With the holidays just around the corner, many Holiday Email Marketing Dos brands Tips for Effective Campaigns are gearing up for new and improved holiday email campaigns to attract new customers and increase sales.
This channel works very well for brands because it offers a personalized way to spread the holiday spirit and entice customers to make a purchase.
But are they doing it right? Will they get a good ROI from their campaigns?
Let’s explore some of the pros and cons of holiday email marketing to help you create memorable experiences and build long-term relationships beyond the holiday season.
Do: Set a goal
Every email marketing campaign needs goals. Just because your holiday email campaign is short-term doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from setting goals to meet.
This could mean more clicks, downloads, or purchases. Or maybe you have a broader goal, which is to increase brand awareness or improve customer engagement.
Setting a goal will help you shape your email marketing strategy by giving you insights on how to proceed, such as:
- What types of emails to send
- Which audience(s) to address
- What tone and messages to include in your emails
Don’t: Send last minute emails
It is best to send Christmas emails in advance before the holiday season begins.
Otherwise, you risk missing out on valuable opportunities. Potential customers may be on vacation, so they may not check their emails. Another possibility is that customers have already done their holiday shopping, so your emails will no longer be relevant to them.
Sure, many people prefer to wait until after Christmas to take advantage of post-holiday sales. You can target them, too.
But it’s best to do it in advance so that all your subscribers have a chance to see your emails and have enough time to consider purchasing from your company.
What to do: Send targeted holiday emails with segmentation
Sending a vacation email to any past client is not the ideal way to promote your business.
In marketing, one size does not fit all. More specifically, one email rarely fits all. One of the best methods for sending effective promotional emails is customer segmentation.
This process involves dividing your email list into groups based on certain factors.
For example, your target audience may have made a previous purchase from your business or interacted with your website. You can segment this audience into a separate list from subscribers who interact with your business less frequently.
Or you can group subscribers based philippines email list on how often they shop with your brand. In this case, you could group year-round customers and seasonal shoppers into separate groups.
Customers who buy your products throughout the year might appreciate a holiday email about joining your loyalty program. On the other hand, holiday shoppers may enjoy discounts and promotions.
Hims, a health and wellness company, has a segment of male customers who struggle with DHT Hair Loss .
Sending targeted emails about this issue during the holidays not only engages your audience but also drives home the idea of holiday self-care and gift-giving.
Don’t: Forget to follow up
When it comes to sending emails, there are a lot of factors at play. Holiday emails can end up in spam folders. Your subscribers may also be distracted from juggling work and family responsibilities and preparing for the busy holiday season.
Sending thoughtful follow-ups can increase your chances of reaching unengaged subscribers and get you one step closer to a sale.
Try sending one or two follow-up emails to create a sense of urgency and remind subscribers that the holidays are approaching.
Do: Add a personal touch
Your holiday email marketing campaign the rise of artificial intelligence in phones should focus on sending personalized emails, which subscribers open 82% more often than generic emails.
Always include your subscribers’ names at the beginning of every email. This can improve engagement by capturing the reader’s attention. As a result, they are more likely to read the entire email and take action.
You can do the same with subject lines to entice subscribers to click through and increase open rates .
Other ways to add a personal touch to engage your email subscribers include:
- Telling a story: Share personal or relatable stories that resonate with your subscribers’ experiences or interests, creating an emotional connection. Your stories can include heartwarming holiday narratives, such as how your brand was founded or personal anecdotes related to the holiday season.
- Encouraging feedback: Invite your subscribers to share their thoughts, comments, and suggestions. This shows that you truly value their opinions and that they have the power to influence your brand’s decisions. You can get even more creative by creating a survey asking your subscribers about their favorite holiday traditions, memories, or gift ideas.
- Expressing gratitude: Show appreciation for your email list’s loyalty or engagement with your brand. A simple “thank you for being a valued customer” can go a long way. To show your gratitude, consider offering exclusive holiday discounts.
