Oktoberfest Email & Subject Line Inspiration

Summer has come to an end which means that it’s time for the fall festivities. And the first fall holiday on the calendar is Oktoberfest. 

Despite its name, the 16-day beer festival actually kicks off in September. So it’s coming up much sooner than you might realize.

While the official event in Munich is canceled again in 2021, it would’ve started on September 18th. 

And just like last year, many stores will still launch an Oktoberfest sale even though festivities may still not be back to normal.

If you’re one of these merchants, then you’ll want to dedicate an email campaign to your sale. And for that, we have all the inspiration you need. 

Below you’ll find a collection of great Oktoberfest emails as well as subject lines to improve the performance of your campaign. 

Oktoberfest emails

1) Bonobos 

This campaign from Bonobos is the perfect example of a typical Oktoberfest sale email campaign. 

The image of someone holding up a beer stein and the Gothic lettering both immediately communicate that this is an Oktoberfest sale.

Even small details like the call-to-action being “Shop Responsibly” and the coupon code being “Cheers” complete the theme of the email and make it a fun campaign.

And in terms of email marketing best practices, the email fills all the boxes: The offer is front and center making it the first thing you read, the call-to-action is clear and inviting, and the email is just generally simple and well executed. 

2) Chubbies

If you’re looking for an Oktoberfest email that really dials up the holiday theme to 11, this example from Chubbies is for you. 

It goes heavy on the beer, pretzels and lederhosen. It also includes copy such as “won’t be the wurst” to really double down on the Oktoberfest theme. 

If you think your audience would appreciate this style of holiday email, then by all means use this example as your inspiration.  

3) Ulla Popken

This email from Ulla Popken strikes a good balance between clearly being an Oktoberfest campaign and not going overboard with the holiday theme. 

It achieves this by showcasing holiday-themed products and subtly including small images of pretzels and lebkuchen (the traditional German heart-shaped cookies). 

4) Brookstone

You don’t have to sell lederhosen or stereotypically German items to get in on the Oktoberfest action. 

This campaign from Brookstone is an excellent example of how you can tie in other products with the holiday. 

In this case, there is a clear collection between Oktoberfest beer drinking and glasses for other alcoholic drinks. 

But they’ve also reinforced the holiday theme through the color scheme with orange also being associated with fall and the general time of year Oktoberfest takes place in. 

5) Homage

Lastly, here’s an Oktoberfest email from Homage that is a solid example of a well-designed marketing email campaign. 

They managed to make their email Oktoberfest themed without leaning too heavily on images of beer and pretzels but instead with some special holiday items. 

“Prost” (being ‘cheers’ in German) is something you’ll find in plenty of Oktoberfest campaigns as well. Not just in the emails themselves, but also in their subject lines. 

Oktoberfest email subject lines

When it comes to your Oktoberfest email marketing, just sending a great-looking email isn’t enough. You also need to entice people to open your campaign with a great holiday email subject line. 

Especially when a third of people base their decision on whether to open emails or not entirely on their subject line. 

So what goes into a good subject line that will boost your open rate? Well there are a few best practices to keep in mind:

• Keep it short
• Keep it clear and have it accurately reflect the contents of your email
• Personalize it with your customer’s name whenever you can

It’s hard to go wrong if you keep these three points in mind when coming up with your Oktoberfest email subject lines. 

The other thing you might want to consider is adding an emoji (such as a beer glass 🍺  or pretzel 🥨 ) to help your subject line stand out in customers’ inboxes.

For more tips, check out our guide on the best practices when writing subject lines.  

Oktoberfest subject line examples 

To help give you some inspiration for coming up with your own subject lines, here are some examples that have been used with Oktoberfest campaigns in the past. 

• 🍻 🥨 New Arrivals for Oktoberfest 🥨 🍻 – Brookstone
• 🥨 Come hang with the gnomies at Design Toscano’s Oktoberfest 🥨 – Design Toscano
• Celebrate Oktoberfest – 25% off – Ulla Popken USA
• Deals in the Haus! Save 20% on all things Oktoberfest. – World Market
• INSIDE: Oktoberfest ideas to fill your fall – TripAdvisor
• It’s That Time of Beer… Raise Your Growler and Toast Oktoberfest! – Campmor
• It’s Oktoberfest. Have a barrel of fun! – Sharper Image
• Join the Klean pub crawl for Oktoberfest. – Klean Kanteen
• Lederhosen. Sauerkraut. Beer. Oktoberfest! – Spreadshirt
• O’ Zapft Is! 🍺 Raise a glass to $26 Oktoberfest tees. – HOMAGE
• Oktoberfest Is Here! 🍻 – Betabrand
• Oktoberfest Is Here! 20% Off Sitewide – Capezio
• Oktoberfest Sale – Sneak Peek – Betabrand
• Prost! Oktoberfest is here – Saucony
• Prost! The Oktoberfest Sale is here – Premium Suits from $349 – Indochino
• Put your bratwurst down for this – Build Network
• Raise a glass to 50% off! – Home Chef
• Tap The Keg! Oktoberfest Starts Today. – The Tie Bar
• The best ways to wurst – HomeAway
• Win All the Essentials to Celebrate Oktoberfest at Home! – Mantry
• Your Trip to Munich Germany – Original Grain

Conclusion

Oktoberfest is by no means the biggest holiday or event of the year but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun and dedicate an email or two to the occasion. 

It’s also a great opportunity to hold a sale.

So if you think your audience would appreciate an Oktoberfest-inspired campaign, there’s no reason not to have a little fun and start creating the email now.