How many more shopping days til Christmas? Oh well, time to make sure your email marketing for the holidays will be productive. Recent research has shown that open and click-through rates tend to hold steady during the holidays – despite the added volume – and that click-to-conversion rates increase significantly. Listed below are some good suggestions we have pulled from various sources - Make your holiday emailing count!
- Send a thank you email: Use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to give thanks to your customers for supporting your business. You don’t even have to include an offer (but you can if you want to) – it’s been proven that a simple “thanks” goes a long way toward increasing customer loyalty. Your customers will thank you in return by giving you their patronage this holiday season.
- In-store only promotions: Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is famous for being the biggest shopping day of the year. Send an email telling people to come into your shop for a one-day only offer or early doorbuster promotions.
- Online only promotions: Create an online only promotion in honor of Cyber Monday, which is said to be the busiest day for online shopping. Send out a promotion code in an email and direct people to your website where they can redeem their discount.
- Email campaign series: Create an email series for Hanukkah or the 12 Days of Christmas, and present a new gift idea each day.
- Be helpful: Offers such as “guaranteed delivery by X,” “extended shopping hours” and/or “free upgraded shipping” help reassure those rushing to make deadlines.
- Provide last-minute gift ideas: Late shoppers often procrastinate because they can’t decide what to get. (Or they just hate shopping!) Help them with the decision-making and ease their shopping stress by providing gift ideas for certain types of people or at certain price points.
- Attract last-minute shoppers to your store or website: Consider these offers: Most popular items of 2011; gift cards/gift certificates; extra percentage off their purchase; gift with purchase; or complementary wrapping.
For after the holidays:
- Holiday clearance sale
- Post-holiday sale
- "Stock up for the new year and save" promotion
- An appeal to return that horrendous gift and get something you actually want
- "New year, new you" product promotion
