March is looking green: 20 creative St. Patrick’s Day email examples
Statista reports that people tend to make purchases around St. Patrick’s Day at an average of $42.33 per person, and AOV that has risen roughly a dollar a year since 2009.
What are they spending it on? Think green apparel, home and office decorations, special dinners, celebratory items for parties, and more.
Maybe you’re wondering about:
New research: St. Patrick’s Day email and SMS campaign data
Recent Klaviyo email benchmark data shows it’s a holiday well worth the marketing effort: top performing Klaviyo customers earned an average of nearly $600K from email campaigns, and an average of nearly 40K from SMS campaigns.
Over 50% of American adults plan to celebrate the holiday this year, and it’s not a niche audience.
How can you make sure your subscribers are part of that majority on or around March 17?
With fun, holiday-themed email marketing campaigns.
Green beer. Green pizza. Shamrock earrings. Leprechaun merch. The sky is really the limit if you want to go all in on St. Patrick’s Day marketing. And maybe green-dyed products are authentic to your brand. But maybe not.
Regardless of the products you sell, sending St. Patrick’s Day emails enables you to creatively connect with your customer base—and showcase what makes your brand worth its weight in gold.
And if you sell products in fashion or party-planning, take note. There may be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for you.
St. Patrick’s Day email examples
St. Patrick’s Day has become a major ecommerce event—which means it’s the perfect time to consider sending your audience email campaigns offering timely sales, coupon codes, or specialty products.
It’s also an opportunity for you to test your luck with engaging email marketing techniques—think email copy wordplay or shamrock emojis.
Not sure where to start? Check out these 20 St. Patrick’s Day email examples for inspiration.
1. William Murray focuses on the email header
The William Murray golf brand is built on the idea that life (and golf) shouldn’t be taken so seriously. This St. Patrick’s Day email does an excellent job of supporting that mission statement. A stony-faced Bill Murray, holding a bottle of Jameson upside down, is anything but serious.
While the top section of the email template grabs your attention, the lower section of the email (not pictured) holds it. It features a variety of green shorts, polos, shamrocks, and—surprise, surprise—more Jameson.
The festive email also offers free US shipping on all orders over $100 and free shipping on exchanges, which is ideal for newer customers who may not be familiar with the brand’s sizing or fits.
Pro tip: Use the email header to highlight St. Patricks Day images.
2. Chubbies creates a sense of urgency
Some brands take a subtle approach to St. Patrick’s Day emails and some don’t. Chubbies opts for the latter.
Holidays offer an opportunity to deviate from the norms of day-to-day activities and apparel. While a customer may not wear Chubberalls on a typical day of the week, St. Patrick’s Day could be an exception.
Besides offering the ideal St. Patrick’s Day get-up, Chubbies does a fantastic job of creating a sense of urgency. The email copy states in bold capitalization that this product always sells out—and sells out fast.
Chubbies combines St. Patrick’s Day images with informal language to create a seasonal email campaign that encourages customers to celebrate big and not take themselves too seriously while doing so.
Pro tip: Use traditional holiday images and make a time-limited offer in your St. Patrick’s Day email marketing campaign.
3. Turned Yellow gets clever with copy
Turned Yellow, a brand that creates digital cartoon portraits, capitalizes on the holiday’s classic color in their subject line: “Wear Green and Turn Yellow.”This clever, silly move earned them a high open rate.
Once the subscriber opens the email, the party doesn’t stop. The copy includes fun trivia (like the fact that St. Patrick was born in Britain, even though he became the patron saint of Ireland), more wordplay, and a cheeky percentage off—17%.
Pro tip: Consider how your brand’s personality can relate to St. Patrick’s Day, and don’t be afraid to make your subject line a little off-beat. You can always A/B test.
4. Transparent Labs doubles down on discount codes
Athletic supplement brand Transparent Labs uses the holiday as an opportunity to run a promotional sale in their email campaign. The brand’s St. Patrick’s Day email offers not just one, but two discount codes to encourage a larger average order value. In keeping with the holiday spirit, customers also get 5% off their green packaged product.
In addition to the promotional sale, Transparent Labs uses content to reinforce the holiday theme. The bottom of the email contains a link to an article called, “The Power Of Greens Super Food Drinks”—thematically appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day.
And the amusing, buff leprechaun character lifting two beers over his head? He clearly demonstrates the nutritional power of St. Patrick’s Day deals.
Pro tip: Capitalize on the holiday to offer more discounts than you usually would.
5. Neff customizes its product line—without compromising authenticity
Neff’s email is short and digestible, featuring a curated selection of all-green products for St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to shop at Neff for your St. Patrick’s Day apparel, there’s no question which items are best suited for the holiday.
Their headline—“Our St. Patrick’s Day No Pinching Kit”—gives a nod to St. Patrick’s Day folklore without straying from the brand’s normal tone.
Pro tip: Customize your product line for the holiday without losing your brand voice.
6. Petal & Post incorporates holiday elements
Petal & Post uses their signature style to promote a St. Patrick’s Day sale in this email. The clean layout draws attention to the central image of a shamrock and to the offer itself.
And, like Turned Yellow, the 17% off is a nod to the calendar date of St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).
