Sizzlin' hot summer newsletter ideas for 2025

Quite the opposite—summer is a time to bring new life into your email marketing campaigns!

Use this season to complete long-overdue email maintenance tasks, shake up your content, and play around with your summer newsletter design.

Go get a refreshment and find a shady spot. We’re about to summerize your newsletters.

There are as many summer newsletter ideas as there are ice cream flavors, especially when you take into account all of the bank holidays and special occasions. 

So when you’re running out of ideas, why not use an event to create newsletter content year-round?

The biggest summer happenings to mark on your email calendar are Father’s Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, and the last and first day of school.

And if that’s not enough, no worries.

At some point in time, someone, somewhere decided that July would be Hot Dog Month, August 3 Watermelon Day, and August 6 (wait for it) Fresh Breath Day.

Summer newsletter events for June

Find 75 June content ideas here:

Summer newsletter events for July

Find 69 July content ideas here:

Summer newsletter events for August

Find August content ideas here:

We get it, surviving a day in your sticky office or home is already exhausting enough. That’s why we did you a favor and crafted some of the most engaging and relevant summer email subject lines for 2025.

Find more inspiration for creating awesome subject lines in this guide:

Okay, so you've got your subject line hooked. Now, let's nail that preheader! This little snippet is your second chance to grab attention, sitting right next to your subject line in the inbox. We've crafted some top-notch preheader examples for 2025 to help your emails stand out.

Your business might suffer from summer slow motion, but don’t give up on your email marketing efforts. Summer is the perfect time for businesses to engage customers with dreamy content and compelling offers. Here are some tried and tested campaign ideas that are sure to get your audience in the summer spirit.

1. Summer essentials guide

Create a guide of all the must-have summer products on sale in your e-commerce store. You can make the guide more valuable and complete by including complementary products from other brands. For example, if you sell swimwear, include all your top-selling pieces alongside oversized beach bags and wide-brimmed hats that complete the look.

2. Beat the heat promotions

Start a special promotion on all the products that will help your subscribers stay cool, calm, and collected during the summer months. Sell custom water bottles? Give a discount for all water bottle purchases and include tips on how to stay healthy and hydrated.

3. Summer DIY projects

Share tips, ideas and tutorials for summer-themed DIY projects and blend in your products. You could offer ideas for outdoor makeovers, like building a small herb garden, setting up a backyard movie night, or creating an inviting outdoor dining area.

4. Vacation-ready campaign

Create a vacation guide with checklists, tips and recommendations for the most hassle-free vacation experience. Include your most popular summer products as recommendations. For example, if you sell clothing, put together your favorite beach resort looks, island-hopping essentials, or best-selling summer accessories.

5. Summer fashion trends

Put together a lookbook of Summer fashion trends, incorporating your own products. Try to think outside the box and use your own unique interpretations of this year’s trends to stand out from the crowd. For example, you could show how your brand's specific pieces fit into trends like "coastal grandmother chic" or "dopamine dressing."

6. Healthy summer living

The change in season and warmer temperatures means that many people adapt their lifestyle during the summer months to stay healthy. Provide value to subscribers while promoting your brand. This could include healthy eating tips using in-season ingredients or how to maintain a healthy exercise plan even when the weather heats up.

7. Summer recipes

Do you love to share cooking and lifestyle content? Summer is the ideal time to create exciting new recipes for food and drinks and share them with your subscribers. You could even ask them to submit their own favorite summer recipes.

8. Festival and event preparation

Summer is always jam-packed with festivals and events of all kinds, especially well-known and trendy music festivals. Create a guide on how to survive a multi-day festival, or share tips on how to stay safe, healthy and enjoy the experience. You can even throw in a downloadable checklist for everything someone needs to do and bring when they’re attending an event.

9. Backyard fun ideas

Share your outdoor summer game ideas for keeping everyone occupied when at home during the summer months.

10. Summer beauty essentials

Reveal your secrets on how to get the perfect, glowy summer look with product recommendations for cosmetics products and, of course, all-important sun protection. Share your must-have products for the ultimate summer beauty regimen, with tips on how to stay protected from the sun.

11. Summer reading list

Curate a list of highly anticipated summer reads across genres like gripping thrillers or inspiring memoirs. Then, creatively pair your products with these books. 

12. Summer soundtrack 

Set the mood for summer! Develop a custom playlist on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube. Focus on tracks that capture the summer vibe while aligning with your brand personality and resonating with your audience. 

13. User-generated content contest

Encourage your subscribers to share photos or short videos of their summer adventures using your products. Offer a prize for the best photo or video. Create a unique hashtag for them to use on social media, and feature some of the most creative submissions in your next newsletter. This is a powerful way to leverage user-generated content (UGC) and build a sense of community. 

