dilemma for marketers and ecommerce planners.

Go too early, and you risk giving away margin, overwhelming your audience, or prompting unsubscribes.

Go too late, and your competitors may have already captured the attention and sales.

So let’s have a look at what the data shows. We’ve analyzed billions of email sends to identify the average number of days before a major sales holiday that marketers begin referencing those holidays in their email subject lines.

When to send Black Friday emails 2026

Black Friday 2025

Aim for around two weeks before Black Friday itself, and use the lead-up to encourage people to sign up to mobile marketing channels like SMS, MMS and WhatsApp. This gives you another way to speak to your audience, which is especially valuable during some of the busiest weeks of the year for email inboxes.

When to send Cyber Monday emails 2026

Cyber Monday 2025

The global average in 2025 was three days before, meaning Black Friday itself. However, you don’t want to cannibalise your Black Friday strategy. Instead, consider that as soon as the clock strikes midnight and Black Friday ends, it’s Cyber Monday lead-up time.

In the US, brands are going earlier and beginning the Cyber Monday promotions a full week in advance.

Holiday email timing

Remember, this is an average number and what works best for your brand will be unique to you and your offering. This is the average data from 2025; check out the full three-year data for BFCM and other key sales holidays to see how the promotion window is changing over time.

Examples of good Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing emails

Now you know when to send your holiday campaigns; get some design inspiration in our 2026 holiday lookbook. Take a look at the standout campaigns from last year alongside a review of why they worked, and tips on how you can make yours even better.

How to capture Black Friday attention early

Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions go on for a lot more than just the days of the week they are named after.

Here are some ideas to keep your email marketing content varied and stop your audience from getting overwhelmed or disinterested during the build-up.

3 tips to avoid BFCM fatigue

• Switch up your offers by focusing on a different category each day. Position it as a Cyber Week countdown or advent calendar-style promotion so customers look forward to something new every day
• Encourage shoppers to curate their own wishlists in anticipation of the big discounts to come during Cyber Week. This means they’re already mentally committing to your brand ahead of any promotions going live
• Segment wherever you can and use personalized content and product recommendations to not bombard your entire database with discounts to categories they don’t shop from.

Shopping trends in 2026

We’ve covered how BFCM played out last year; now let’s have a quick check-in on consumer behavior during large sales events so far in 2026.

Retail giant Amazon’s Prime Day in the summer is a good mid-year comparison and potential indication of the current sales appetite among consumers.

Adobe reports the sales event saw $26.4 billion in online spend over the four-day event from June 23 to June 26, which was a 9.3% year-on-year growth.

Discounting insights for 2026

So what kind of promotions enticed consumers to shop? Data from Amazon’s Prime Day shows the top categories for discounting and the level of discount compared to 2025. Every category saw either a flat discount year-on-year or an increased discount percentage.

Customer experience tips for Black Friday 2026

Offer a range of payment options

Great marketing campaigns can get people to your site, and then your on-site customer experience takes over.

Last year’s holiday season saw buy now pay later (BNPL) hit a record high with $20 billion in online spend, up 9.8% year-on-year.

The flexible payment method was used most on Cyber Monday, driving $1.03 billion in online spend.

The vast majority of BNPL transactions are happening on mobile devices. On Cyber Monday, 79.4% of BNPL orders were placed on a mobile device (vs. desktop).

Drive sales with influencer marketing

Earlier this year, we surveyed 4,000 consumers to find out what they want from brands and how they shop. 44% of consumers report discovering new brands through the creators they follow on social media.

This tracks with Adobe data from last year’s holiday season, where ‘affiliates and partners’, which includes social media influencers, saw a revenue share of 21.8%, up 7.4% year-on-year.

Social Snowball helps you scale affiliate revenue with creators, and as it’s part of the Dotdigital group, getting started is super simple.

Get ready for Black Friday

See what consumers actually want from brands and make sure you’re set up to turn new customers into loyal ones.

Hi, I’m Layla, Content Producer here at Dotdigital and your go-to for planning your social media calendar. Across Europe, the UK, and the US summer is coming to an end and back-to-school season is in full swing. And while the Northern Hemisphere is getting ready for fall, spring is beginning to appear south of the equator. Overall it’s a time of renewal, education, and support. Wherever you are, there’s plenty happening to inspire your campaigns this September.

This guide will walk you through key themes and observances to help you plan your September social media calendar. We’ve included ideas to inspire not only your social media posts but also your email marketing campaigns too.

Important dates for your September social media calendar

• 1 September – World letter writing day #WorldLetterWritingDay 
• 2 September – World coconut day #WorldCoconutDay 
• 4 September – Janmashtami (Hindu Holiday) #Janmashtami 
• 4 September – National food bank day #NationalFoodBankDay 
• 5 September – World beard day #WorldBeardDay 
• 5 September – International day of charity #DayOfCharity 
• 6 September – Read a book day #ReadABookDay 
• 8 September – World physiotherapy day #WorldPhysiotherapyDay 
• 8 September – International literacy day #LiteracyDay 
• 10 September – World suicide prevention day #WorldSuicidePreventionDay 
• 12 September – End digital poverty day #EndDigitalPoverty 
• 15 September – International day of democracy #DayOfDemocracy 
• 15 September – World afro day #WorldAfroDay 
• 16 September – International day for the preservation of the ozone layer #OzoneLayerDay 
• 21 September – International day of peace #DayOfPeace
• 21 September – World Alzheimer’s day #WorldAlzheimersDay 
• 21-27 September – Organ donation week begins #OrganDonationWeek 
• 22–28 September – Recycle week #RecycleWeek 
• 27 September – World tourism day #WorldTourismDay 
• 29 September – World heart day #WorldHeartDay 

Themes for the month

• Childhood cancer awareness month
• Suicide prevention month
• Back to school

September 2 – World coconut day

Bring that tropical energy to your September campaigns with world coconut day. Food and beverage brands can use the day to spotlight coconut-based products, share recipe inspiration, or show customers how they can use coconut in new and unexpected ways. It’s also a fun opportunity to partner with creators, run a recipe challenge, or ask customers to share their favorite coconut creations.

September 6 – Read a book day

Get people to put their reading skills to the test with read a book day. Brands could take inspiration from interactive books like Where’s Wally? and create their own “spot the difference” or “find the hidden character” experience, giving customers something fun to search for while tying it back to their products. You could also start a virtual book club, inviting your audience to vote on a book, read along together, and share their thoughts or recommendations on social media.

September 15 – World afro day

Beauty and fashion brands could use the day to spotlight different hair textures and styles, share stories from customers, or showcase products designed to care for afro hair. It’s also a chance to highlight Black creators and businesses and share educational content around the history and cultural significance of afro hair.

September 21 – International day of peace

Brands could use the day to share messages of kindness, highlight the people or organizations working to make a difference, or encourage their communities to think about what peace means to them. In an email, invite subscribers to choose their own “act of peace” from a few simple options, like doing something kind for someone else, taking some time to switch off, or donating to a good cause. Each choice could then take them to a tailored landing page with something relevant, whether that’s a playlist, activity, recipe, or more information about a charity.

September 20 – 28 – Recycle week

Give your customers a reason to rethink what they throw away during recycle week. Brands could use the week to showcase a new product made from recyclable materials, or challenge their product teams to get creative and see what they can make from materials that would otherwise go to waste. You could bring the idea to life across email and social by taking your audience behind the scenes and showing how the product was made. It’s a great opportunity to make sustainability feel tangible and give customers a reason to think twice about what they put in the bin.

