In the marketing calendar, April Fools’ Day offers a special chance to showcase your brand’s fun side while encouraging meaningful interaction.
On April 1st, your audience may be ready for jokes and pranks but searching for real value. The most effective advertising efforts can combine originality and genuineness, employing humor to attract attention, build brand bonds, and produce tangible outcomes.
We’ll look at how to create April Fool’s email campaigns that will boost your revenue while also making your subscribers happy.
April Fool’s Email Marketing 2025
April Fools’ Day offers a special chance to highlight your company’s individuality and encourage deep audience interaction. When properly implemented, these initiatives can do more than just make people laugh; they can improve brand awareness, build stronger bonds with customers, and yield substantial returns on investment.
Not only is the use of comedy in marketing natural, but it is also supported by science and statistics from previous years.
- Enhanced Engagement
It’s also impossible to ignore how shareable funny content is. Since humorous content is more likely to be shared, it can reach a wider audience than just the original subscription list.
- Brand Recognition
When people laugh, their brains release dopamine, which helps them form favorable associations with the material they’re absorbing. Funny commercials tend to stay in our memories for a long time because of this chemical reaction.
- Stronger Customer Relationships
Making someone laugh builds an emotional bond that turns your business from a nameless thing into a likable personality. Customers start to perceive your brand as more approachable and genuine as a result of this connection, which frequently results in a rise in trust and loyalty.
- Higher Open Rates
According to Yes Marketing, compared to their typical email efforts, brands’ open rates increased by 48% when they sent April Fools’ Day emails.
The same study shows that click-through rates for these promotions increased by 101%, suggesting that amusing and lighthearted material is more likely to engage subscribers.
Top April Fool’s Email Ideas
Let’s examine some of the best April Fools’ email campaign designs and how well-known companies have used them. The secret is to choose a strategy that will surprise and delight your audience while staying true to your brand voice.
When these strategies are in line with your brand’s voice and customer expectations, they can all be successful. The secret is to strike a balance between marketing goals and amusement while selecting a style that appeals to your audience.
Always make sure there is a clear transition to real value, whether that be in the form of actual products, helpful material, or a unique deal.
“April Fools!” Email
Calling your subscribers fools is never fine until it’s April 1st. On this day, you can literally make it your email title, and no one will bat an eye, especially if you offer some incentives afterward. You can use this email idea as an instrument to extend your previous event or sale, as well as a separate strategy to introduce new offers.
“This is a Joke” April Fool’s Day Email
Joke around with your promotions using creative ways of offering new content and products. This is a perfect opportunity to promote literally anything under the guise of a joke. In the example below, you can see how a brand can implement this tactic perfectly. While pumpkin products are usually promoted during the fall and Halloween season, this brand decided to start it in April. Even if they presented it as a joke, the discount on the product was real, so people would buy it outside of the usual promotional period.
“This is Not a Joke” Email
To joke or not to joke… While in previous newsletter strategies, we offered you to come up with some creative jests, you can also go for another strategy. Tell your subscribers that you don’t joke around with your discounts and offer them a real deal. To make it still look fun and interesting, you can play around with fonts and designs. In one of the examples below, you can see how Banana Republic does it by making their title hard to read, making subscribers pay extra attention to the offer to decipher the gibberish.
April Fool’s Day Flash Sale Email
Send a flash sale email to create a sense of urgency with a limited-time offer before the event. It can attract attention with powerful, game-themed language and graphics when combined with dynamic elements like countdown timers. These promotions usually include deals on unique items to boost conversions immediately.
Extended April Fool’s Sale
Send out “Last chance emails” and extend the deal to give your customers one more chance to save money. Our experience demonstrates that in many campaigns, these emails generate the highest income and typically have excellent KPIs.
Tricky April Fool’s Email
Prank your clients and increase your sales and engagement while doing it! You can quite literally come up with a fun trick to get your subscribers to open, fully read, and click through your email. The example below shows a creative way to do it. The brand sent clients an apology for a mistake in the design, presenting it as something sensational to make readers pay attention to the content. They strategically left a link that was supposed to provide more details on this mistake to drive people to follow through with its call to action. However, when you click it, it takes you to a landing page saying that it was a joke, there’s no mistake, and you actually get a discount on the product.
Pro Tip: Do not go overboard with your pranks. If you create this type of April Fool’s Day email, you must include a proper explanation and resolution for your joke. It’s important to make sure your promotions don’t get perceived as false advertisements.
“Prank” Idea Email for April Fool’s Day
Not only can you prank your subscribers, but you can also give them ideas for friendly and pleasant jokes to make with their friends and family. The key here is “pleasant”; don’t get it twisted. Trick them with surprising gift cards, presents, quality goods, bonus points for joining referral programs, etc. In the example below, you can see how a brand offers parents to “prank” their kids with healthier food. Using this idea, the company promotes its products as both tasty for kids and good for their health.
Clarification Email
A joke is good as long as you don’t take it too far. Make sure to provide a full clarification for all quirky promotions that you did on April 1st. This will ensure that you don’t have any misunderstandings and support the trust in your brand. Explain extensively the details of your previous messages, leave contact links and other info.
