With the holiday season upon us, businesses should know how to reach their audiences as effectively as possible. This is one of the reasons why they may consult digital marketing agencies, gaining a better understanding of the services they should implement. Social media management, search engine optimization, and branding are just a few examples of the services in question. With that said, email marketing has stood the test of time, producing results years after its initial implementations. In fact, holiday email marketing could make all the difference between losing business and closing transactions.
Holiday email marketing is a complex process, however, requiring an understanding of one’s audience, how to use various tools, and other variables. No one strategy is going to apply across the board, meaning that there is considerable time and effort that goes into this process. With this in mind, there are a few ways that you can bring your efforts to the next level, allowing you to make the most out of the holiday season. When it comes to email marketing during the holidays, here are a few things you should know.
You should plan as early as possible. One of the tricks to effective holiday email marketing is a comprehensive plan. What are the tools that you’d like to use? Do you have a template message for each audience you’re targeting? These are just a few elements to consider when developing your marketing blueprint for the holiday season. It’s not as if similar practices are uncommon during the holidays. Step into any major retail outlet and you’ll see Christmas decorations and merchandise out even before October has concluded. The sooner that you plan out your email marketing efforts, the more effective they’ll be.
Theme your content around the holiday season. While it should go without saying, email marketing content during the holidays should be themed around the holidays themselves. Use festive graphics and imagery to help capture the joy and merriment of this time of year. Provide value to your audience, whether it’s in regard to upcoming sales or discounts that users can take advantage of whenever they please. Simply inundating your audience with generic content won’t yield the results you’re looking for, so if you’re serious about bringing your marketing efforts to the next level, utilize holiday-themed content.
Experiment with different subject lines. An effective subject line will improve the likelihood of an email being opened. Thus, you shouldn’t leave this element of your holiday email marketing endeavors unaccounted for. There are a few tricks to help make your email subject lines as appealing as possible. First, keep them accurate to the content your email houses. Second, think about using holiday-themed emojis, as these help text pop. Third, draw attention to content users will be more likely to engage with, sales and discounts included. Provided your subject lines remain relevant to the content in question, you’ll find greater success from an email marketing standpoint.
Consider unique audiences. Next, understand that not all audiences will behave the same. This is why digital, social media, and email marketing agencies will be likely to recommend different approaches. To expand on this, business owners may have shoppers that do business with them year-round. Simply put, they’re loyal customers, providing their patronage regardless of seasonality. When it comes to seasonal shoppers, however, such as those that only do business with companies once or twice a year, a different approach will be required. The ability to use different marketing practices for specific audiences will help you maximize the limited time frame the holiday season offers.
Utilize automated technology. Depending on the scale of your holiday email marketing goals, you may not be able to do everything manually. This is especially true when ecommerce is brought into the mix, but in any event, it’s recommended that you utilize automated technology to bring your marketing efforts to the next level. One of the ways that this can be done is by setting up automated emails in the event that users abandon their online shopping carts. It’s been estimated that 7 out of every 10 online shoppers fail to complete their transactions, whether due to on-site difficulties or what have you. Automated emails can be set up, targeting such users to remind them of items still waiting in their carts. This is just one of the ways that automation assists short and long-term marketing alike.
About fishbat: fishbat is a full-service growth marketing company that takes a holistic business approach to their clients’ digital marketing programs. The fishbat team understands the importance of business principles just as well as the nuances of the latest digital technologies. fishbat offers every digital marketing service available from digital marketing research and planning to brand development to website and asset creation through social media management and search engine optimization programs – all custom calibrated for both B2B and B2C businesses.