September 27 – World tourism day

Travel brands could create an interactive “choose your destination” campaign, letting customers answer a few questions about their ideal trip before revealing a destination that matches their personality. You could bring it to life with travel inspiration or even a virtual tour, giving your audience a chance to explore somewhere new without leaving their inbox.

September 29 – World heart day

Give your audience a little heart-to-heart with world heart day. Brands could create a “How healthy is your heart?” quiz for email or social, asking a few simple questions and giving people personalized tips based on their answers. It’s a great chance to get creative, sharing heart-healthy recipes or asking your community to share what makes their hearts happy. It’s also a great opportunity to team up with a heart health charity and use the campaign to raise money. 

September subject line ideas

Here are some September-themed subject line ideas to inspire your campaigns:

World coconut day – You’ll be coco-NUTS for this one

Read a book day – Add this to your reading list

World afro day – Your curls are going to love this

Recycle week – Give old favorites a new life

World tourism day – Time for a change of scenery

World heart day – Take care of the heart that takes care of you

World letter writing day – A little love letter from us to you

These subject line ideas are a starting point, but they work best when shaped with your brand’s voice. Add personality, emojis, or a touch of urgency to help them stand out and drive opens.

For a little extra inspiration, Dotdigital’s Content Agent is ready to help you draft and test subject lines. It’s trained in your brand voice, so the suggestions sound like you, not like generic AI copy.

Spark engagement with your September marketing campaigns

Whether it’s the start of fall or the first signs of spring, September is packed with seasonal moments and awareness days, giving brands plenty of opportunities to create campaigns that feel timely, relevant and connected to what their audiences are talking about.

This article is for general informational purposes and isn’t legal advice. As the sender, you remain responsible for your own compliance. We advise you to work with your legal or privacy team to confirm how these requirements apply to your marketing communications.

If you send marketing emails to contacts in France or Italy, the rules on tracking pixels have changed. According to regulators CNIL (in France) and Garante (in Italy), the tracking pixel behind your email open rate now needs its own consent. This tracking consent is separate to the opt-in consent your audience gave to receive emails initially.

We’ve collated information on what each regulator is asking for, go-live timings, and how the Dotdigital platform supports these changes – to help you stay ahead.

TLDR

You can no longer combine email tracking consent with your general marketing consent. You need to provide an easy way for people to opt-out of email tracking, and be able to switch this tracking pixel off for those contacts in France and Italy who choose to opt-out. 

So, what’s actually changing…

First, the basics. A tracking pixel is a tiny, invisible image that loads when someone opens your email. It’s how open rates get measured, and it’s been sitting quietly in the background of email marketing for years. The CNIL and the Garante now treat it the same way they treat a cookie: as something that can be used to identify a person, which requires their permission.

Consent to send a marketing email and consent to track if the email has been opened are now two separate considerations that need to be treated differently. Contacts also need an easy way to opt-out of open rate tracking without unsubscribing from your emails altogether.

Both regulators use the same underlying structure, but the go-live dates differ by country. Your contacts fall into one of three groups, with each group requiring a slightly different course of action.

1. Existing contacts, collected before the new consent requirements were published. This group falls within a transition period, so tracking can continue for now, but contacts need to be notified of the changes and given a way to opt-out by a set deadline
2. Contacts collected during the gap between the new consent requirements being published and the compliance deadline. There is no transition period for this group. You need to provide an affirmative opt-in before you can track the email opens for this segment, with tracking staying off until consent is received
3. New contacts, collected after the compliance deadline: consent needs to be captured at sign-up, before any tracked email goes out

Here’s how those three groups map to publication dates in each country. 

France: the CNIL’s timeline

The CNIL’s recommendation took effect in stages between April and July 2026, and the last of those dates, 14 July, has already passed. In practice, that now leaves two groups:

• Contacts you notified and gave a chance to opt-out before 14 July 2026, who didn’t object: you can keep tracking their opens

• Everyone else, meaning contacts who weren’t notified before July 14th, contacts you collected after 14 April 2026, or anyone new: turn off open rate tracking for this group until they opt-in

If you haven’t already removed tracking pixels on email open rates, you are now required to take that step for contacts in France (the rule came into force on July 14th 2026).

Italy: the Garante’s timeline

The Garante published its own guidelines (Provvedimento n. 284) in April 2026, with a six-month runway. Contacts within this region are grouped as follows:

• Contacts collected before April 29th 2026: Transition group
  You can keep the open rate tracking pixel on for now, but notify them and give them a way to opt-out of tracking (separate from unsubscribing entirely) by 28 October 2026

• Contacts collected from April 29th 2026 and onwards: No transition
  This applies immediately, not just after 28 October. Turn off tracking for these contacts until you’ve got their affirmative opt-in

• Contacts collected from October 28th 2026 onward: New sign-ups
  Consent needs to be captured at sign-up, before any tracked email is sent

What we’ve changed in Dotdigital

The Dotdigital Marketing platform has been updated to help you meet these new requirements. 

• You can now turn on a setting that allows contacts to opt-out of tracking, via a link in your campaigns

• Open rate tracking consent can be updated in bulk for each audience segment, so once you’ve identified your France and/or Italy contacts, you can opt them all out with one action

• Every consent change is logged against the contact, providing a record of what changed and when

This broadly covers off the requirements set by CNIL and the Garante, tracking consent that’s kept separate from marketing consent, and an easy way to manage it. Whether that’s a contact setting their own preference, or a marketing team updating entire segments at once.

However, you will still need to check the compliance of your own marketing programs with your legal and/or privacy teams to check the individual considerations for your organization.

What to do now

1. Read our help centre article on managing open tracking consent. It gives step-by-step guidance on activating the new settings, adding the opt-out link, and updating consent in bulk
2. Talk to your privacy team about which of your contacts are in scope, and how you will inform your audience of any necessary changes
3. Build a segment of the contacts that require permission updates (such as contacts based in France and Italy) and update their open tracking consent in bulk
4. Add the open tracking opt-out link to your campaign footers, next to your unsubscribe link

If you have any questions about the new guidance (we know, it’s a tricky one), reach out to us through Live Chat within the platform, or on the Dotdigital website, or talk to your Account Manager.  We’re happy to help you work through it.

That’s the idea behind human-to-human (H2H) marketing. Your audience is human first and customer second, whether you sell to businesses (B2B) or straight to consumers (B2C). A company has never bought anything; the people inside it do. 

In this guide, we’ll cover what H2H marketing means, how it fits alongside B2B and B2C, why it matters more in the age of AI, and how to put it into practice.

What is human-to-human marketing?

Human-to-human (H2H) marketing is an approach that treats every marketing interaction as a conversation between two people, rather than a transaction between a business and a target segment. Instead of asking “how do we message this audience,” it asks “how would we talk to this person?”

In practice, that means marketing built on empathy, plain language, honesty, and genuine two-way communication. You’re still meeting a customer’s needs, but you’re doing it in a way that shows there are real people behind your brand, and that those people can be trusted. It’s the model that responsible marketing is built on, which is relationships with customers and prospects based on long-term trust and respect.

H2H vs B2B vs B2C: what’s the difference?

Whether you’re B2B or B2C, a person makes the final call. The marketing manager choosing a platform and the shopper choosing trainers are doing the same thing: weighing up options, working out who to trust, and deciding who to buy from. So, B2B and B2C are your industries; H2H is your approach.

Why is human-to-human marketing important?

Our Customer trend index found that only 15% of consumers say marketing messages feel very relevant to them, down from 23% last year. When so few messages connect, every campaign has to work harder for a smaller share of attention.

