Tips & Tactics for Writing Holiday B2B Emails for Halloween

Halloween isn’t just for tricks and treats, costumes and candy. It’s a great time for businesses to channel the holiday and connect with their audience in a fun and creative way.

While most people associate Halloween emails with B2C outreach, Halloween-themed B2B emails can (and will) stand out when done right.

If you plan on writing Halloween emails, here are some tips and tactics to make them more effective without getting too cheesy (or – dare we say – pumpkiny 🎃?).

Steer clear of Halloween cliches

Overused Halloween references are the fastest way to make your emails look and feel generic.

Puns and clever wordplay are a great way to tap into the playful Halloween spirit, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of using the same puns over and over again. That’s why if you choose to go the wordplay route, don’t use your first choice (if not second or third). Chances are it’s already been used 742,097,261 times.

Instead, try thinking of unique ways to weave Halloween into your message. This might require a bit of brainstorming with your team (or ask ChatGPT for some Halloween inspiration).

You’ll also want to consider:

• Does your audience even appreciate puns, wordplay, and Halloween in general?
• Can you match certain puns to visuals that feature your brand?
• When and where will you use wordplay?

Just make sure that your puns don’t seem forced, and definitely don’t use them everywhere. As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once said, “Less is more.”

Connect Halloween with your business goals

Puns, wordplay, and brand-related visuals – a la your mascot in a Halloween costume – are the easy way to sprinkle in some Halloween treats.

Alternatively, instead of forcing Hallo-puns (see what I did there?), you can up your messaging game a bit by exploring ways to tie your message to challenges your customers face around this time of year.

You might highlight how your AI SDR solution helps users avoid “horrifying sales gaps”, “zombiified leads”, and “vampiric competitors who want to steal your pipeline”.

Or maybe you’ll say, “Don’t let lead ghosts haunt your sales pipeline” or “Here’s what to do if prospects ghost you.”

As another option, especially if you have real before & after case studies, you can put a spin on the case study with the help of supernatural imagery. 

For example: “As they were using a different AI solution, a client’s worst fears were realized when all their accounts were blocked. They turned to AiSDR, who swooped in on its broomstick and saved the mailboxes from beyond the grave.”

The trick (no pun intended this time) is keeping your emails focused on customer goals like hitting sales targets or optimizing performance before the year ends. All you need to do is use Halloween as a lighthearted, time-relevant touchpoint, write the email like you normally would, and then use Halloween as a segue to positioning your solution.

Check out new pop culture and viral Halloween trends

Halloween B2B emails have the triple challenge of (a) achieving relevance, (b) being timely, and (c) avoiding tired cliches.

One tactic that achieves all three is building in references to recent pop culture and viral trends.

Do you need a better reason than that to see what’s showing at the movie theaters or on Netflix?

Here are a few examples of movies and series you could have referenced over the past few years:

• 2022 – Halloween Ends, Smile, Wednesday (TV series)
• 2023 – Knock at the Cabin, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Zom 100
• 2024 – Alien Romulus, Under Paris, Smile 2

As for viral trends, you’ll want to scroll TikToks and other short-form videos. Maybe what’s in this year is a pumpkin carving challenge, a dance to a spooky song, or creating a Halloween meme based on your team. 

Add a clear call to action

Every email you send needs a clear, understandable purpose that contributes to your company’s growth and provides value to prospects. Emails shouldn’t impose a cognitive load on your audience or make them try to figure out why you’re sending them an email.

In other words, don’t send B2B Halloween emails for purely Halloween’s sake.

Add a purpose. Just because it’s a holiday, it doesn’t mean your emails shouldn’t be straightforward, simple, and optimized to get a simple yes or no response.

Clear CTAs are key for driving engagement, whether it’s scheduling a demo, signing up for a free trial, or claiming a time-sensitive offer. This also saves your emails from feeling like empty seasonal fluff.

You might not have the convenience of using Black Friday for Thanksgiving messages, but you can still give a Halloween pricing discount to the first 50 customers who extend their subscription for 3 more months. Or maybe you’ll invite them to play the role of the Scooby Doo gang and “unmask” your latest feature by clicking a button that redirects to a short video.

Strike the right balance between fun and professional

Unpopular opinion, but if your solution has nothing to do with Halloween and you have nothing to say or offer, you shouldn’t be writing a Halloween B2B email.

As sad as it sounds, don’t be something you’re not. People won’t open your emails unless they’re getting something from it.

It doesn’t need to be a discount. It can be a reward like some swag or a small gift card to Starbucks, or an ungated tool or piece or content.

Before you spend any money on swag and rewards, you should try to ungate and share a tool that prospects can try. But if you can’t unlock part of the product due to the pricing model, then share your more valuable gated content. And only then, if you don’t have content to share, do you offer swags and other small gifts.

Lastly, B2B audiences are less tolerant of unprofessional communication. If you suspect that your primary audience won’t appreciate Halloween references or holiday playfulness, then you’re better off skipping the Halloween email.