- Use a conversational tone: Your email copy should sound like you’re having a one-on-one conversation with the recipient. Avoid using overly formal or corporate language. Create content that reflects the joy and warmth of the holiday season.
- Using a personal signature: Use a real person’s name in the email signature to indicate that the email is written by a human being and not a company. This can help the email seem more personal and approachable. Include warm holiday wishes and a heartfelt message to add authenticity to the email.
Line, a mobile messaging app, is sharing a Thanksgiving contest to foster a personal connection with customers.
Personalization takes time. An effective holiday email marketing campaign needs personalized content, strategic timing, and compelling calls to action (CTAs).
To optimize email campaigns, consider turkey data using AI tools for business . AI helps analyze valuable customer data to predict the best times to send emails, leading to higher open rates.
It can also help you segment your email list, ensuring that each recipient receives content that is specifically tailored to their interests and needs.
For example, during the holiday season, you may have customers who buy last-minute and others who plan ahead.
AI can help identify these distinct behaviors, allowing you to send targeted emails with content that directly appeals to their purchasing habits.
A personalized touch made simple and efficient with AI can make the difference between your email being opened or getting lost in the sea of holiday promotions.
Don’t: Send emails to an old, inactive list
11.1% of all emails never make it to the mailbox due to email deliverability issues. Emailing a list you haven’t emailed in over a year is one of those things that can impact your email deliverability.
This is because email addresses can become inactive in a fairly short period of time. People tend to forget how and where they signed up for your email list. And they may no longer have access to the email address they used.
Therefore, sending emails to a subscriber list with inactive emails can reduce your open rate, increase your bounce rate, and increase your spam complaint rate.
All of this can damage your sender’s reputation and affect the success of your future holiday emails.
So, maintain list hygiene by removing inactive subscribers. But before you let them go, consider sending one last email to re-engage them. Check out the following email from AliExpress. Its subject line reads: We missed you ? .
What to do: Comply with email regulations
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) governs how companies collect, process, store and share your data.
The best way to follow these rules is to make sure you have a clear opt-out option for your holiday emails. Your subscribers should be able to easily find the unsubscribe button at the top or bottom of the email.
Another thing to watch out for is spam this holiday season. The CAN-SPAM Act addresses the problem of receiving unwanted commercial emails. So, to stay off the naughty list this year, avoid spamming your audience.
Customers are likely to receive hundreds of emails in their inboxes during the holidays. While it’s good to follow up multiple times, it’s important to maintain balance and avoid crossing the line into spam territory.
Not sure how often to send holiday emails? Take a look at your deliverability metrics from last year if you have them available. Check your open rates.
If they’re pretty good, then there’s a chance your sending frequency is on par. If not, re-evaluate how often you send emails and consider sticking with your usual email patterns.
Don’t forget your cell phone
Smartphones drove over 50% of online sales during the 2022 holiday season. So, if your holiday email campaign isn’t optimized for mobile, you could be missing out on the opportunity to maximize sales.
It’s also possible that your emails end up in the trash or, worse, in the spam folder. To avoid this, make sure you have a responsive email design that renders well on all devices.
For example, this email from Macy’s promoting a holiday sale looks great on mobile devices.
Do: Respect the different Christmas traditions
One of the worst things you can do is alienate your subscribers during a holiday email marketing campaign.
If you have a diverse email list, there’s a chance they have different beliefs and celebrations, such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.
Consider using a CRM to segment your list to include beliefs, faith, and background. This will help you create more targeted holiday emails that resonate with your audience and not assume everyone celebrates Christmas.
Summary
The holiday season is full of joy and gift-giving. So what better way to spread holiday cheer than through warm, welcoming, and festive emails?
The key to any successful holiday email marketing campaign is targeted, personalized, and highly relevant emails.
Providing value is another crucial component to resonating with your email subscribers. Offering gift cards, discount codes, and other special offers can give your email list something to look forward to using when it comes time to go shopping.
Remember that holiday email marketing is an ongoing process. You can learn from past mistakes and refine your campaign to continually increase sales and optimize conversion rates .