The same research points to what people respond to instead. Friends and family are 45% more likely to influence a customer’s loyalty to a brand than they were a year ago, which tells us that when a recommendation comes from a real person, people trust it enough to act on it.

Your marketing can’t replace a friend’s recommendation, but you can move it closer to one by writing like a person, showing the people behind your brand, and talking to customers the way you’d want to be talked to. The more your marketing feels like a conversation with a real human, the more trust it builds along the way.

When you get this right consistently, three things happen:

• People trust you more. Trust builds one interaction at a time, and every message that feels honest and personal adds another layer of it

• People forgive you more. Everyone slips up from time to time, whether it’s a broken link, a mistimed send, or a pricing error. When your brand has a human voice, a genuine apology lands better, and people move on rather than heading for the unsubscribe button

• People buy from you more. Feeling understood is persuasive, and a message that speaks to someone’s situation will always outsell one aimed at a broad segment

Best of all, this costs you nothing extra. Your team is already full of humans who know how to talk to people, so human-to-human marketing is less about new investment and more about letting their personality show up in the work.

Standing out when everything sounds like AI

We first published this article in 2021, a year before AI platforms like ChatGPT existed. Back then, AI worked behind the scenes of your marketing, like deciding when to send your email or which products to recommend, but a human still wrote every word your customers read. Nobody was worried about their emails sounding like a machine wrote them, because machines weren’t writing them.

These days, it can help write your emails, design your creative, and build entire campaigns. And with AI now built into most marketing platforms, almost every brand is using it to some degree.

The thing is, though, your customers have noticed. They’re wading through AI-written emails, AI-generated ads, and chatbots every day, and they’ve developed a sharp instinct for spotting them. People are getting tired of it, and when something feels automated, they scroll past without a second thought.

Which is exactly what makes the human stuff land better. A specific point of view or a bit of wit is what makes someone stop and think there’s a real person behind this brand. 

None of this is an argument against using AI. The point is to use AI the right way. Let it handle the work that eats your team’s time, like building segments, picking send times, running tests, and pulling reports, so the humans get those hours back for the work machines can’t do, which is: 

• Talking to customers
• Writing with personality
• Noticing what your audience cares about right now

How to build a human-to-human marketing strategy

1. Get your tone of voice right

Your brand voice is one of the first things customers notice about your brand. To build stronger connections with your audience:

• Be real: authenticity is about saying what the reader needs to hear, not what they want to hear
• Be empathic: let your audience know that you understand them, that you’ve been in their shoes
• Be personal: get to know your customer, know their names, likes and dislikes. It all goes a long way

Here’s an example:

Take the welcome email. Most are just a logo, a generic hello, and a discount code. Now imagine one that reads like a personal note: here’s what we’re about, here’s what you can expect from us, and if you fancy replying, a real human will read it. Nobody replies to a noreply@ address, but people will happily reply to a person, and those replies tell you more about your audience than any survey.

A helpful tip:

Before anything goes out, read it aloud, and if you wouldn’t say it to a customer, rewrite it until you would.

2. Ditch the jargon

Stuffiness, formality, and jargon put a wall up between you and your audience. Every acronym you don’t explain and every sentence that needs a second read is a small signal that you’re talking at people rather than to them. 

Write the way you’d explain something to a colleague or friend, using plain words, short sentences, and skip the fancy words. Talking to your audience as equals is one of the fastest ways to build connection, and it costs nothing.

3. Tell people what’s going on

Trust is built on openness, so tell your audience about the decisions that affect them. Explain why you’re collecting their data and what you plan to do with it. 

Here’s another example

KitKat showed how this works when thieves stole 12 tonnes of its chocolate in transit. The brand’s first move was a straightforward statement addressing what customers would want to know, which was that there were no concerns for consumer safety, and supply wasn’t affected. 

With the serious part handled, the brand had some fun with it, joking that someone had clearly taken the “have a break” slogan too literally, and eventually created a tracker that let people check whether their own bar came from the stolen batch. The post became the most-liked in the brand’s history, over 100 other brands joined in, and what should have been a supply chain headache turned into a Cannes-winning moment.

Now, you’ll probably never have 12 tonnes of chocolate go missing, but the same thinking applies to a broken link or a mistaken send: tell people about it openly, add a bit of personality (where it’s appropriate), and you’ll build far more trust than hoping nobody notices.

4. Make your automation feel personal

Use the data you hold to make experiences genuinely better, like:

• A well-timed reminder about something they left behind
• A recommendation that reflects what they’ve browsed
• A birthday message that arrives on the right day

A helpful tip:

The test for every automated touchpoint is whether it makes the customer’s experience smoother or more relevant. Let your customer journey data show you where you can add real value.

5. Make it easy to reach a human

In a two-way conversation, customers have a direct connection to the people behind your brand. Live chat, social media, and messaging apps all give people a direct line to your team, and how those conversations feel matters as much as how fast they happen. Let your support team write like themselves, sign off with their names, and drop the script when the script isn’t helping. 

A helpful tip:

If you’re using AI or bots, be upfront about it, and always give customers a quick way to reach a real person.

6. Join the conversation on social

Social media was built for conversations between people, which makes it a natural home for human-to-human marketing. Answer questions, reply to comments, share what your customers create, and post content that is both light-hearted and useful. Going live, showing your team, and joining conversations rather than broadcasting into them all remind people there are humans behind the logo. The brands that get this right are easy to spot because their replies could only have come from them.

One more example:

Duolingo turned its owl into one of the most-followed personalities on TikTok by being genuinely funny rather than brand-funny. You don’t need a mascot or a viral moment, though. You just need your replies to sound like someone on your team wrote them, because they did.

Marketing made human

Behind every open, click, and purchase is a person who can tell when a brand is talking to them and when it’s talking at them.

Human-to-human marketing is the decision to act on that. Write like you’d talk, be honest about how you work, let AI take the repetitive jobs, and give your team the room to bring some personality to the rest. None of it needs a bigger budget or a new strategy deck, because the humans who can do this are already there.

And with so much marketing now generated at the push of a button, sounding like a real person is your brand’s biggest advantage. 

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including:

• What a martech stack is
• What the key components are
• How it maps to the customer journey
• How it’s changing with AI
• How to build or improve yours

By the end, you’ll have a better idea of what you’ve got, what you might be missing, and where to go next.

What is a martech stack?

A martech stack is the collection of marketing technology a business uses to plan, run, and measure its marketing. Your email platform, your CRM, your analytics tool – that collection of tech is your martech stack. 

According to the State of Martech 2026 report, the martech landscape now includes over 15,000 tools. That’s a lot of options, and a lot of potential for your stack to become more complicated than it needs to be. The challenge for most marketing teams is knowing whether the ones they already have are working together properly.

The importance of a martech stack

Your martech stack is what sits between your marketing ideas and your marketing results. When it’s working well, your data flows freely, your campaigns run without manual intervention, and your team spends less time on admin and more time on strategy.

A well-connected stack gives you a clearer picture of your customers at every stage, from the moment they first discover your brand right through to repeat purchase and retention. That means better targeting, more relevant experiences, and a much stronger understanding of what’s driving results.

When it’s not working well, you end up with gaps in your data and a customer experience that feels inconsistent, which is why getting it right matters.

What are the key components of a martech stack?

Every martech stack looks a little different depending on the size of the business, the channels they use, and the goals they’re working towards. But most stacks are built around a core set of tools that cover the same fundamental needs.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Your CRM is where your customer data lives. It stores contact information, purchase history, interactions, and anything else that helps you understand who your customers are and where they are in their journey with you.

Email marketing platform

Your email platform is where you build, send, and track email campaigns. It’s one of the most direct ways to reach your audience and, when connected to your CRM and other data sources, one of the most effective.