14. The art of summer relaxation

Focus on different forms of relaxation that aren't necessarily beach or travel-oriented. This could include products for a luxurious bath experience, like bath bombs and scented candles, meditation tools such as singing bowls, or comfortable loungers for creating a serene backyard retreat.

15. Back-to-school/college prep (late summer)

As summer winds down, shift focus to the upcoming school year, if your products appeal to students or parents. Create a "Back-to-School Essentials" guide featuring relevant products like ergonomic desk chairs, stylish stationery sets, durable lunch bags, or trendy dorm decor. Offer special discounts for students or teachers. 

16. Summer challenge series

Engage your audience with a short-term, themed summer challenge. This could be a hydration challenge, a workout challenge, a reading challenge, or anything that encourages learning a new skill or completing a relevant task. The goal is to motivate participation and build a sense of accomplishment.

17. Q&A with a summer expert 

Set up a Q&A session with a summer expert. Think "Ask a Dermatologist" to cover sun protection basics, bust common myths, and give real advice for healthy skin in the sun. Or, do an "Ask a Fitness Trainer" discussion on how to stay active in the heat safely, with tips on hydration and smart workout changes. 

18. Summer declutter and refresh 

Summer often brings a desire to clean, organize, and refresh living spaces. Promote storage solutions like stylish baskets and shelving units, home decor for a lighter, airier feel such as sheer curtains or botanical prints, or eco-friendly cleaning supplies for a sparkling home.

A great summer email campaign example

Secondhand children's clothing store, Ziggy + Lucy, totally gets that summer fun isn't just for kids – adults need some too! They came up with a really creative idea: a summer pop-up store for adults' secondhand clothing. Even better, they coupled it with a donation drive for unwanted garments. A win-win for sustainable summer style! 🫶🏽

As downloadable PDF files (lead magnets), lists are a great way to collect new subscribers. Create a signup form that is linked to a welcome email. Then insert the URL to download the list in this email. Now you can promote this signup form on a landing page, in blog articles or as a website pop-up.

Here are some creative ideas lists we curated for specific industries. Take inspiration from our list, and create your own. Before sending those emails, don’t forget to test your subject line’s efficacy with our free subject line tester. 😊 

1. E-commerce

Downloadable guide idea: "The Global Explorer's Summer Outfit Matrix: Mix & Match for Any Climate." This guide provides a matrix showing how to combine 5-7 of your brand’s clothing pieces into 15+ outfits suitable for varied summer climates (desert, beach, city, mountains).

Subject line: {Name}, Unlock 15+ Summer 🌴 Looks from Just 7 Pieces! (Free Guide)

2. Authors

Downloadable PDF idea: "Build Your Own Summer Realm: A Fantasy Map-Making Starter Kit." This PDF offers prompts, basic iconography, and grid templates for aspiring fantasy authors or fans to sketch their own summer-themed magical lands.

Subject line: FREE: Your Summer Realm Map-Making Starter Kit! 🐉

3. Agencies

Downloadable blueprint idea: "The 'Summer Digital Marketing Surge' Blueprint: 7 High-Impact Strategies for Peak Season Growth." This blueprint guides businesses to identify common, often overlooked digital marketing opportunities (like underperforming ad campaigns, untapped seasonal keywords, and optimizing content for summer trends) that impact summer traffic and conversion rates.

Subject line: {Name}, Is Your Digital Marketing Ready for Summer? Grab Our FREE Surge Blueprint!

4. Coaches

Downloadable guide idea: "The 'Summer Momentum' Planner: Your 90-Day Blueprint for Goal-Smashing Growth." This planner provides structured weekly check-ins, reflection prompts designed to leverage summer energy, and actionable strategies to maintain focus and hit big goals amidst seasonal distractions.

Subject line: {Name}, Crush Your Summer Goals with Our FREE Planner! 🚀

5. Small businesses

Downloadable blueprint idea: "The 'Local Buzz' Blueprint: 7 Creative Ways Small Businesses Can Win This Summer." This blueprint guides local businesses through hyper-local marketing tactics, unique community engagement strategies, and clever ways to leverage summer events and local tourism for increased visibility and foot traffic.

Subject line: FREE: Your Local Buzz Blueprint for Summer Business Growth! ☀️

6. Creators

Downloadable kit idea: "The 'Summer Story Sparker' Kit: 50 Prompts to Ignite Your Next Creative Project." This kit offers a diverse collection of unique, open-ended prompts tailored to various creative mediums (writing, video, art, music) inspired by summer themes like travel, nature, relaxation, and personal growth, designed to bust creative blocks.

Subject line: FREE: Your Summer Story Sparker Kit! ✨

Ask readers to answer quiz questions, send their vacation selfies or team up with their friends to win prizes. This will surely boost your readers' engagement!