Holiday flash sales are a great way to drive customer engagement, and imparting a strong sense of urgency in the headline encourages subscribers to take immediate action.
Pro tip: Start with holiday theme images, and then add in a flash sale to sweeten the deal (check out these flash sale email templates others have used to maximize their campaign performance)
7. Moon Magic offers a sparkly, limited-time discount
Moon Magic uses an entertaining gif to highlight various pieces of jewelry subscribers can buy for their night (or day!) out on St. Paddy’s, whether they’re going to a parade or the dive bar next door.
To create a sense of urgency, Moon Magic ends their sale on March 18—the day after St. Patrick’s Day. Customers can only get that sparkly discount on green accessories in the lead-up to the holiday.
Pro tip: Use the color green (and a gif!) in your emails, and add discounts to products that can be elevated in your St. Patrick’s Day email marketing campaign.
8. West Coast Shaving aligns the product with the holiday
The illustrations in this email from West Coast Shaving humorously tie in St. Patrick’s Day by showing various leprechaun facial hair styles.
West Coast Shaving also takes the opportunity to share their background story with subscribers, which is a great way to build brand awareness around the company’s mission with new subscribers who may not be familiar with the brand.
Pro tip: Brand awareness can go a long way if you take advantage of the holiday in your email creative.
9. Blue Layne Boutique plays doesn’t play to the holiday too hard
By now, you’re probably realizing that a common way to get your subscribers to buy your products around St. Patrick’s Day is to include the color green and shamrocks in your email design, and use lots of holiday-themed lingo.
But if that doesn’t feel authentic to your brand, you don’t have to force it. Women’s apparel brand Blue Layne Boutique earned a high open rate and a high click rate with this campaign, sent the day before St. Patrick’s Day.
So, how did they do it?
First, the subject line and preview text—what you see after the subject line—are doing a lot of work, here. The subject line reads, “St. Patty’s DAY SALE! starts @ MIDNIGHT 🌈CODE inside —>30% off SITE WIDE”while the preview text follows up with, “No exclusions! CLICK to shop our FAVs! Code VALID 3/17/22 12:00am EST.”Putting the (sizable) discount of 30% in the subject line is a great move. Letting subscribers know the code is just inside the email is even better, as it is likely to motivate interested shoppers to open it.
Blue Layne takes full advantage of the preview text space, too. Emphasizing that there are no exclusions is likely to widen your shopper base, enticing subscribers to see everything that is on sale.
As you can see in the email itself, there are very few references to the holiday. Aside from a green sweater and the discount code being a nod to St. Patrick’s Day, the rest of the email could be used any time of year.
Pro tip: If your brand voice and style doesn’t align with the holiday, keep the association subtle.
10. Sivana gives back in their email campaigns
Nothing evokes a feeling of luckiness quite like a slot machine. Sivana, a jewelry and clothing brand inspired by natural elements, echoes that feeling with this St. Patrick’s Day email.
The email is interactive and invites subscribers to try their luck on a virtual slot machine-like game. The brand leans heavily into the holiday-appropriate theme of luck, but it does so for a cause.
As the bottom of the email highlights, every purchase gives back to fair trade jobs and children in India. On St. Patrick’s Day, Sivana shoppers can feel good about their purchases while they have fun making them.
Pro tip: Customers like companies that give back. Campaigns that highlight a give-back perspective often perform better.
11. The Mountain leans into the season
What’s better than taking advantage of one seasonal event in your email campaigns? Taking advantage of two! In this email, The Mountain showcases products for both St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness.
Because both events occur during the month of March, consumers are often shopping for apparel for both St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness simultaneously. The Mountain does a great job of featuring several relevant options for them.
Pro tip: Make each email campaign work harder by highlighting multiple seasonal events at a time.
12. HOMAGE creates products for the holiday
Unlike The Mountain, HOMAGE only advertises one product in their St. Patrick’s Day email. By developing and then promoting a singular St. Patrick’s Day t-shirt, Homage hopes to resolve a pain point for customers: that last-minute scramble to find something appropriate to wear to a St. Patrick’s Day gathering.
This ultra-simple, streamlined email makes the CTA clear: “Don’t worry! Buy the perfect shirt right here.” And the quirky email copy is the cherry on top.
Pro tip: Understand what your customers want, then create products specific to the holiday and the unique quirks of your customer base.
13. BarkShop builds brand awareness
Selling products doesn’t have to be your only goal for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed email. It can also be a great opportunity for you to flex your brand voice or build awareness.
BarkShop uses St. Patrick’s Day as a chance to share entertaining content and show a light-hearted side of their brand. Their punny email copy appeals to dog owners who might’ve had a drink or two for the holiday.
Can you buy something at the end of the email? No. But do you feel like there’s a genuine person (or people) behind the brand? Definitely.
Pro tip: It’s not always about acquisition. A well-crafted St. Patrick’s Day email can also drive retention and awareness to help build your brand.
14. Death Wish Coffee uses Irish inspiration
What’s the best way to make a coffee Irish? By adding Jameson, of course.
