Holiday shopping season accounts for over $1 Trillion, and more than one-quarter of annual US retail sales. Average expected spend for the 2017 holiday season was $1,226 per respondent. This number was nearly double at an average of $2,226 among households earning $100,000 or more.
As online shopping is becoming a fad among savvy customers, marketers need to buckle up and strengthen their digital marketing strategy. It not only helps in bringing them more business but also helps enhance the conversion rate by tapping on the ‘Christmassy’ mood of the customers.
This implies… Holiday email marketing, if done right, can bring in a revenue of billions of dollars every year. I hate to say this, BUT monotony is bound to make your emails boring and therefore, you should invest your time in creating innovative emails for the festive season.
With the third quarter of the year, the holiday marketing frenzy sets in and all the marketers get toiling at creating the right holiday marketing emails to entice their subscribers/prospects and convert them into customers.
As important as it may seem to work hard for your holiday marketing, smart work is equally important. Make the marketing efforts in the right direction – that’s most important…
Take a look at the holiday calendar for 2018:
31st October: Halloween
22nd November: Thanksgiving
23rd and 26th November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday respectively
25th December: Christmas
1st January 2019: New Year
Let’s start with insights into creating better Halloween emails.
HALLOWEEN
Did you know?
Last year in 2017, all the winter holidays combined together formed the second highest consumer spending event and quite interestingly Halloween individually stood at the ninth position in that list of top 10 consumer spending events.
Halloween is all about buttering up your subscribers with scary, yet pleasant emails that encourage them to make the purchase. Learn how.
Subject Line
Use some Halloween pun that would make the subscribers open the email with a smile.
Email Copy
Use a creative font with a freaky tone that adds all the feels to your email content.
Email Design
Include Halloween specific elements like ghosts, pumpkins, witch’s broomstick, etc. that create a festive spirit and drive more conversions and ROI.
To experience the interactivity, click here.
Pro-tip: As Halloween marks the beginning of all the significant holidays, it would be a good idea to let them know that you will be sending more emails in the days to come. You can even let them adjust their preferences and interests.
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving holiday weekend is among the most lucrative periods for marketers. In 2017, over 174 million Americans shopped in stores and online during this time.
Here are some tips to enhance your emails for the day and use the occasion to its maximum advantage.
Subject Line
Make sure your subject line for Thanksgiving oozes out thankfulness rather than a discount offer or clickbait copy.
Some good examples for Thanksgiving subject lines would be:
- It’s a time to give thanks
- THIS. UP. 50% off ALL Thanksgiving Essentials +$10 coupon
- Dress up your Thanksgiving table in sweet style
- Thanksgiving Dinner Has Never Been Easier
Email Copy
Say a sincere Thank You to the subscriber and offer a discount to let it blend with the essence of ‘giving’.
Email Design
Use interactive elements like GIFs and CSS animations in your email design and make the reader tempted to make the purchase.
Pro-tip: Organize a social contest this Thanksgiving Day and promote it through your emails. Create urgency with limited time prizes and encourage spontaneous participation. This will not only help you get more brand visibility but also more holiday sales.
BLACK FRIDAY & CYBER MONDAY
Black Friday spending touched the huge figure of $1M per minute in the year 2017. At the same time, Cyber Monday was the largest online sales day last year at a historic spending of around $6.59 billion. Let’s look at some insights that can help you achieve the conversion target for holidays.
Subject Line
Your subject line should be enticing and provide the subscriber an opportunity to shop at discounted rates.
Emphasize on ‘incentives’. Use words like ‘sale’, ‘free’, ‘discounts’, ‘off’, etc. in a way that stands out from your competitors.
Have a look at the screenshot below to understand how Black Friday and Cyber Monday subject lines work along with the phrases that can help you beat the competition.
Source: OmniSend
Email Copy
Keep your Black Friday and Cyber Monday email copy short and simple, yet compelling for the prospects to convert. Give them an attractive offer that they cannot refuse.
Email Design
Most of the emails during the holiday season are about discounts. In such a scenario, gamification, keyframe animations, and kinetic email designs will make your emails stand out and leave an indelible impression in the subscriber’s mind.
Use bold colors that spruce up the holiday fun in the email and emanate happy vibes from behind the screen.
Pro-tip: Capture the attention of your subscriber by including the right color combinations and text: image ratio.
CHRISTMAS
Christmas is one of the most awaited occasions among the marketers. The good news is that the retail holiday sales during Christmas rose to 4.9% in 2017 and this is the biggest surge in the last 5 years. That said, marketers should focus on creating awesome emails that would bring unmatched results for their business.
Subject Line
Draft peppy subject lines that match the theme of Christmas and enhance the merry vibes of the occasion.
Send out something like:
- Cheer on! Let the festivities begin
- There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting…
Email Copy
Write a sweet Christmas wish for your customers and subscribers and promote attractive discounts with gift guides to fetch more customers.
Email Design
Your Christmas email design is incomplete if it does not have Christmas trees, snowflakes, snowman, reindeer, and a big fat Santa. Use these props to create an innovative email that would bring great results for your email campaigns.
To experience the interactivity, click here.
Pro-tip: Do not send daily emails as a part of your Christmas countdown strategy. It can get too annoying for your subscribers.
NEW YEAR
For your subscribers, New Year is all about making new resolutions and setting new benchmarks. Use it in the best possible way and finish your year in style. Check out some tips to help you out.
Subject Line
Kindle the interest of the subscriber with a subject line that uses a dash of suspense in the subject line. It should convince the subscriber that there is something awesome in store for them once they open the email.
Your subject line should reflect new markdowns that will bring more business to you on the last day of the holiday season (but first day of the next year).
Here’re some examples:
- Before the Ball Drops! Year-End Savings Ends Soon
- Welcome the New Year with a new dress
- Ring in the New Year Early: Up to 50% off
Email Copy
Just like Christmas, the New Year email is about wishing your subscribers happiness in the coming year. Your copy should be appealing and drive the desired click-through rates.
Email Design
Give a try to custom templates instead of modular templates for your New Year so that it does not seem monotonous. This would be a great New Year gift for your subscribers.
Pro-tip: Help the last-minute buyers with options like same day delivery and free shipping. Highlight these features in the email, but make sure you live up to the promise.
Bonus Tips for Holiday Email Marketing from Industry Experts
- Start early to plan your holiday emails. The holiday season should not get underway to re-activate lapsed subscribers. – Daniel Deneweth from Oracle
- Be prepared for mistakes to happen. Have a simple email template ready that is in sync with your brand guidelines. Error management process is a must during the holidays. – Kara Schoeler from Salesforce
- Hold ‘super-secret’ exclusive advance holiday sales for your loyal customers for a limited time. Use countdown with inventory counters in your emails to encourage instant purchases. – Karen Talavera from Synchronicity Marketing
- Take a novel approach and build an interactive quiz or survey regarding the gift preferences of your customers. Based on their answers, create personalized recommendations to help them better. – Michal Leszczynski from Get Response
- Employ new end-to-end checkout functionality inside the email so that it reduces the steps required to complete the purchase – Rich Wilson from Brightwave
Wrapping Up
Do not let the lack of innovation hamper the performance of your holiday email marketing. Use these expert suggestions to create your holiday emails and see the change as your sales soar.