1. E-commerce 

Contest Idea: "The 'Summer Home Refresh' Challenge: Style Your Space for the Season!" Participants submit a photo of a room or corner in their home they've given a "summer refresh" to, using their existing items.

They also share a short description of the summer vibe they aimed for and one small type of item (e.g., a unique planter, a specific texture cushion, a mood-setting lamp) they'd add to complete the look. Winners get a gift card to the store or a virtual styling consultation. 

Subject line: Refresh Your Home: Join Our Summer Style Challenge! 🏡☀️

2. Authors 

Contest Idea: "'Summer Scene Setter' Writing Prompt: Bring a Moment to Life!" Participants are given a specific summer-themed writing prompt (e.g., "The unexpected discovery at the beach house," "A storm brewing on a quiet summer afternoon").

They then submit a short story, poem, or vivid scene (up to 500 words) inspired by the prompt. Submissions are judged on creativity, imagery, and adherence to the theme. Winners get a signed book collection or a virtual Q&A session. 

Subject line: Write Your Summer Story: Join Our Scene Setter Challenge! ✍️📚

3. Agencies

Contest Idea: "'Summer Marketing Myth-Buster' Challenge: Prove Your Knowledge!" Your agency presents a common, often misunderstood, summer marketing "myth" or misconception (e.g., "Email marketing dips in summer").

Participants are challenged to submit a brief explanation (e.g., a short video, a concise paragraph, a quick infographic) that effectively debunks the myth with data or logical reasoning. Winners receive a free strategy session or an audit. 

Subject line: Bust the Myth: Join Our Summer Marketing Challenge! 💡📈

4. Coaches

Contest idea: "Summer Sweat Streak Challenge: Conquer the Heat!" Participants commit to a daily "Power Hour" workout (using the principles from your playbook) and log their activity.

The longest consistent streak and most improved progress photos win a grand prize, such as a year of free coaching or a high-end fitness tracker.

Subject line: Conquer the Heat: Join Our Summer Sweat Streak Challenge! 🔥

5. Small businesses

Contest Idea: "Summer Sip & Snap Photo Contest: Capture Your Café Moment!" Customers are encouraged to take a photo of their favorite summer drink or treat from your cafe in a summery setting (e.g., picnic, park, beach) and share it on social media with a specific hashtag. Winners receive gift cards.

Subject line: Sip & Snap! Win Big with Our Summer Photo Contest! 📸☕

6. Creators

Contest Idea: "'Summer Story in a Sketch' Art Challenge: Bring Your Scenes to Life!" Participants are challenged to create a single artwork that tells a compelling summer story or shows a vibrant summer scene using a specific palette or theme provided by you. Submissions are judged on creativity and storytelling.

Subject line: Summer Art Challenge: Tell Your Summer Story in a Sketch! 🎨🌇

Just like we pack up our heavy jackets and fill our closets with more airy materials, it’s also beneficial to make your email newsletters summer-ready. These email template design changes will help brighten up your emails and keep your newsletter readers engaged!

Design

Color: Summer means COLOR! Bring out the brights, the lights, the tropicals, the neons, and the pastels. Summer is the ideal time to experiment with different color palettes and tones.

Just make sure that your chosen palette fits your brand's overall aesthetic and, importantly, choose a theme and stick to it to remain consistent across your summer campaigns. Here are some examples of summer color palettes you can use. 

Using bright colors enhances your click rate. Try styling your buttons in yellow—this color not only gives off major summer vibes, it’s also recommended by psychologists to stimulate curiosity. This is why people tend to click yellow buttons more. Discover more color hacks in our blog post on what colors are best for email marketing. 

Typography: The fonts you use in your template designs are an excellent way to imbue your emails with the fun, carefree vacation vibes that make Summer so great. For best results, keep the main content of your templates the usual font that you use and experiment with the fonts used in your graphics or headlines. 

Background: Set the mood and inspire subscribers with Summery colors and imagery for your email template backgrounds. Yellows, oranges and blues are great if you want to go for a solid color, while tropical plants, beach scenes, and summer landscapes are images that make and impact.

Content

Summer is all about relaxing, having fun, and making the most of the beautiful weather—it’s a happy time! You want your email intro, headers and main content to use language that reflects this, connects with the reader, and inspires them.

Adjusting your tone of voice to be more casual and friendly is a nice way to do this, but only if it’s appropriate for your brand! You’ll also want to sprinkle in Summer-themed language and references. If you’re a bit cheesy like we are, some fun summer puns can be a hit, such as "Our summer deals are shore to please!"

