Wow!
We are more than halfway through 2021 and there are no signs of things slowing down. The holidays will be upon us before you know it. You know what that means?
If you guessed “dial in your email marketing campaign for 2021”, then you win the million-dollar prize!
Ok! There isn’t a million-dollar prize for that guess…
BUT…
If you put together your holiday campaigns properly you could end up with a million dollars in sales. (And isn’t that a prize in itself?!)
Look. The holidays are a competitive time of year, companies pour lots of money into their holiday marketing to compete for audience attention. That means you can’t show up to the party late and expect to get a full plate.
You need to start thinking about what your email marketing strategy is going to be now.
Holiday spending was up nearly $60 billion in 2020 during the pandemic, and there is no reason to believe it won’t continue to rise this year.
You don’t want to miss out on your slice of the pie!
So with that in mind, the team here at Conceited Marketing put together this guide to help you improve the effectiveness of your holiday marketing.
Here are 12 tips to take your holiday email campaigns from good to kick-ass!
12 Tips to Improve Your Holiday Email Campaigns
These tips are in no particular order…
1 – Choose A Theme
Holidays provide the perfect excuse for your brand to flex its creative muscles. You want to do something different, something fun to keep your audience engaged.
You need a theme!
Not only will this show the fun side of your business, but it will also re-engage your audience by breaking their expectations. They probably aren’t used to opening your emails and seeing Tron or Flower Power! The unexpected change will grab their attention, and they will be more likely to stick around and engage.
Remember: Have fun with it!
2 – Plan Early
If you think it’s too early to start planning, you are already behind. In many industries, holiday sales account for 25% or more of their annual revenue. That’s just November and December! With holiday sales accounting for such a large percentage of income, it makes sense to give extra attention to your holiday marketing.
Planning in advance means you have time to work through any approval processes your company might have in place. It also gives you extra time to make any necessary edits/changes to your campaigns without feeling rushed.
Don’t underestimate the importance of planning early!
3 – Segmentation
If you have read any of our previous email marketing pieces, you will be familiar with this idea. Segmentation is sacred to us. The ability to separate out your audience based on information such as preferences, actions, or categories is a marketer’s dream come true. Segmented emails drive a 760% increase in revenue!
We highly recommend you use this!
4 – Create Great Subject Lines
Your subject line is perhaps the most important piece of your email. Without a compelling reason to open your email, your audience will move on. With so many companies vying for your customer’s attention, you want to be sure that you stand out, and a great subject line will do just that.
Here are a few ideas for improving your subject lines:
- Use the customer’s first name (subject lines with a first name see a 26% increase in open rate)
- Keep it short (3-5 words is usually best)
- Use emojis 🔥 💙 🎄 (Don’t overdo it, 1-3 is best)
- Add numbers
If people don’t open your emails, what’s the point?!
Spend extra time making sure you get this right…and don’t forget split test!
5 – Compelling CTAs
CTAs (Calls to Action) are very important. You can’t expect your customers to know what you want from them. You need to leave a bread crumb trail to let them know where to go/what to do next. A CTA gives your audience that all-important direction.
Use buttons over text hyperlinks where possible. Buttons are easy to spot, and most of us know what buttons are for! Try to avoid the generic “click here” or “shop now”. Instead, use your button as a chance to further your story. Try to incorporate your promotion into the button text, but don’t be too long.
Make sure that your CTA button goes directly to a product/sales page!
6 – Holiday Gift Guide
Many people struggle with gift ideas and picking the right gift for others. Putting together a holiday gift guide will help your customers to find great gifts, and give you a chance to highlight specific products.
Be sure to create clear categories for your customers:
- Kids
- Budget-friendly
- Pet-lovers
- For the special someone
Once you have created this guide, you can link to it in future emails so your audience can always make their way back to it.
7 – Personalize It
Use the information you have been gathering from your customers to personalize emails that arrive in their inboxes. Something as simple as including their name in the email can go a long way to building rapport with your audience.
Knowing the browsing history of your customers when they are on your site, or their preferred store location will also allow you to customize your emails with dynamic content. Dynamic content allows you to create one email template and show unique content to your different customer groups.
8 – Footers Matter Too
Footers are often overlooked, but they are a valuable piece of screen real estate. You can level up your footers by using the space to highlight particular products, services, or offers going on. By highlighting these different options you give yourself another chance to make/increase your sales.
Don’t waste this valuable real estate! Be creative!
9 – Offer Exclusive Holiday Sales/Coupons
I think it’s safe to say here, most customers LOVE sales and coupons! In fact, they will likely expect them from you.
With the amount of money people spend during the holiday season, they are looking for every chance they can to save a few dollars. Highlighting a sale or including a coupon will increase your sales, and make your customers happy.
BONUS: If you have an ongoing sale or a coupon highlighted in your email, that makes for a great email subject line!
10 – Measure Once, Measure Twice
Track your numbers! Track your numbers!
In case we didn’t make it clear…
Track your numbers!
Knowing the open rates, click-through, and conversion rates of your emails is important. It allows you to measure the success of each email campaign so can you adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. As a bonus, it also gives you powerful, and crucial information to use as a foundation for your holiday marketing campaigns next year.
Track your numbers!
11 – Be Mobile Friendly
43% of holiday orders were placed from a smartphone last year!
While that makes sense (pandemic…) that means that people stuck at home by their computers spent almost as much time shopping on their phones as they did on their desktops. Our phones are (not so) slowly taking over many of the technology functions in our lives. They can’t be ignored!
Whatever you do, for the love of all things good and wholesome in this world, make sure your emails are mobile responsive! You do NOT want to find yourself losing out on a potential 43% of sales because you didn’t take the time to create an email campaign that is mobile-friendly.
12 – Don’t Overdo It
Yes, you want to reach your customer!
Yes, you want to make sales!
But if every interaction with your audience is transaction-based, they will burn out. Create some variety in your email marketing campaign by including other types of emails. A simple happy holidays email will go a long way to showing your customers that you care about more than just their wallets.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up with non-promotional emails!
Just a Starting Point
Now that you have these tips it’s time to take and implement them into your holiday email campaigns. These tips are not an exhaustive list, but they will give you plenty of good ideas for improving your holiday email marketing.
These tips make a great starting point, but if you are having trouble creating your holiday marketing plan, or you want expert help taking your campaigns to the next level, the Conceited Marketing team is here to help. We specialize in email and SMS marketing, and we have the expertise and experience to take your business to the next level.
If you are ready to reach new customers and increase your sales, schedule your complimentary consultation here. We are always eager to partner with new clients and help them achieve “clap for your damn self” results!