Use these ideas to keep revenue and engagement up as the summer winds down.

Labor Day weekend brings a surge of shoppers ready to spend. They're refreshing their wardrobes, finishing back-to-school lists, and stocking up on fall essentials before summer officially wraps.

For marketers, it's a high-intent moment with real stakes. Labor Day is consistently one of the last major shopping holidays before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which means the email and SMS campaigns you run now set the tone for the season ahead.

Here are six Labor Day marketing ideas to help you drive more revenue, deepen customer relationships, and close out summer strong.

1. Share new reasons to shop the Labor Day sale

Sashka Co. used SMS to let customers know that new (and super cute) colors were available and at a steep discount of 80% off. That’s two compelling reasons to shop the Labor Day sale, and the promo code was easy to remember when it came time to redeem it.

‍Pro tip: We've found that, on average, text messages with coupons have a nearly 4x higher conversion rate than those without them. The average order value is also consistent across messages with or without coupons, meaning higher conversion rates without sacrificing revenue.

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2. Run a flash sale with steep discounts

Beachwaver sent an email to alert customers that their favorite hairstyling tools were 50% off for Labor Day. Plus, if they spent over $75, customers would unlock free shipping. The brand also used multiple marketing channels for this campaign, relying on SMS marketing after their email send to invoke FOMO and ensure customers didn't miss out on this great discount. 

‍Pro tip: Because SMS marketing is so immediate, you want to reach shoppers when they’ll be able to read and take action on the texts you’re sending them. And for email, you want to make sure you’re at the top of your subscribers’ inbox when they’re ready to browse. Check out our other top tips for knowing when to send SMS and email.

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3. Lead with price to catch subscribers’ attention

Each Night doesn’t want customers counting sheep—they want them counting how much they saved and getting an amazing night’s sleep. The brand didn't waste any time in telling subscribers exactly how much they could save by shopping the Labor Day sale, but also hinted that the sale was only for a limited time to drive urgency.

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4. Run a buy more, get more sale

Pittie Clothing Co. made it easy for subscribers to add more to their cart as if they purchased two sets of PJs for their pooch, they’d get a third set for free. Some exclusions did apply, but this was a great way to increase average order values. The brand reminded customers that this offer would end soon and that right now was the prime time to buy to have orders delivered in time for “pittie jammie weather.”

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5. Run a no-code-needed sale

Southern Proper offered 30-60% off everything on the website. It made it easier for customers to get the discounts by not having to use a promo code or redeem a specific offer. 

‍Pro tip: Your SMS experience is more than just the text messages your subscribers read. The mobile experiences you link to need to be optimized, too. When deciding what pages to link to, your goal should be to reduce the number of clicks a subscriber needs to make to convert.

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6. Remind customers the sale is ending

Oh Beauty sent this SMS campaign to remind customers it was their last chance to shop the Labor Day sale and enjoy 25% off most products. The emojis enhanced the message and conveyed that time was running out on the flash sale on beauty products.

Consumers are expecting Labor Day sales. But they’re also expecting personalized marketing messages about those sales. By integrating AI into your campaigns, you'll be able to create content curated just for them.

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Prepare your email and SMS marketing strategies for success ahead of the next major shopping event: BFCM. And, browse Texts We Love to get inspiration from real text messages sent by our customers.