Prepare for the Holiday Season with an Updated Email List
It’s only the beginning of August, which means you probably already have your emails planned and ready to go for the holiday season. I mean, there are only about 140 days until Christmas, right? We spent a bit less on Christmas in 2020, but those saved dollars are probably going to appear in 2021.
After the year we’ve had, shoppers are ready to reward themselves and their loved ones this holiday season. So, are you ready? We have three great tips to help you get into the holiday email spirit!
‘Tis the Season to Get Emailing
We’re all creatures of habit, and one habit we enjoy is online shopping. Who likes fighting the crazed, devil rodents at the mall during the holidays? It’s much nicer to sit at home next to the fire and order gift-wrapped presents that are delivered.
It’s not a surprise then that almost a quarter of Americans begin planning their holiday shopping in October. Why so early? Well, we’re certainly shopping online most of the year anyway. Online shopping gives shoppers two things they really want for the holiday season:
The ability to touch and feel an item before the purchase,
And the ability to return an item they don’t like.
What better way to do that than online? As a marketer, the best way to get ahead of the shopping curve is with a few festive emails!
“Many shoppers avoided stores, even in the final weeks of the season when it became harder to order products online in time for Christmas. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 22 online sales hit $171.6 billion, up 32.4% compared with the same period last year, according to Adobe Analytics.” Market Watch
Prepare for the Holiday Season with a Clean Email List
It is said that cleanliness is next to Godliness, but it’s also a holiday thing to do! December 6 is Nicholaus Tag in Germany. On the night of December 5, children clean their boots and leave them outside the door before going to sleep. In the morning they will be filled with sweets and small toys -- but only if they have been good.
We don’t have to clean Santa’s boots here in the US but he does reward those who have been good. A clean email list is just as rewarding as it is for those who celebrate Nicholaus Tag. A clean email list is an efficient email list. It saves you time. That saves data, bother, and bounced emails.
Look into your lists. Who has not answered an email in the last 90 days? Let’s reach out to them in a festive way and see if they still want to hear from us. Make the email fun and interesting. Who can we re-engage with a few sugar cookies?
Get onto social media and see how many new subscribers you can tempt with your holly jolly. Website and social media campaigns are a great way to combine all of the excitement of the holidays into unique calls to action.
Thanksgiving. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Small Business Saturday. Giving Tuesday. It’s almost like Santa is handing this to us on a plate.
espace.com/static/6206d7cc2205ef6d7ca4c6dc/622fa0809bc78871c0d88175/622fa08e9bc78871c0d883ee/1647288462995/?format=original
Holiday Season and New Email Segments
Build new email segments. Not sure how? (This is where we come in.) We often put our audiences into easily managed silos. What about segmenting the segments a bit. Big spenders. Women who shop for men. Men who shop for women. Out of towners. Hikers. Hikers who camp. Hikers who camp and kayak.
Think of the holiday season like you do Spring cleaning. We’re not shaking out the cobwebs though, we’re shaking the sleigh bells to attract some holiday shoppers!
“One of the many significant benefits to email marketing is that the audience already has a connection with you. Your contacts already gave you their email address. No advertising method is as effective as an email in your customer's inbox.” Forbes
Prepare for the Holiday Season with Creative Subject Lines
“Ho Ho Ho Free Santa Shipping till midnight!” A plain holiday subject line might not stand out among the others. We probably get a hundred emails a day, am I right? The subject line is the deciding factor in the recipient’s decision whether or not to open your email.
Arouse curiosity, but most importantly address the recipient’s wishes! Who are you emailing? Why?What do they want?
“Still snowed-in on Maple Street, Bob? Let us deliver.”
“Tired of returning Fred’s gift, Mary? How about a gift card?”
“The neighbors have a new indoor grill. Yeah. Want one too?”
All it takes is a little creativity.
“Markets change. Your customers' needs change. Even if you had a really successful ad campaign or email template one day doesn't mean it will keep working for you in two months. Eventually, everything gets stale and ineffective.” Inc.
Prepare for the Holiday Season with Personalized Offers
Before you can get a lead, prospects need to find you. How do they do that? Most likely they open Google and type in a question. You say they aren’t looking for your website anymore. Sure, you already have their email address, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped looking.
We’re creatures of habit, remember? That means we’re always looking for a better deal, a bigger and better doohickey, a brighter thingamajig, and always a tastier donut.
Your website can give you important insight into what people are looking for.
Your email marketing of the previous months can tell you who is opening what subject lines.
Your sales can tell you who is buying what, where, and when -- and who did not.
That’s a lot of “personalized.”
So, supercharge your transactional emails! Get those abandoned carts and returned items back to the cash register. How much would even 5% in reactivated abandoned sales be worth to you? Remember, your customers want to buy things, and they want to buy from someone they trust. That’s you.
“The more a marketer knows about a subscriber, the better job she can do segmenting that subscriber and, thereby, providing the most relevant offers. But it takes a bit of work. If your company knows that a subscriber tends to buy women’s clothing but purchases gifts of men’s clothing during Father’s Day and Christmas, you might send her a message describing the popularity of men’s chinos.” Practical eCommerce
The Sleigh is Ready -- Let’s Wrap it Up!
So, you’re making a list, you’re checking it twice, you’re going to find out who is naughty and nice. Well, at least who is a new customer and who is a member of your point club!
The holiday season is the most magical season of the year. Wrap and deliver your emails with care and to the right people. Those new movers don’t want a personalized email for the previous tenant. Email marketing to the right people, at the right time, is a virtual invitation to talk directly with a customer, not only at Christmas but all year round.