Marketing automation

Automation tools let you set up campaigns and customer journeys that run in the background, triggered by customer behavior, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and re-engagement campaigns.

Analytics and reporting

Your analytics tools tell you what’s working and what isn’t. From website traffic and email open rates to revenue attribution and customer lifetime value (CLV), good reporting is what turns data into better decisions.

Content management system (CMS)

Your CMS is where your website and blog content lives. It’s how you publish and manage the content that attracts, informs, and converts visitors.

Personalization

Personalization tools let you create bespoke customer experiences, whether that’s dynamic content in an email, product recommendations on your website, or targeted messaging based on behavior.

Ads and retargeting

Paid media tools help you reach new audiences and re-engage people who’ve already shown interest in your brand. They work best when connected to your customer data, so your targeting is as accurate as possible.

How does a martech stack work together?

Buying a great tool and then watching it sit in isolation can be frustrating, but a well-connected stack fixes that. Data moves freely between your tools, so no one has to manually export, upload, or piece it together. When your tools are connected, every action feeds the next one:

• When a lapsed customer re-engages via a paid ad, your CRM updates
• When a customer makes a purchase, your automation platform triggers
• When they browse a product page, your personalization tool takes note

Everything talks to everything else, and your marketing becomes more relevant as a result.

The most common way tools connect is through integrations, either native connections built directly between platforms or via Application Programming Interface (APIs) that let different systems share data. Some businesses also use a customer data platform (CDP) to act as a central hub, pulling data from every tool into one place and pushing it back out again so every platform is always working from the same customer profile.

When your stack isn’t connected properly, it shows quickly. You end up with:

• Duplicate contacts
• Inconsistent data
• Campaigns that don’t reflect what a customer has already done
• A team spending more time fixing data problems than running campaigns

More tools don’t mean better marketing. The goal is a stack where everything connects, everyone can see the same customer, and nothing gets lost on the way.

The martech stack and the customer journey

Your martech stack does more than just support your marketing. It maps directly to how your customers move through their journey with your brand. Different tools do different jobs at different stages, and understanding that is what helps you spot where your stack might be letting you down.

Awareness

This is where potential customers first discover you. Your ads, social media, SEO, and content tools are doing the heavy lifting here. The goal is getting in front of the right people at the right moment.

Consideration

Once someone knows you exist, they start weighing up their options. Your CMS, personalization tools, and email platform help you stay relevant during this stage, giving people the information they need to move forward with confidence.

Conversion

Your ecommerce integrations, forms, landing pages, and automation tools are what close the gap between interest and purchase. A well-timed abandoned cart email or a personalized offer can make the difference here.

Retention

Getting a customer is one thing, but keeping them is where the real value is. Your CRM, loyalty platform, and automation tools work together to keep customers engaged, reward repeat purchases, and spot early signs that someone might be drifting.

Advocacy

Happy customers tell other people. Review platforms, referral tools, and social proof integrations help you capture that goodwill and put it to work, turning your best customers into your best marketing asset.

The important thing to remember is that your stack needs to support the full journey, and not just parts of it. Gaps at any stage mean customers slipping through, and that’s where the new blog we mentioned earlier comes in handy.

How the martech stack is changing

The martech landscape has always moved fast. But right now, it’s changing in ways that are reshaping how marketing teams work.

AI is moving from assistant to agent

A year ago, AI in marketing meant content suggestions and subject line recommendations. Now it’s doing a lot more. AI agents can build audience segments from a plain-English description, write and refine campaign content, and show insights from your data, all without you having to log into five different tools to do it. The shift from AI as a helper to AI as a doer is happening quickly, and the stacks that are built to take advantage of it will have a real edge.

MCP is changing how tools connect

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a relatively new standard that lets AI tools connect directly to your marketing platforms. In practice, that means you can ask questions about your campaign performance, contact data, or customer behavior directly inside tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, without switching tabs or logging into your marketing platform. It’s early days, but MCP has the potential to change how marketers interact with their entire stack.

Consolidation is winning over complexity

The days of adding a new point solution for every marketing problem are fading. Marketers are increasingly looking for platforms that do more in one place, reducing the number of integrations to manage, logins to remember, and places where customer data can get lost. 

First-party data is more important than ever

With third-party cookies largely gone and privacy regulations tightening, the data you collect directly from your customers has never been more valuable. The stacks best positioned for the future are the ones built around first-party and zero-party data, such as preference centers, forms, behavioral tracking, and loyalty programs that give customers a reason to share.

How to build your martech stack

Whether you’re starting from scratch or taking stock of what you’ve already got, the process is the same. It starts with seeing what’s working and what isn’t.

Start with your goals

The biggest mistake marketers can make when building a stack is starting with the technology rather than the problem they’re trying to solve. Before you look at any platform, get an idea of what you’re trying to achieve. More subscribers? Better retention? Faster campaign turnaround? Your goals should drive your tool choices, not the other way around.

Audit what you already have

Most marketing teams are sitting on tools they don’t use, tools that duplicate each other, and tools nobody quite knows how to turn off. A quick audit of your current stack – what you have, what it does, what it costs, and whether it connects to everything else – is a useful starting point. You might find you need less than you think.

Prioritize integration over features

A tool with slightly fewer features that connects well with everything else in your stack will almost always outperform a feature-rich tool that sits in isolation. When you’re evaluating anything new, the first question should be how well it plays with what you already have.

Think about your data flow

Follow the data. Where does it come in? Where does it go? Where does it get stuck? A good stack has clean, consistent data moving freely between tools, so your CRM, your email platform, your analytics, and your personalization tools are all working from the same customer picture.

Don’t overbuild

There’s always a temptation to add more. A new AI tool here, a specialist platform there. But every tool you add is another integration to manage, another login to remember, and another place your data can get lost. Build for what you need now, which also gives you room to grow.

Review it regularly

Your stack should change as your business changes. What worked two years ago might not be the right fit today. A regular review, even just once a year, helps you stay on top of what’s earning its place and what’s quietly adding cost without adding value.

Examples of martech stacks

Every stack looks different, but here’s a simple example of what a typical ecommerce brand might be working with:

In Dotdigital’s case, a lot of these layers live in one platform, which means less time managing integrations and more time using your data. But whether you’re using one platform or several, the principle is the same. Each layer needs to feed into the next, so your marketing always reflects what your customers are actually doing.

Your martech stack is never really finished

Building a martech stack isn’t a one-time project. It’s something you come back to as your business grows, your goals shift, and new tools worth adding come along. The marketers with the strongest stacks aren’t necessarily the ones with the most tools. They’re the ones who are honest about what’s working, quick to cut what isn’t, and deliberate about how everything connects.

If you’ve read this far, you’re already ahead when it comes to understanding what a martech stack is and how to get the most from it.

The next question is whether your current stack is helping you hit your goals or quietly getting in the way, which is something we dig into in our next blog. Find out how to spot and fix the gaps in your marketing tech stack.

Now’s the time to start working on your seasonal campaigns. The earlier your ideas come together, the more time you have to test, refine, and make improvements before the busiest sales period arrives.

We’ll show you what each email gets right, where it could go further, and how you can use these ideas in your own seasonal campaigns.

Halloween

October 31 

Halloween is a huge retail opportunity for marketers. Even if your products have nothing to do with pumpkins or candy, there’s plenty of room to join the conversation in a way that still feels true to your brand.

Why we love it

You don’t have to sell costumes, candy, or greeting cards to join the Halloween conversation, and this email proves it. We love the way the brand balances the holiday with its own quirky style rather than opting for an overly gimmicky black-and-orange template.

