The eMerge Holiday Guide to Email Marketing
November 26, 2012
The holidays are a fantastic time to get your readers and customers really excited about your business. But it’s also a time when specials and seasonal promotions are running rampant, and you need a way to stand out from the crowd of businesses all trying to get your readers’ attention. So how do you get your brand out there without getting lost in the avalanche of emails hitting your contacts this year? Don’t worry, eMerge has your back with this helpful holiday guide to email marketing.
Be Different.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s going to be a lot harder than you think. What is the first thing people see when you send them an email? Your subject line. Who else is having sales during the holiday? Everyone. Find some way of turning your promotion of “Save 20% off Accessories” into something different from the other umpteen million sales-oriented emails hitting inboxes this year. You can read our guide to Creating Enticing Subject Lines for more details.
Be Festive.
An email is like a store, once the attractive signage (the Subject Line) gets them inside to shop, it’s decorated to suit the holiday season. Your emails need to carry that same festive spirit, and what better way to do that than through holiday-themed templates and images to really make your message pop. eMerge has tons of beautiful holiday templates and graphics to choose from. You can even mix and match images and themes to create your own unique, holiday look. Your readers are getting slammed with gaudy, flashy emails that do more to distract and irritate than impress and intrigue, so use that to your advantage and put together something really nice that your audience can enjoy.
Be Exact.
The eMerge platform lets you see who is interacting with your emails, so use that data to drive more sales. It’s really easy, simply look at your reports and pick out promotions or messaging that really drove high engagement like clicks. You can also look at reports from last year and select products based on what your most popular items in previous holiday seasons were.
Be Strategic.
The holiday season basically starts now, in fact 40% of consumers will begin their holiday shopping in November. But just because the time is now, doesn’t mean you should shotgun emails out daily. The most opportune times for customers to read your emails are between Tuesday and Thursday, then the weekend. With the scheduling features in eMerge you can plan and schedule your emails to go out whenever you want. A study by Hubze shows that 1/3 of all shoppers do their Christmas shopping ten days before Christmas, so maybe think about hitting your readers with a 10-days ‘til Christmas special to give them the extra motivation to buy.
1. Use holiday templates and themes in the eMerge platform to give your emails that special, festive look.
2. Include a list of holiday tips your readers can apply to your products or services.
3. Look at your eMerge email reports and create different holiday emails that will cater to your different readers. Send specials to contacts that tend to click on your promotions, and send tips and updates to contacts who click on your blog.
4. Add a lifestyle section with something fun, like an easy recipe for pumpkin pie, or ideas for decorating their house.
5. Use your customer data to see what products or services are popular during the holidays, and focus your messaging and promotions there.
6. Include a fun holiday video of how-to’s or a season’s greetings from your business.
7. Promote giving to a charity or cause your business may be involved with (i.e. Toys for Tots, or Operation Christmas Child).
As an eMerge user you have some incredible tools at your disposal to really stand out in a crowded inbox. Attractive holiday templates and images will make your emails pop, your reports will give you great insight as to what will get your readers excited, you can schedule your messages for whenever you want, and you have the expert guidance of the eMerge team to show you the do’s and don’ts of email marketing.