Best April Fool’s Emails from Real Brands
Let’s see more April Fool’s email examples from brands that successfully implement all the strategies we mentioned.
J.CREW
This example from J.Crew shows a great way to create a minimalistic yet intriguing message that fits the topic perfectly. They don’t even mention the holiday. Instead, the brand’s marketers use proper email timing and creative language to make it timely and interesting. “No funny business, just a big sale”. Accentuating the big sale without giving more details can make the offer more intriguing and encourage readers to click the link to find out more.
Holland Barrett
This brand uses the “No joke” card to specify the exclusivity of their offer and ensure that clients know that ot’s not an April Fool’s prank. The email also highlights the percentage discount and briefly gives details on the requirements and time limits of the deal. This example shows that even with such a brief and to-the-point promotion, you can get fine results in the form of higher engagement and conversions.
Ross-Simons
This April Fool’s email example draws attention with a bright design and a variety of beneficial deals. “Less pranking, more saving” is the main message that the brand wants to deliver to subscribers, emphasizing discounts and free shipping offers. They also put clear limitations specifying that the offer stands for “TODAY ONLY”. Even though we find the email copy a good example from which you can draw inspiration, we don’t recommend using the variety of CTAs. It can confuse people. Instead, unify the format of your CTAs or use one button, which is even better.
Brilliant Earth
This jewelry brand uses the strategy that we mentioned, giving subscribers the idea for a prank and the means to implement it. In the April Fool’s campaign example, they present their app that allows users to try on engagement rings using AR technology. As a prank idea, they suggest posting a picture with a ring on your finger and “announce engagement” to your friends and family. This creative strategy helps accomplish a few goals at the same time, getting users to click through links in the email, download the app, share information about the brand, and buy the ring if they liked what they tried on.
Groove Life
This campaign is a great example of an April Fool’s Day Sale email. The brand uses this day on the calendar to promote their new collections, old products, and blog posts. An interesting copy with rhymes makes the email more fitting for the occasion while keeping a plain design in line with the usual branding. The campaign also provides clear information about the time limits of the deal, accentuating the exclusivity.
Fun April Fool’s Email Subject Lines
Your subject lines should encourage your customers to read your emails because they are the first thing that attracts their attention and increases open rates. Make sure that your subscribers know right from the start that something interesting and funny awaits them in your message. These lively, attention-grabbing April Fool’s subject lines can entice your readers to find out what’s inside.
- This Deal Is Too Good to Be True… Or Is It?
- We’re Giving Away FREE Money! (Just Kidding… Or Not?)
- Your Account Has Been Hacked! April Fools!
- URGENT🚨: You Owe Us $1,000 (Just Kidding!)
- Introducing Our Newest Product: Invisible Socks!
- We’re Switching to Fax-Only Support! 📠
- Limited-Time Offer: Buy One, Get Nothing Free!
- Your Order Has Shipped… to the Wrong Address 😬
- A 99% Discount? Seems Suspicious…
- We Sold Your Data… Just Kidding (Or Are We?)
Pros and Cons of Using Humor in April Fool’s Email Campaigns
You must be completely aware of the advantages and disadvantages of executing April Fools’ campaigns using humor if you want to make sure your target audience is prepared to hear the joke. Here, we gathered the major points you need to know.
Pros:
- Interesting and sharable
Your audience will be enthralled by your humor and will want to spread the word about it.
- Make brands more relatable
A brand has more relatability with its target audience when it displays a sense of humor.
- Attract clients’ attention
Effective use of humor can help you stand out from the competition and make a lasting impression on your clients.
- Develop trust
Using April Fool’s Day pranks to show off your sense of humor demonstrates your willingness to have fun and not take yourself too seriously.
Cons:
- Misunderstandings and negative reactions
Since humor is a subjective concept, what one person finds humorous may offend or be misinterpreted by another. To prevent any unforeseen negative effects, it’s crucial to analyze the tone and content.
- Distraction from the main point
Confusion or a lost chance to interact with the audience successfully may result if the comedy takes precedence over the main point.
April Fool’s Email Best Practices
Careful preparation and strategic thought are necessary for April Fools’ email campaigns to be successful. Although spontaneity adds to the fun, a methodical approach guarantees that your campaign is successful without overlooking important aspects. To allow for adequate testing and improvement, begin your planning at least one month in advance.
Three essential components are necessary for success:
- Early preparation and strategic planning
- Perfect testing and technical execution
- Extensive measurement and monitoring
Value should be your cornerstone, even if humor is your instrument. Make sure that your audience leaves with something concrete, whether it’s through unique material, special discounts, or sincere fun. In addition to being humorous, the most effective April Fools’ jokes are memorable, shareable, and produce tangible business outcomes.
April Fool’s Email Strategy Planning
Here’s what you need to consider for a smooth launch:
- Keep an eye on forwards and shares on social media.
- Install conversion tracking for both real sales and hoax interactions.
- Calculate engagement rates by comparing the amount of time spent on reveal pages to regular campaign pages.