The copy pairs Halloween candy with its drinks, written like tasting notes you’d find in a craft beer magazine. It’s clever, on brand, and totally tempting, even if you don’t drink beer. 

Room to improve

This email relies heavily on images to tell the story. If those images don’t load, or if someone’s using a screen reader, the campaign’s message disappears with them.

Keeping copy separate from images, adding descriptive alt text, and making your CTA easy to spot and click, ensures accessibility for everyone.

Steal this for your campaign 

Use this checklist when you’re designing email campaigns to keep them accessible:

• Use both text and images to make your email easy to read
• Use clear fonts that are easy to read
• Add alt text to every image
• Use large buttons that are easy to tap for mobile devices
• Make link and button text clear, so readers know what to expect
• Write in Plain English 
• Keep important copy outside images so screen readers can read it

We’ve got a blog that covers everything you need to know about accessible email design and copy with practical tips you can use in every campaign.

11:11 Singles’ Day

November 11  

What began as a day for single people to treat themselves has grown into one of the world’s biggest shopping events. While it started in China, Singles’ Day now inspires campaigns across the globe. 

Why we love it

Singles’ Day falls on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, so 22% off (11 + 11) is a nice nod to the occasion. 

The email also does a great job of removing friction. Free shipping thresholds sit front and center, while the footer highlights the return policy and customer service links. Those details help remove blockers that could keep shoppers from reaching the checkout. 

Room to improve 

The imagery mixes menswear and womenswear, suggesting this campaign was intended for a broad audience, which is a missed opportunity.

Segmentation and personalization can increase campaign clicks by 30% and deliver an almost 6x higher ROI. During busy sales periods, speaking directly to your audience is one of the easiest ways to make your campaigns relevant. 

Steal this for your campaign

Start by identifying the audiences you want to speak to. That might include:

• Gender preferences
• Location
• Product or catalog preferences 
• Marketing channel preferences

Once you’ve mapped out your segments, tailoring the creative parts becomes much simpler. 

Dynamic content is an easy place to start. It lets you change parts of an email based on who’s opening it, so different customers see different content without you having to build multiple campaigns. For example, you could swap the hero image so shoppers see products that match their preferences, rather than sending everyone the same generic version.

You can take the same approach with product recommendations. AI can recommend products based on someone’s purchase history, browsing behavior, or what similar customers are buying, helping you showcase the products people are more likely to buy. Those kinds of smarter recommendations can deliver up to 20x ROI. 

Thanksgiving 

November 26

Thanksgiving campaigns can easily get lost among the Black Friday promotions filling customers’ inboxes. But that also makes it a great moment to pause and celebrate the holiday before the shopping rush begins.

Why we love it

This email doesn’t mention discounts or promotions. Instead, it celebrates Thanksgiving by shining a light on the people behind the brand and thanking customers for being part of the journey. It’s warm, genuine, and a welcome change of pace in a busy inbox.

Room to improve 

There’s very little we’d change here. A small touch of personalization could make it more relevant. Addressing customers by name is an easy way to make a ‘thank you’ message feel like it was written just for them.

Steal this for your campaign

If you’re sending a Thanksgiving email, keep it simple. A personalized header like: “Thank You, Jenna, From The Cuts Team” is often enough to make the message more personal. This kind of campaign doesn’t need lots of dynamic content or complex automation; a sincere message and a touch of personalization can go a long way.

Black Friday 

November 27

Last Black Friday, 87.3 million people shopped online, and global spending reached $79 billion in just 24 hours. The appetite for Black Friday deals is still huge, but standing out in the inbox takes more than another “ENDS TONIGHT” subject line.

Why we love it

Countdown clocks are both simple and effective. During Black Friday, shoppers are bombarded with “last chance” messaging, and many brands end one sale only to launch another a few hours later. A live countdown adds credibility to the deadline, giving shoppers a clear visual cue that time is running out, driving them to act.

Room to improve

The email includes star ratings as social proof, but there’s no indication that the reviews are from a third-party source.

Reviews have a huge influence on purchase decisions.   If you’re going to use them, make sure they’re clearly connected to real customer feedback, otherwise the stars risk looking decorative rather than persuasive.

Steal this for your campaign

Try using countdown clocks throughout Black Friday and the holiday season at important points in the customer journey:

• Sale launch: Count down to the moment your sale begins
• Sale ending: Build urgency as the offer comes to a close
• Shipping deadlines: Show shoppers exactly how long they have left to order for holiday delivery

For social proof, pull reviews directly from a verified provider such as Trustpilot, Feefo, Bazaarvoice, or Reviews.io. Our latest Customer trend index found that brand recommendations from friends and family are now 45% more influential than they were a year ago, highlighting just how much people trust other people’s experiences. 

Verified ratings and recent customer reviews bring that same sense of authenticity to your emails, giving shoppers something far more convincing than a generic five-star graphic.

Special Black Friday campaign shoutouts

Black Friday is too big a moment to stop at one example, so here are two campaigns that stood out for very different reasons.

The anti-Black Friday email

This campaign from Patagonia is a great reminder that participating in Black Friday doesn’t always mean running a discount.

The brand stays true to its mission by encouraging customers to repair what they own, reuse what they can, and think twice before buying something new. Whether or not you take the same approach, the campaign is a strong example of how a clear brand mission can cut through the noise.

Black Friday abandoned carts

For most brands, Black Friday is all about conversions, making abandoned cart automations especially important. This example doesn’t rely solely on urgency. It reinforces the value of completing the purchase by highlighting benefits like flexibility and community, giving hesitant shoppers more reasons to check out.

Cyber Monday 

November 30

Capping off the Black Friday weekend, Cyber Monday continues to grow. Online sales were up 6% last year, and global spending hit $52.7 billion. But by the time Monday rolls around, shoppers have already seen hundreds of offers, so your campaign needs a fresh angle to make an impact.

Why we love it

After a weekend packed with percentage discounts, this offer feels different. A buy one get one free (BOGOF) deal, paired with free shipping, offers shoppers something more tangible than another “20% off” promotion. 

Our Customer trend index found that 53% of shoppers want free shipping and 45% want free gifts in exchange for their loyalty. So, framing the offer this way helps the campaign stand out while giving shoppers the rewards they value most. 

Room to improve

The offer is strong, but redeeming it could be simpler. Quite a few Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) campaigns still ask shoppers to copy and paste discount codes at checkout. It’s a small extra step, but it’s also another opportunity for shoppers to abandon their purchases or frustrate shoppers who forget to enter the code. The easier you make it for customers to redeem an offer, the more likely they are to complete it.

Steal this for your campaign

If your ecommerce platform supports it, create links that automatically apply discounts when customers click through from your campaign. That way, shoppers can go straight to checkout without having to type or copy and paste a promo code. 

You can use these links across email, SMS, and WhatsApp to create a smoother experience wherever customers engage with your brand.

Christmas 

December 1 – 25

It’s hard to pick one email that encapsulates a month’s worth of campaigns, so we didn’t. There’s no relief after the crazy BFCM period, as you’re launched straight into festive campaigns. Having a variety of marketing campaigns is a guaranteed way to stand out during the holiday season.

Why we love it

Customers trust other customers, so putting your community front and center is a smart move. This email leans into customer reviews and user-generated content, while the CTA “Shop Customer Faves” feels much warmer than a standard “Shop now.”

Room to improve 

This campaign celebrates customer content, but it misses the chance to invite more customers to get involved. A CTA encouraging shoppers to share their own holiday photos or reviews would keep the conversation going long after the email lands.

