Even though the weather is still unseasonably warm, we’ve only just celebrated Halloween, and you are nowhere near feeling the festive spirit, believe it or not, now is the time to begin planning your seasonal email marketing campaigns to ensure you reap the rewards from the biggest shopping quarter of the year[i].
It may seem early, but for many businesses Christmas is the biggest event of the year and therefore you can’t underestimate the need for a well-considered email marketing campaign.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more shoppers are choosing to shop online, and with supply issues caused by Brexit, they’re doing it earlier too[ii].
From e-commerce stores to hospitality, Christmas email marketing campaigns are a fantastic opportunity to present a unique spin on the festivities and to keep your brand and products at the top of your subscribers’ minds.
With the right email strategy, and understanding of your audience as well as transpond, you’ll have all the tools you need to implement holiday season marketing activity that exceeds both your hopes and sales targets.
Get the most out of your Christmas campaign by structuring it into three stages...
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Pre-Christmas Planning – November – December
With people starting to think about their Christmas shopping from September, now’s the time to warm up your subscriber list with regular email content. It’s a successful strategy in ensuring you are keeping your brand and products at the top of a consumer’s mind. That way, you’ll be the first company they think of when they’re ready to purchase their presents.
Wish lists and gift-guides are an excellent way to showcase your most popular products and create customer-centric campaigns. If you have a comprehensive understanding of your subscriber base, personalise the content within these emails to show them relevant product selections to match their interests and previous shopping history.
Email service providers like transpond offer all the technology you need to segment your list, personalise your campaigns and automate your email blasts. All you need to do is think of the relevant products to promote.
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Christmas Activity – from 22nd – 30th December
With the festivities in full swing, and your subscribers well-nurtured with your pre-Christmas activity, then this stage is relatively straightforward. It’s also a great time to get creative with some fun content!
It’s worth bearing in mind that Christmas can be a difficult season for many, so at this time it’s best to keep your emails conversational, warm and in the festive spirit.
If you’re planning seasonal discounts, now is the time to offer them – you can bet all your competitors will be offering them too. Providing your audience with discounts on products or services they’ve already shown an interest in, is an easy way to inspire them to purchase. Don’t forget to give them the chance to share their discount codes with family and friends too!
Remember, pre-testing and scheduling your festive emails with transpond means that no one needs to manually send emails over the Christmas week – so everyone can relax with a well-earned sherry or two.
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Post-Christmas Round-Up (January & February)
The festivities are rapidly over, and another new year welcomed in, but that doesn’t mean your email marketing should be. January and February can prove to be quite fruitful and set the pace for the new year.
With all the yuletide commotion in the past, many people use this time to purchase items for themselves, or products that they had their eye on – but never received as a gift (we’ve all been there, right?). Cheeky email reminders of products they’ve shown an interest in during the run up to the 25th, could prove to be enough to encourage a new, or repeat, purchase.
Now’s also a great time to implement some relationship marketing. Thank your customers for their support and offer them a gift to encourage another purchase. This goes a long way in the fight to retain customers and ensure you have an actively engaged subscriber list.
Don’t holiday like Santa’s Elves
After your Christmas campaign has been well-received and successfully exceeded your expectations, now is not the time to drop off until next year.
Maintaining regular contact with your subscribers and providing them with appropriate content throughout the year will ensure you have an actively engaged subscriber list – making the potential for Christmas 2022 even bigger and better.
Get ahead of the competition and act now
By spending the time to develop an outstanding campaign, you’ll be reaping the rewards as we move closer to the big day. Just remember our three essential steps to planning and executing a prosperous Christmas plan:
- Warm up your subscriber list and build interest early
- Provide personalised and relevant content
- Thank and reward your customers to retain them for the future
Now really is the time to start planning your 2021 festive marketing email strategy. Check out our full range of features or contact us to request a run-through, our team will be happy to help!
[i] https://www.statista.com/topics/6297/holiday-retail-in-the-uk/
[ii] https://internetretailing.net/peak/peak/uk-shoppers-have-started-to-think-about-christmas-shopping--are-you-ready-23552