Waiting until the last minute to put your holiday email strategy in place is like waiting until Christmas Eve to start your holiday shopping. You could probably get it done, but would it really be worth the stress and the missed opportunities?
If you’re a retailer or B2C that does a lot of business around the holiday season, now is the time to start planning (if you haven’t already). Read on to find out what you can do to ensure you’re set up for success as the holidays approach!
It’s common, and pretty much expected, to offer offer sales and special discounts at holiday time. So how can you stand out in an inbox loaded with “X% Off” messages? Here are some ideas to spark your creativity:
- Offer a pre-holiday sale, or early “Black Friday” discount to get a jump start on the season, and beat the competition to the punch.
- Create a “gift guide” that shows your subscribers the many choices they will have for gifts when they shop with you. Send it early in the season so they have enough time to review their options.
- Say “thank you” for being loyal customers/subscribers, and offer them a gift (a discount on their purchase, a gift with purchase, etc.).
- Offer shipping discounts or free gift wrapping with purchase.
And as for the emails themselves:
- Make sure your offer and/or call to action goes in the subject line if at all possible, and ensure it’s “above the fold” in the message itself.
- Use beautiful, eye catching design, but try to give it a twist so it stands out from the traditional red-and-green motifs so common at that time of year.
- Segment your list based on past purchasing behaviors. This is key! Personalization will go a long way to making a great impression that has a better chance of leading to conversion.
- Employ autoresponders or “drip” campaigns to build momentum as the season progresses.
- Test, test, and test again! Testing at the holidays is particularly important, because new combinations of words will come up that may trigger spam filters. In addition, you will likely have a higher sender volume, so you’ll be more vulnerable to potentially damage to your sender reputation.
Use the tips above to get started on your holiday email marketing strategy now, and you won’t be left out in the cold.
Any tips or ideas you would add? Leave them in the comments!
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