Steal this for your campaign

If you’re asking customers to share content, you’ve got to give them a reason to do it. Referral rewards, loyalty points, or a social competition can encourage shoppers to share photos, reviews, or holiday traditions featuring your brand. By the time next year’s holiday season comes around, you’ll have a library of authentic customer content ready to use.

Why we love it

Advent campaigns are great at keeping customers coming back, and this one takes a clever approach by making all offers available throughout the 12-day campaign. Customers have time to browse, compare, and decide what interests them, rather than feeling pressured to buy on the day. It’s a smart approach when 31% of shoppers are taking longer to make purchase decisions.

Room to improve 

The 12-day format already encourages repeat visits, but each email could build more anticipation for what’s next. The core offer doesn’t need to change. Instead, layer in something new each day: a teaser for tomorrow’s featured experience, an exclusive giveaway, or a fun interactive element. 

Steal this for your campaign

Add some gamification to keep customers coming back. Daily quizzes, scratch cards, spin-to-win games, bonus rewards, or sneak peeks at tomorrow’s featured offer all give shoppers another reason to open your emails. The goal is to make your Advent campaign an experience, not just a series of sales emails.

Why we love it

By the time Christmas is over, shoppers have spent weeks surrounded by discounts and urgency. Instead of leading with the sale, this campaign focuses on how the product fits into customers’ everyday lives. It feels calmer, more helpful, and stands out because it isn’t trying to shout the loudest.

Room to improve 

The campaign’s softer approach could go further by leaning into editorial content that helps shoppers make a decision. Give customers something worth reading, whether they’re ready to buy or not, and you’ll create a more valuable experience than another promotion alone.

Steal this for your campaign

Create editorial content that helps customers make a decision, like buying guides, product comparisons, and expert advice. These give you richer content to share across your campaigns while naturally leading readers to your product pages when they’re ready to buy.

This kind of content is exactly the kind of helpful, informative content that performs well in search and is more likely to be surfaced by AI when recommending products or answering shoppers’ questions.

Your holiday marketing, all wrapped up

As you start building your own campaigns, take a moment to ask the question: What would make this email even better?

It might be a countdown clock, some dynamic content, a smoother checkout experience, or a more editorial approach to your emails. Small improvements can make a big difference during the busiest shopping period of the year.

Hi, I’m Layla, Content Producer here at Dotdigital and your go-to for planning your social media calendar. If you’re marketing in Europe or the Americas, August is peak summer. I’m talking: holidays, festivals, long evenings and slower inboxes. South of the equator, it’s a different kind of good news: winter’s finally letting go and warmer days are on the way. Wherever you are, there’s something to celebrate.

This guide will walk you through key themes and observances to help you plan your August social media calendar. We’ve included ideas to inspire not only your social media posts but also your email marketing campaigns too.

Important social media calendar dates in August

• 1 August – National girlfriends day #NationalGirlfriendsDay
• 1 August – World lung cancer day #WorldLungCancerDay
• 2 August – Sisters’ day #SistersDay
• 4 August – National chocolate chip cookie day #ChocolateChipCookieDay
• 5 August – National underwear day #UnderwearDay
• 7 August – National lighthouse day #LighthouseDay
• 8 August – National bowling day #BowlingDay
• 10 August – National s’mores day #SmoresDay
• 12 August – World elephant day #WorldElephantDay
• 13 August – International lefthanders day #LefthandersDay 
• 14 August – National financial awareness day #FinancialAwarenessDay 
• 15 August – National relaxation day #RelaxationDay 
• 16 August – National tell a joke day #TellAJokeDay 
• 17 August – National non-profit day #NonprofitDay 
• 18 August – National fajita day #FajitaDay 
• 19 August – World humanitarian day #WorldHumanitarianDay 
• 20 August – National radio day #NationalRadioDay 
• 22 August – National tooth fairy day #ToothFairyDay
• 24 August – National waffle day #WaffleDay 
• 25 August – National banana split day #BananaSplitDay 
• 26 August – National dog day #NationalDogDay 
• 27 August – National bow tie day #BowTieDay 
• 28 August – National chop suey day #ChopSueyDay 
• 31 August – Summer bank holiday #SummerBankHoliday (UK)

Themes for the month

• National immunization awareness month
• Black business month

August 4 – National chocolate chip cookie day

Start the month on a sweet note with national chocolate chip cookie day. Food and beverage brands can spotlight chocolate chip-flavored products, share recipe inspiration, or showcase customer favorites. On social media, brands could create cookie-based polls such as “Crispy or chewy?” or “Milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips?” to encourage followers to share their preferences. It’s also a chance for brands to run cookie-making contests, inviting customers to submit their best creations for a chance to win prizes or be featured on social channels. 

August 8 – National bowling day

National bowling day is the perfect opportunity for bowling alleys and entertainment venues to make the most of user-generated content (UGC) in their marketing. Inviting customers to celebrate at your venue and share their experience on social media can help create authentic, engaging content that resonates with potential visitors. For email marketing, this is a great day to drive bookings through targeted offers and themed campaigns.

August 15 – National relaxation day

If there’s ever a day that gives everyone permission to slow down and switch off, it’s national relaxation day. Wellness, lifestyle, and even hospitality brands can use this moment to highlight products, services, or experiences designed to help people unwind, whether that’s at home or out and about. Brands can create “pause and reset”- style content, such as guided-breathing reels, calming behind-the-scenes footage, or even short “digital detox” challenges that encourage followers to step away from screens for a set period.

August 16 – National tell a joke day

Not every marketing moment needs a serious angle. National tell a joke day is all about making people smile. Social media content could include industry-themed jokes, pun-led captions, or light-hearted “caption this” posts that invite audiences to get involved. Brands could use humor in subject lines to boost open rates and carry that playful tone through the email itself with jokes or light-hearted hooks.

August 20 – National radio day

National radio day celebrates one of the most influential forms of media, offering brands a chance to tap into nostalgia. Brands can lean into audio-themed content, such as sharing favorite radio moments, spotlighting team playlists, or running “what are you listening to?” style polls to create engagement. This could also include content designed to fit into everyday routines, like commuting or working.

August 25 – National banana split day

National banana split day serves up a chance for brands to embrace playful content that captures the joy of a classic ice cream. Food and beverage brands can spotlight banana split-inspired products, limited-edition flavors, or recipe ideas that put a modern twist on the classic dessert. It’s also a great opportunity to tap into visual, mouth-watering content that performs well on social media, from close-up imagery to short-form videos showing how the treat is made.

August 26 – National dog day

Dogs bring instant joy and engagement to your social media, making national dog day a perfect moment for brands to lean into pet-led content. Encouraging followers to share photos of their dogs using a branded hashtag can help build a sense of community, while reposting customer or employee pet content adds an authentic, human touch.

August subject line ideas

Here are some August-themed subject line ideas to inspire your campaigns:

National girlfriends day – Treat your favorite girl to something special

National chocolate chip day – A little extra chocolate chip goodness, just for you

National bowling day – Strike up some fun this weekend

National relaxation day – Switch off and treat yourself today

National banana split day –  Go bananas today! We’re bananas for today’s special offer…

National dog day – Tail-wagging treats are here

Summer bank holiday – Your bank holiday plans just got sorted

These subject line ideas are a starting point, but they work best when shaped with your brand’s voice. Add personality, emojis, or a touch of urgency to help them stand out and drive opens.

For a little extra inspiration, Dotdigital’s Content Agent is ready to help you draft and test subject lines. It’s trained in your brand voice, so the suggestions sound like you, not like generic AI copy.

