Disclaimer: Nothing in the following blog post remotely resembles a joke or a prank. Nothing in it, including this disclaimer, is intended to raise suspicion in the reader’s mind. If, however, anyone should insist on insisting otherwise, our heartiest hat-tip—with a shrug.
Let’s be serious. April Fools’ Day is no license to throw the rulebook in the fire. Nor does it need your brand to stop being itself just for a day.
Take humor, for instance. If humor was never part of your brand identity, don’t try to be funny on April Fools’ Day either. Similarly, leverage humor to the hilt if you are a funny brand.
In whichever puddle you stand, you might need some inspiration to kick things off and make a splash (read ROI) this April Fools’ Day.
So, check out these expert-curated April Fools’ emails right now. (We literally can’t keep a straighter face as we say these things.)
1. Email Uplers
Humor is a part of who we are as a brand. We are not “wildly” funny, as our current blog post shows, but we do like to raise a laugh from time to time.
So it shows in our April Fools’ day email. No pranky giveaways, no forceful humor, no deviation from brand identity.
Yellow and black are our colors, so we keep that on April Fools’ Day, too. And our followers are well-acquainted with our love for interactive emails. So, no surprises there.
2. Kate Spade
Source: Kate Spade
The Not-A-Joke template may seem a bit overused by now, but it works. Only make sure that your offer does seem too good to be true. Kate Spade is offering a $299 product at $65!
In addition, a seriously huge discount (75%!) sits in the pre-footer section.
Note the use of light colors as well. Cerulean brings out the April Fools’ theme more prominently. The contrast peaks with the dark-colored crossbody bags. We also like the one-loop GIFs across the email. They’re optimized for visually impaired users.
3. Quartz
Being serious in your April Fools’ emails pays off. Quartz’s email is meaningful and useful. You immediately find yourself inside a story, an accurate one at that.
The image helps to give weight to the problem. Lighthearted copy, good use of white space, and a legitimate too-good-to-be-true offer.
The best part about Quartz’s email is its restraint. It’s short, ad rem, and simple without being simplistic.
4. Really Good Emails
Source: Really Good Emails
The entire email industry is hooked on Really Good Emails. But their own emails tell a lot more about their brand. Fun, wit, chummy charm – all these define who REG are.
One wonders if April Fools’ is their wait-for-it moment. However, REG almost never bothers to make drastic changes to their email layouts.
So you will see the typical gunmetal gray or Davy’s gray in the hero banner. It’s usually a single-column layout. The major part of their emails is text, followed by useful links and one GIF.
Most importantly, REG’s CTA buttons are always context-specific and, therefore, always unique. Evidently, they haven’t budged a jot from their identity on April Fools’.
5. Four Sigmatic
Source: Four Sigmatic
Our final example is quite amusing. Four Sigmatic pulls off a smart prank without leaving the audience completely disillusioned.
All along, Four Sigmatic sticks to its brand color, which is predominantly orange. So, the background is a rusty orange. The button borders are orange. The text is orange.
Finland is synonymous with heavy metal. Hence, the mock rock theme. The wry “P.S” at the end, i.e., the anti-climax, comes as a pleasant shock to the viewer.
Gladly, Four Sigmatic assures that a rebrand is in the works. The discounts are not fake. To highlight that, the CTA is outside the prank zone. You get it on second viewing.
We say it’s great April Fools’ email marketing! If you want to prank customers, this is the way to do it. Everybody wins.
Wrapping Up!
You should be bubbling with ideas by now. Our advice? Jot down those great ideas and get in touch with our designers. Share your design concept, and we will make it come alive.