Imagery

Your images, icons and patterns should all play into the Summer theme. Use beautiful photos to make your subscribers feel warm and fuzzy. There are plenty of great photos online that you can use for free (check our blog post about the best free resources for beautiful newsletters). Our tip? Use your own authentic photos to be more personal and reflective of your brand. Some ideas for summer imagery include:

• The beach/sea

• Swimming pools

• Plants/flowers/palm trees

• Fruit

• Swimwear

• Sunglasses

• The sun/sky

• Cocktails

• Grilling/al fresco cooking and dining

• Ice cream

• Travel

Interactive elements

Swimming, jogging, dancing, hula-hooping—summer is all about movement! Put some action into your summer newsletters and play around with GIFs, videos and countdown timers.

Accessibility

A lot of people already read their newsletters on mobile devices. Once the temperatures rise, this number will only increase. Make sure your newsletter is responsive, adapting seamlessly to different screen sizes. And use bright, contrasting colors for text and backgrounds so the content is easy to read outside, even in bright sunlight. Check out this email accessibility guide to learn more.

With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to forget about email maintenance.

When was the last time you sat down and took a fresh look at the different aspects of your email marketing? How’s your subscriber segmentation, the health of your email list, and your subscriber forms?

Use the Summer season to get your email marketing back into a healthy shape.

1. Segment your readers

How can you get more personal with your readers? Analyze your list and group subscribers based on things like location, previous purchases, gender, age group, interests, and so on.

Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue, so this task is definitely worth getting sweaty for.

For example, when you know your reader’s location, you can send them flight offers for nearby airports or suggest weekend trips to neighboring cities.

You can gain valuable customer insights by asking for feedback directly within your emails, by embedding an email survey or a quick poll into your summer newsletter template. 

Now that things are a little quieter, you'll have the time to really go through the survey answers, listen to your readers and brainstorm ways to strengthen your brand.

2. Use automations

Automate your welcome sequences, abandoned cart reminders, or re-engagement flows. Imagine, while you're at the beach, your emails are working hard, driving sales and nurturing leads. 

For example, you can set up an abandoned cart automation for that 'trendy sustainable-cotton summer dress' a customer almost bought. If they leave it behind, a friendly email reminder can pop into their inbox, maybe with a little incentive like some ways to style the dress and a discount, bringing them back to complete the sale.

3. Verify subscribers: Dust off your email list

Regularly cleaning your email list ensures that you’re protecting your sender reputation and improving your deliverability.

With a tool like MailerCheck, you simply need to upload your email list to verify subscribers. This process identifies invalid, inactive, or spam trap email addresses.

Once your emails are analyzed, you can import your cleaned email list and enjoy subscribers that are in top shape. This will save you money when sending your next summer campaign by reducing bounces and improving your overall campaign performance.

4. Refresh and optimize your landing pages and forms

Summer is a good time to check your stats and see what works best for your landing pages and which metrics you can improve. Maybe the wording on your signup form can be more convincing or your images could use a touch-up to reflect the current season. Small tweaks can make all the difference.

5. Send your newsletters at the right time

Have you experimented with the best time to send emails to your subscribers? Looking at our own data, we found that Monday is the best day of the week to send, as this is the day emails get the most opens.

We also found that most opens occur between 3 PM and 7 PM on weekdays and 9 AM on weekends. You’ll want to test out different sending times to see what works best for your audience.

In MailerLite, you can also use the Smart sending feature, which allows you to send out your newsletter individually to each subscriber at the time they are more likely to open it, maximizing engagement.

Check out our guide on the best time to send emails to learn more.

6. Split test your emails

Carrying out A/B tests for your emails allows you to see which content, subject lines, calls-to-action (CTAs), and design elements perform the best among a small selection of your audience. The winning email is then sent to the remainder of subscribers.

Continuously split testing emails over time allows you to keep optimizing your emails based on real performance, so you can make informed decisions about what color buttons to use, whether to use emojis in your subject lines, and much more.

7. Use AI to help

AI is a wonderful thing, as long as we remember that it’s there to help us, not replace us! Use AI to help with content ideas, creating newsletter copy templates, or creative subject lines that you might not otherwise think of.

8. Accessibility

Don't leave anyone out! Ensure your emails are accessible to all readers, including those using screen readers or with visual impairments. Think clear alt-text for images, good color contrast, and logical content structure. Because everyone deserves a perfectly readable summer update. ☀️

Use the summer to get your email marketing strategy in excellent shape and surprise readers with fresh content and eye-catching newsletter designs.

If you do, you won’t need to stress about your business suffering from summer fatigue. On the contrary, your readers will want to engage with your newsletters and celebrate summer with you.

How will you brighten up your newsletter this summer? Share your strategy in the comments.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2019, but has been updated with new subject lines and summer newsletter examples.