Spark engagement with your August marketing campaigns

Whether it’s peak summer or the first signs of spring, August is packed with seasonal moments and awareness days, giving brands plenty of ways to create content that feels current and connected to everyday audience behavior.

Every marketer wants loyal customers. They’re the people who come back, spend more, and tell their friends about you. The tricky part isn’t knowing loyalty matters. It’s figuring out what actually earns it.

For a customer deciding which brand to shop with, charity to donate to, or service to subscribe to, the decision starts with the product, but ends with how the brand makes them feel. When a brand creates a journey that’s personal and frictionless, customers feel they’ve discovered a brand that cares about their entire experience, not just the conversion. That’s what makes a true brand advocate.

The tools and data marketers have access to today make building those experiences more achievable than ever. But as competition has increased, many brands have become focused on winning new customers and forgotten what happens next.

Those early touchpoints are important, of course, but it’s not the only thing marketing teams should be thinking about. It often means the early stages of the customer journey are smooth and effective, while the latter stages become more of an afterthought. Unfortunately, that’s where loyalty is won. 

In this article, we’re sharing what customers really want from brands, including: 

• What they look for when choosing new brands to shop with
• What kinds of loyalty programs and rewards do they want
• The real business impact a customer loyalty strategy can have on your bottom line

What customers actually want from brands

53% of customers consider loyalty programs to be“important” or“extremely important” to their future relationship with a brand

For Dotdigital’s Customer trend index 2026/27, we surveyed 4,000 consumers to find out what really inspired their loyalty to brands. Loyalty programs ranked fourth-highest as a driver, with 53% using them to determine whether they’d return to a brand.

62% of customers want a points-based loyalty program

Points-based reward systems are customers’ preferred type of loyalty program by some distance. Airlines, supermarkets, and credit cards have helped make them a familiar part of the customer journey, and the sense of progress customers feel when they reach a rewards threshold makes them as popular as ever.

Customers want free shipping (53%), cashback (52%), and gifts or samples (45%) from brands in exchange for their loyalty

Hard benefits like free shipping, cashback, and free products offer dual benefits: they reduce friction and add immediate value for shoppers. They give customers a good reason to keep coming back to the same brand rather than shopping around.

43% of customers want special moments like birthdays and anniversaries rewarded through loyalty programs 

Loyalty programs should offer rewards that non-members simply can’t access, and a birthday reward is one of the most effective examples. In Dotdigital’s The loyalty divide report, we found that only 28% of marketers are collecting birthday data. That’s a big missed opportunity to make customers feel genuinely valued on one of the most personal days of the year.

Only 15% of customers consider the marketing messages they get to be“very relevant” 

Building loyalty is easier when customers feel like the brands they shop with truly understand them. That means communicating in the moment, with personalization that goes beyond a first name in a subject line. Relevant marketing is speaking to what customers actually need and want, right now.

The loyalty divide continues across generations and locations

On average, Gen Z is most loyal to their three favorite brands 

As the youngest generation in Dotdigital’s loyalty research, Gen Z is still deciding which brands deserve a place in their lives. That’s a real opportunity for marketers. Get the experience right, and you have a good shot at becoming one of the few brands they truly champion.

Baby Boomers (shoppers aged 60+) are loyal to 10 or more brands 

On the other side, Baby Boomers have spent a lot of time (and money) finding the brands they trust. That loyalty, once earned, tends to stick. Convincing them to add your brand to the list takes effort, but it will pay off in the end.

59% of Millennials say loyalty programs are “important” or “extremely important” to their commitment to a brand

Millennials are the generation most motivated to shop with brands that offer loyalty programs. They’ve grown up seeing the value in earning air miles and paying less through membership pricing, making them the most engaged and consistent users of loyalty programs today.

54% of Gen X shoppers want free shipping and returns as a reward from loyalty programs 

Gen X shoppers are practical, wanting rewards that offer immediate value and a smooth experience. Free shipping matters to them, but so does how a brand treats them when something goes wrong. Customer service is one of Gen X’s top loyalty drivers, which means the post-purchase experience is just as important as the reward itself.

62% of Gen Z prefer free gifts and samples as loyalty rewards 

Gen Z wants rewards they can enjoy straight away. Free gifts and samples deliver exactly that, and for a generation that’s highly active on social media, receiving something physical also creates a natural opportunity to share, extending your brand’s reach beyond the loyalty program itself.

46% of US consumers have actively increased their spending to reach a loyalty reward 

Nearly half of US shoppers have consciously increased their spending to reach a reward tier. That number rises to 65% among full-time workers and 72% among the highest income bracket. The customers most capable of driving your revenue are also the most motivated by loyalty programs.

43% of UK shoppers say that free shipping and returns are at the top of their loyalty rewards wishlist

When asked what they want more of from loyalty programs, UK shoppers said free shipping or returns (43%), freebie products and samples (42%), and birthday or anniversary rewards (37%) were at the top of their list. What’s consistent across the board is a preference for rewards that feel immediately useful or like they’re getting just as much as they’re giving to a brand.

47% of Singapore shoppers want personalized discounts from loyalty programs

Singapore’s appetite for personalization extends to the rewards customers want. At 47%, it’s well ahead of the US (36%) and the UK (33%), showing that a one-size-fits-all loyalty offer won’t cut it in this market. Programs that reflect individual purchase history will consistently outperform generic ones.

72% of Australian  shoppers rate product quality as the loyalty driver

Product quality is the foundation of customer loyalty. But the two things right behind it are squarely within a marketer’s control. Customer service and loyalty programs both sit in the top three loyalty drivers for Australian shoppers, with 51% stating that loyalty programs are an essential reason to return.

What loyal customers are actually worth

It can cost 25x as much to acquire a new customer as to retain an existing one

Loyal customers spend more per order, buy more frequently, and refer other customers at no cost to you. None of that is new information, but it’s easy to lose sight of when acquisition feels more measurable and more exciting to talk about.

80% of future revenue typically comes from just 20% of existing customers

If a fifth of your customer base is generating the majority of your revenue, marketers’ focus shouldn’t just be on finding more customers; it should include how you move more of your existing ones into that top 20%. Tier progression, points multipliers, and rewards that grow over time give customers a clear path from being an occasional buyer to a high-value regular.

It’s 5x more likely that a loyal customer refers a friend to your brand

Referrals from loyal customers don’t just cost less than paid acquisition; they also convert better and stay longer. Someone who finds a brand through a friend already arrives with a level of trust that no ad can manufacture. And, unlike a paid channel you switch off when budgets tighten, loyal customers keep referring without any ongoing costs.

Recommendations from family and friends are now 45% more influential than they were 12 months ago 

Word of mouth is now the fastest-growing driver of brand discovery, outpacing AI and search. Loyal customers are your most credible source, so building a refer-a-friend feature into your loyalty program turns word of mouth into a repeatable, measurable acquisition channel.

On average, loyalty program members spend 67% more than non-members 

Members spend more because every purchase feels like progress toward something, like a points balance inching toward a reward or a tier being within reach. That sustained momentum is what separates loyalty from a discount: a discount has an end date, while loyalty doesn’t.

Over the last 12 months, 45% of shoppers spent more to reach the next tier of their loyalty program

Nearly half of shoppers have changed their spending behavior as a result of a loyalty program. They’re choosing one brand over a competitor, adding another item to their basket, or coming back sooner than they otherwise would have. That’s the power of a loyalty program; it doesn’t just reward loyalty, it creates the conditions to inspire more of it. 