In this St. Patrick’s Day email, Death Wish Coffee sends subscribers a tasty recipe for Irish coffee—a cocktail whose two main ingredients are coffee and Jameson.
Death Wish Coffee might not sell the spirit themselves, but they use St. Patrick’s Day and an Irish-inspired beverage to promote their product in an innovative way.
Pro tip: Even if developing a St. Patrick’s Day product line or focusing on green items doesn’t make sense for your brand, you can still find creative ways to make your offerings feel Irish-inspired.
15. Hard to Kill Fitness offers a plan for recovering from the holiday
Depending on what you sell, you may have the perfect products for someone to wear to a St. Patrick’s Day party, or a great recipe for a dish subscribers can make their family or friends that night.
Hard to Kill Fitness, a brand that provides online fitness programs, earned a high open rate with this subject line: “St Patrick’s 🍀 Celebrate With This Killer Workout…” No doubt their preview text, offering 15% off all workouts, helped as well.
The email copy makes a few references to St. Patrick’s Day and Irish culture—”Like the Irish, we go all in”—but the bulk of the email directs subscribers to two main places.
The first is the CTA button—well-placed, above the fold, and clear and easy to see. The second is the workout the subject line promises will “counteract the celebrations.”
This is a great example of a brand knowing their audience well. Work hard, play hard.
Pro tip: Consider how your products (and content) might be of use after the holiday, and strategize an email campaign accordingly.
16. Wanderer Bracelets focuses on the luck of the Irish
Wanderer Bracelets celebrates St. Patrick’s Day by highlighting the things in life they’re lucky to have. Each image in the email features their product in everyday scenarios like drinking, laughing with friends, and holding hands.
This less gimmicky, more sentimental take on the holiday aligns with the brand’s mission to share the authentic craftsmanship of Bali artisans with a global audience.
Pro tip: There are some unique motifs, themes, and values associated with specific holidays. Focus on them to widen your audience.
17. Fenty Beauty tries user-generated content
Fenty Beauty uses St. Patrick’s Day to highlight their only green lipstick shade—Midnight Wasabi. But what’s so impressive about this email is that the content doesn’t just advertise the shade—it also shows you how to create an entire look around it with a video tutorial and related product recommendations.
And it doesn’t stop there. To show makeup enthusiasts just how great the shade looks on people IRL, Fenty also includes user-generated content (UGC) submitted by customers with the hashtag #MidnightWasabi at the bottom of the email.
Pro tip: Collect UGC that pulls in unique products and promote it on social media and email campaigns.
18. Twillory offers a special giveaway
As a brand that’s known for men’s professional dress shirts, it’s not a tremendous surprise that Twillory doesn’t have a selection of bright green or shamrock apparel to advertise.
But that doesn’t stop them from getting in on the St. Patrick’s Day fun. Twillory cleverly uses the holiday as an opportunity to offer customers a special giveaway: free bottle opener stays with any shirt order.
The CTA features a festive green color, and Twillory places four-leaf clovers in the email content to reinforce the seasonality of the giveaway. Much like a freshly starched shirt, the email copy is clean and crisp, incentivizing customers to place an order.
Pro tip: Focusing on user behavior and the seasonality of your giveaway helps drum up more hype for the season—and increases user engagement.
19. Hydrant updates email copy and features one star product
Unlike Twillory, Hydrant does have a product that’s bright green by design, so naturally it’s the featured product in their St. Patrick’s Day email. Hydrant sells hydration mixes formulated to help customers rehydrate and replenish electrolytes quickly—helpful to have on hand after a day (or evening) of…*ahem*…celebrations.
Like Neff, Hydrant’s email copy also references Irish folklore. Legend has it, wearing green protects you from leprechaun pinches because it makes you invisible to them. So Hydrant uses that fun folklore to show customers that its lime hydration mix will save them from not only leprechauns, but unpleasant post-holiday hangovers, too. Talk about a win-win.
Pro tip: Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Choose one or two products and really see what you can do to make them more seasonal and timely for St. Patrick’s Day.
20. Timbuk2 creates a contrary campaign
Timbuk2’s St. Patrick’s Day email marketing campaign is very anti-holiday. But it still works. The brand acknowledges the holiday (ironically) and uses it as an opportunity to showcase their green, albeit “not very festive shades of green,” products.
Timbuk2’s products are all purposefully built for utility, avoiding unnecessary frills and flare, so the grown-up approach to a notoriously silly holiday is very on brand.
This St. Patrick’s day email is a creative example of how brands can stay true to themselves while also taking advantage of a seasonal shopping event.
Pro tip: Scrooge may not be pro-holiday, but he gets a lot of hype. Brands that target the holiday in a contrary way (gray where most brands are green) can stand out in their own way.
St. Patrick’s Day emails are for everyone
Holidays and seasonal celebrations throughout the year are great opportunities to authentically engage with customers through your owned channels.
Email and SMS are the straightest shot to your audience, and the best way to grow a relationship, keeping your subscribers engaged with your brand.
You can get in on the fun, regardless of the products you sell. It’s about making the holiday work for you and your brand.
So flex those creativity muscles. With a bit of imagination, a dash of originality, and a dusting of luck, you too just might rake in the gold.