The holiday season is a merry time to enjoy giving and receiving gifts. But for marketers behind the scenes, it’s a stressful one. The goal is not just to put out a relevant campaign but to also increase audience engagement and boost sales.
The Christmas season is when people go crazy shopping. According to a report, the average American spent $870 on Christmas shopping last year. Another survey revealed that 10% of Europeans and 41% of Americans are willing to go into debt just to complete their shopping lists.
With huge profits at stake, marketers and business owners need to get their holiday email marketing right to get ahead and make the most of this lucrative season. Check out our tips for boosting sales and engagement during the holidays with email marketing.
1. Use Holiday Email Templates
Christmas email templates are a must because they are eye-catching and professionally made yet more affordable than hiring a design team. This is an especially smart tactic for small businesses with limited budgets. You can get in on the holiday frenzy by using email templates to announce your sales, new items, and other marketing updates.
Don’t forget to customize your template. In addition to the cheerful holiday theme, you should always inject your brand into it. Make sure that all messages are aligned with your brand and what you want it to stand for.
2. Start Your Promotional Campaign Early
According to a survey, 56% of Americans intend to start their Christmas shopping as early as October. That’s a whole month before Black Friday when shoppers go all out. This means that people start Christmas shopping even before stores have started their festive campaigns.
When you start your Christmas promotions early, email recipients will be conditioned to think of your brand when they start shopping. Create an email marketing calendar to take advantage of pre-holiday sales and encourage your audience to get ahead on their Christmas shopping lists.
3. Build Up Your Christmas Deals
Since it’s ideal to start your Christmas campaign in October, start a countdown. You can send out weekly emails reminding them of your pre-holiday event and display a countdown (i.e. 10 days to go, 2 days to go, etc.) Don’t do it too often though since it can be perceived as spam.
4. Share Informative Tips
Don’t over-promote. People generally hate being sold to. It’s okay when it is done periodically, but if it’s too often, it can quickly become annoying. Constantly being bombarded with marketing messages can become tiresome and lead consumers to tune them out. So, take a break from sending out salesy emails and try to be helpful instead.
Share articles like holiday gift guides and tips with your audience. This type of email marketing strategy provides value to people. The article must be informative and educational. Of course, the article or blog can be peppered with products available in your store. However, the main point is to be informative and helpful.
So, try a fresh approach and give them relevant and handy information while sneaking in a few product links from your site that are within context.
5. Personalize Email Marketing
Create an email campaign that is segmented and personalized. Personalization is a given. People are generally more responsive when they see their name on the email rather than a generic “Hi, shopper!”
To address different buyer personas, segment them and create different emails for each group.
How do you segment your audience?
One way is to target them based on their shopping behavior over the years. For example, you can segment your audience based on previous purchases, website engagements, or interactions. This way, you can send targeted promos to specific groups at different stages of the marketing funnel to optimize your sales.
Another way to segment them is by dividing year-round shoppers and seasonal shoppers. Frequent shoppers deserve loyalty rewards and discounts. Seasonal shoppers may be enticed by promos on products that they’ve added to cart but didn’t check out.
6. Send a Post-Holiday Email
Just because the holiday season is over doesn’t mean your campaign must end. Conduct a post-holiday email campaign that encourages your market to shop for more.
It’s also wise to send out a post-purchase email. This is an email that buyers get after finalizing their order. You can thank them for purchasing at your store and even suggest other items that are frequently bought together with their purchased product. This type of communication will make customers feel like they are building a relationship with your brand rather than just having a transactional one.
You can also encourage customers to send you feedback on their purchases through your post-holiday email blast.
Benefits of Holiday Email Marketing
Holidays are the best time for retailers. However, in addition to boosting sales and revenue during the last quarter of the year, there are other gains to be had from this annual end-of-year shopping spree.
What are the benefits of holiday email marketing?
Increased Brand Awareness
Holiday marketing allows brands to be more creative than usual. Creating clever email marketing campaigns helps businesses tap new audiences and grow their following. People are also actively shopping around this time so there is a higher chance your campaign gets noticed. Complement email marketing with engaging holiday social media posts for more integrated marketing.
Create a Sense of Urgency
By starting your Christmas promos early, creating a countdown, and publishing buying guides, you are creating a sense of urgency for Christmas. Since people are also inclined to start their shopping early, you can leverage this trend in your communications and remind them to do their holiday shopping before the Christmas rush begins.
Entice Customers With New Products or Services
The holiday season is also the perfect time for a brand to launch a new product or service. Email marketing will help drum up support for new offers which will be buoyed by the fact that it’s the season when consumer spending is at its peak.
Drive Business Growth
You already know people spend money during the holiday season. Email marketing provides you with the opportunity to take a chunk of Christmas spending to stimulate brand growth through better awareness and recognition.
Final Thoughts
Holiday email marketing is a chance for brands to be creative while boosting sales and engagement. Christmas always brings with it holiday cheer and spending so when you do email marketing just right, you can get your audience’s attention and engagement while enjoying higher sales.