The business impact of a good loyalty strategy

Customer loyalty isn’t about giving blanket discounts and hoping people shop with you again. Your finance team won’t thank you for that approach, and it won’t build the kind of customer relationships that deliver the numbers above. 

Loyalty works best as a multi-layered strategy that incentivizes customers in different ways, based on what they actually do. When loyalty rewards are tied to specific customer actions, the impact on your business is real and measurable.

In practice, this looks like: 

Increased purchase frequency

When customers are working toward a reward, they come back more often. A customer who’s visited your store twice and earned points both times has a reason to make that third visit, especially if a reward is within reach. Over time, those extra visits add up to a lot more revenue.

Higher average order value

Points multipliers on specific products or collections, minimum spend thresholds, and the pull of tier progression all give customers a reason to add more to their basket. Someone who was going to spend $45 will round up to $50 if it means hitting the next tier or unlocking a reward like free shipping.

Lower churn

Customers actively earning points are harder to lose. Their accumulated points balance and tier status become a switching cost that competitors have to work against. A customer who’s only a few points away from ‘Gold’ status isn’t going to a competitor for one purchase.

More brand advocates

Loyal customers bring in new ones through conversations with friends and sharing on social media. Referrals from loyal customers typically convert better than paid acquisition and tend to stick around longer, too.

Think of loyalty like a flywheel. A customer finds you, you reward their conversion, they come back, spend more, and refer a friend. That friend becomes a customer, you reward them too, and on and on it goes. The flywheel keeps spinning, and over time, your loyal customers do a lot of the hard work for you. That’s the real business impact of a loyalty program, and that’s why the brands that invest in a loyalty strategy grow more efficiently over time. 

If you’re thinking about what that could look like for your brand, Dotdigital Loyalty is coming soon. Register your interest and be the first to know when it’s ready.

Hi, I’m Layla, content producer here at Dotdigital and your go to for planning your social media calendar. As spring continues to bloom, April brings plenty of opportunities to refresh your social content with vibrant and uplifting ideas. With seasonal celebrations like Easter, it’s a great time to create campaigns that feel joyful, engaging, and full of personality.

Below, you’ll find the key themes and dates to help guide your April content planning. From light-hearted seasonal posts to thoughtful campaigns, these ideas will help you connect with your audience and keep your social feeds relevant, creative, and full of spring energy.

Important social media calendar dates in April

April 1 – April fool’s day #AprilFools

April 2 – World autism awareness day #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

April 3 – Good Friday #GoodFriday

April 4 – International carrot day #InternationalCarrotDay

April 5 – Easter Sunday #EasterSunday

April 6 – Easter Monday #EasterMonday

April 6 – International day of sport for development and peace #SportForDevelopment

April 6 – Tartan day #TartanDay

April 7 – World health day #WorldHealthDay

April 10 – National siblings day #NationalSiblingsDay

April 11 – World Parkinson’s day #WorldParkinsonsDay

April 14 – Garden day #GardenDay

April 15 – World art day #WorldArtDay

April 20 to April 26 – Lesbian visibility week #LesbianVisibilityWeek

April 21 – National tea day #NationalTeaDay

April 22 – Earth day #EarthDay

April 23 – St George’s day #StGeorgesDay

April 28 – Workers’ memorial day #WorkersMemorialDay

April 28 – World day for safety & health at work #SafetyHealthAtWork

Themes for the month:

Stress Awareness Month

April 1 – April Fools Day

April Fool’s day is the perfect opportunity for brands to show their playful side and connect with audiences through humor. Known for light-hearted pranks and jokes, the day encourages creativity and gives marketers the chance to step outside their usual tone with fun, unexpected content. Many brands use the day to launch fake product announcements or surprising “collaborations” that catch audiences off guard. Think about unexpected partnerships between completely different brands or exaggerated new features that are clearly too good (or too strange) to be true. These types of posts can spark conversation and curiosity across social channels.

April 5 – Easter Sunday

Easter is one of the biggest seasonal moments in April, bringing themes of renewal, celebration, and time spent with family and friends. For brands, it’s a great opportunity to create bright, cheerful content that taps into the playful spirit of the holiday. From Easter egg hunts and spring-themed giveaways to limited-time offers or themed product bundles, there are plenty of ways to make your campaigns feel timely and engaging. Social media is also a great place to get creative. Think about colorful visuals or asking your audience to share their own Easter traditions. If you’re looking for more inspiration, explore our guide to Easter marketing campaign ideas for creative ways to make the most of the season. By leaning into the light, joyful tone of the season, brands can create content that feels festive while encouraging conversation and interaction.

April 6 – Tartan day

Tartan day is a celebration of Scottish heritage, and it’s a great chance for brands to showcase tartan-inspired products across social media and email marketing campaigns. Limited-edition collections or seasonal pieces featuring classic tartan patterns can be highlighted with vibrant visuals, styling tips, or product spotlights to catch your audience’s attention. To make your campaigns more engaging, consider creating interactive content. For example, short videos where you ask the public what they think of your tartan pieces, polls about favorite patterns, or user-generated content campaigns encouraging customers to share their own tartan looks.

April 14 – Garden day

Garden day is the perfect opportunity to showcase greenery and outdoor living. Interactive campaigns work particularly well: share DIY gardening videos, step-by-step planting guides, or polls asking followers about their favorite flowers and plants. Highlighting seasonal promotions or curated “garden essentials” collections can drive engagement while giving your audience practical and inspiring ideas to enjoy their gardens this spring.

April 15 – World art day

World art day is a celebration of creativity, expression, and inspiration, making it a perfect moment for brands to launch artistic campaigns and eye catching content. For social media and email marketing, you can highlight creative products, behind the scenes design processes, or collaborations with local artists to engage your audience.

April 21 – National tea day

National tea day is the perfect opportunity for brands to create fun social posts and themed email campaigns that highlight everyday comfort. Consider featuring tea-inspired promotions, limited-time offers, or lifestyle content like “perfect tea break” moments or curated afternoon tea bundles. Invite your followers to share their quirky tea habits, favorite blends, or morning routines. These types of posts naturally spark interaction and make your campaigns feel personal and relatable.

April 22 – Earth day

Earth day is a key opportunity for brands to share their commitment to sustainability and connect with audiences around environmental causes. Social media and email campaigns can promote eco-friendly products, green initiatives, or tips for reducing environmental impact, helping your brand become purposeful and relevant.

April subject line ideas

April is the perfect time to focus on content that feels vibrant, thoughtful, and engaging. To help you plan with ease, we’ve gathered creative ideas inspired by April’s key social moments and seasonal highlights.

Here are some April-themed subject line ideas to inspire your campaigns:

April fool’s day – We couldn’t resist a little April Fool’s mischief…

Easter – Hop into something special this Easter

International carrot day – Fresh flavours for your spring menu

Tartan day – Tartan-inspired favorites for your wardrobe

World health day – Healthy habits you can start today

National siblings day –  For the person who knows all your childhood secrets

Garden day – Spring into gardening season  

World art day – Your dose of colour and inspiration

National tea day – Tea time just got better…

Earth day – Sustainable swaps for every day

These subject line ideas are a starting point, but they work best when shaped with your brand’s voice. Add personality, emojis, or a touch of urgency to help them stand out and drive opens.

For an extra layer of inspiration, try tapping into AI-powered tools like Dotdigital’s AI, perfect for sparking fresh ideas, tweaking tone, or fine-tuning subject line length.

Spark engagement with your April marketing campaigns

April is a great time to keep your social feeds lively while tapping into seasonal moments and bursts of creativity. From springtime celebrations and awareness days to playful, lighthearted campaigns, the month is full of opportunities to engage your audience in meaningful ways.