It’s the most festive time of the year, and also the most lucrative for brands if they play their cards right. With increased sales, higher engagement, and the highest customer exposure, there is endless opportunity for email marketers to capitalize on the seasonal boom.
To deliver the best results while beating out the competition, consider incorporating the following tips into your email marketing strategy this season:
Acknowledge all cultural and religious holidays, not just Christmas and the New Year. It is outdated to ignore the diversity of the audiences that brands market to. There are many festive holidays and periods throughout the year that can help drive engagement and sales, including Hanukkah, Diwali, Eid, and the Chinese New Year. Whether you segment your emails based on your subscribers’ religious practices, or invite all subscribers to join the festivities, celebrate all holidays and events to increase brand loyalty and show you care.
Get ahead on your subscriber lists. Building and bolstering your lists requires time and resources, and you don’t want to be stuck in the middle of the holiday rush trying to tie up loose ends while building and executing campaigns. Spend time before the holiday season encouraging your brand’s audience to sign up with all the touchpoints you have available and filter out inactive subscribers to ensure deliverability isn’t an issue during prime season.
Complete pre-holiday testing. It’s best to avoid testing during seasonal periods because audience engagement typically peaks in the run-up to major holidays. In the month or two prior to the holiday season, use A/B testing on elements like subject line, timing, and more to gather insights that can be used at the peak of festivities.
Segment your emails to new, previous, and VIP customers. Different types of customers display different purchasing habits depending on their familiarity with a brand. In the lead up to a holiday, new customers are likely to be the most engaged and will respond well to a drip campaign. Previous customers may take a little wrangling, so kick off the holiday season with an email reminding them of your brand’s value. VIP customers are your most loyal, so reward them during the holiday season with exclusive offers, including early-access to inventory, special discounts, and sneak peeks.
Have a disaster plan in place. Mistakes happen, and most are fixable, but it’s important to be prepared for any scenario. When engagement is higher than any other time of the year, it’s especially important to nip any mistakes in the bud before you lose customers. Let’s say you send an email with a broken discount code – have an apology template in place where you can share the correct information. Maybe your Black Friday or Cyber Monday campaigns don’t do as well as projected? Have a back-up campaign in place to offer a steeper discount or compelling incentive to boost sales.
Foster loyalty with post-holiday communications. The day after a holiday can be melancholy for some, so ease subscribers out of the holiday season with any final discounts, extra content, or even just a simple thank you for being a customer. Little steps will go a long way in building a year-round relationship.
This holiday season, utilize these strategies that are most relevant to your business to optimize your email program for the most wonderful time of the year. Let ResponseGenius help take your email marketing to the next level – hello@responsegenius.com