Keep in mind that April Fools’ campaigns frequently experience higher-than-normal traffic and engagement, so make sure to have backup technical assistance available on launch day. For the first few hours after the campaign launches, think about putting up a special monitoring system, and be prepared with a backup plan in case of any technological difficulties.
The additional planning will guarantee that your clever campaign generates both laughter and outcomes.
- Timing Strategy
Make sure your email is delivered at the best moment by scheduling it to take into account different time zones. Generally speaking, early morning mailings (8–10 AM local time) maximize engagement. To prevent interruptions, budget for possible delays or technical problems. To keep the audience interested and to explain any jokes, think about planning follow-up “reveal” emails. Additionally, take into consideration various international April Fools’ customs to make sure your message is appropriate for a range of audiences.
- Audience Segmentation
Since not everyone enjoys the same kind of humor, think about developing many iterations according to important audience segments. Make a distinction between casual readers and highly engaged subscribers by customizing material based on past engagement history. Differentiate between browsers and regular purchasers by tailoring marketing according to purchase behavior. While generational comedy preferences are influenced by age demographics, cultural humor distinctions are influenced by geographic location. Additionally, take into account the stage of the customer lifecycle to make sure that messages are adequately personalized for both new and loyal consumers.
Keep in mind that the objective is to develop a campaign that makes people laugh while upholding brand integrity and professional standards. A carefully thought-out April Fools’ campaign can increase engagement and improve consumer connections, but only if it is carried out precisely.
Tips on April Fool’s Email Design
- Essentials of Email Design
Use responsive layouts that are device-neutral to guarantee a smooth experience on various screens. To ensure quick load times and avoid email rendering delays, use optimized pictures. Use bold calls to action, such as “Claim Your Not-So-Fake Discount” or “Reveal the Prank,” to increase interaction. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and other programs can be used to test emails in order to guarantee compatibility and a consistent user experience.
- Integration of Landing Pages
Make certain prank expose pages with clear “gotcha” language to keep things lighthearted and clear. To guarantee a seamless experience from the prank to the ultimate convert, thoroughly test each user path.
- Testing
Compare subject lines using A/B testing to see which one encourages greater interaction. Check tracking codes to ensure correct data collection, and make sure all buttons and links are functioning properly. To provide a seamless user experience, test load times on different devices. Lastly, to guarantee readability and aesthetic appeal in various situations, preview the email in both light and dark modes.
Launching and Monitoring of April Fool’s Email Campaigns
Planning for the future requires knowing how well your April Fools’ campaign is performing. Success can be objectively measured using a variety of criteria and benchmarks, whereas comedy is subjective. Here are the key metrics you should monitor to assess your strategy.
- Open rates — 25–35% (10–15% more than usual campaigns).
- CTR — 4-8% target (2-3 times typical engagement)
- Social media shares — 2-3x your typical share rate.
- Unsubscribes — below 0.5%.
Pro Tip: In Klaviyo or any other Klaviyo alternative that you use, make a dashboard just for your April Fools’ data so you can quickly compare them to the performance of your normal campaign and establish goals for the next year. For future targeting, give particular attention to the segments that showed good response.
How to Create April Fool’s Email Campaigns: Our Recommendation
Best Practices Flowium Uses
A careful balancing act of comedy, brand knowledge, and marketing savvy is necessary to create a successful April Fools’ campaign. Creativity is important, but knowing the limits and potential dangers can make the difference between a PR nightmare and viral success. Here’s how you take advantage of this special marketing opportunity:
- Keep Your Brand Voice Consistent
The content for April Fools’ Day should seem like a lighthearted continuation of your brand. When creating jokes, take your brand’s typical tone into account. It’s also worth getting an outside opinion (outside the company) on what people think about jokes and these emails to understand if they are far from the brand voice. Use imaginative variations to your standard visual style.
- Humor in Email Copy
Use humor in emails, funny subject lines, and witty copy, but don’t overdo it with jokes. Add comedy while maintaining the main points of the message.
- Unambiguous Communication
Jokes should be explicitly labeled to prevent confusion. You must not mislead or lie, which could disappoint the audience.
- Use Fitting Keywords
Add “April Fools'” to headers or subject lines. It is necessary to make it clear that this is an April Fool’s Day campaign by using appropriate words in the text.
- Clear Incentives
Incorporate genuine value (discounts, exclusive deals, etc.) with the fun.
Typical Mistakes to Avoid
- Jokes that could undermine the legitimacy of a brand
- Humor that could irritate or turn off customers
- Pranks that are too complicated and leave recipients perplexed
- Topics that are controversial or political
- Issues that are sensitive to the industry
- Jokes on the problems that customers face
- Sending emails too late
Pro Tip: If in doubt, test your idea with a varied focus group. Your marketing staff may find something amusing, but your target audience may not find it funny. Keep in mind that the objective is to strengthen your brand relationship, not to push it to its breaking point.
Launch an April Fool’s Email Campaign with Flowium
Are you prepared to create a memorable April Fools’ campaign? Together, let’s create a plan that strikes the ideal balance between humor and outcomes. Schedule a call with our team right now, and we’ll assist you in creating a strategy that engages your audience and encourages meaningful interaction.
