It’s not too late! 5 quick tips to polish your email marketing strategy over Christmas
With less than a week to go until the big day, it can feel like your festive marketing strategy is a foregone conclusion. If the metrics are looking promising then great, and if they’re not then time to chalk it up to experience and prepare for 2018, right?
Wrong. Every piece of messaging counts at this time of year: when retail figures go through the roof and subscribers are at their most amenable to receiving marketing communications. So, put down that mince pie and get ready to implement our 5 quick-fix tips for maximizing your strategy in the run-up to Christmas.
1.Mix up your content
Like every diligent email marketer you probably started scheduling the bulk of your communications weeks ago (and, if you didn’t, we need to talk). Now more than ever it’s important to remain agile, however, and keep your content fresh to ensure your audience remain engaged. A bit of extra creative sparkle has become expected over the holidays, making this the ideal period to experiment a little with dynamic content, interactivity, and sophisticated design. And, whether it’s because they overindulged at the office party or they can’t wait to get home and see their loved ones, it’s generally reported that customers are more receptive to brand communications over Christmas too. Win-win!
2. Send out a postage PSA (Public Service Announcement)
If you’re a retailer, I can guarantee your customers will be stressing over those last-minute Christmas presents and desperately searching for next-day delivery. Give them the information they need in a single-send, accessible campaign. Reassure those who are fretting their product won’t be delivered on time, but be sure to add urgency by outlining your last guaranteed delivery date front and centre.
3. Throw in a competition
Engage your cross-channel strategy by driving social followers to an email sign-up form for the chance to win a tempting prize. Chances are your customers have been spending a lot on their loved ones this month, so why not offer them a treat too? You might also like to try the same strategy in reverse: harness your email subscribers to boost your social following.
4. Get ahead of the sales
Who says the sale doesn’t start until Boxing Day? Throw out a teaser offer, or run an exclusive pre-sale for subscribers to your mailing list (you could throw in a reduction on next-day delivery, too – see above). Assign a unique promo code to each customer, which can then be associated with their specific customer data and bolster their recommendations further down the line. You’ll also be able to associate the website traffic directly back to email, too, which will provide good insight into ROI. Oh, and one-off codes ensure a customer doesn’t go sharing the festive spirit around their friendship group too much.
5. Say thank you
Finally – and most importantly – take a bit of time to thank your loyal customers, followers, and subscribers for their business over the past year. Successful First-Person Marketing involves making sure your customers feel appreciated and valued, rather than just another contributory factor to your profit margin, and sending a personalized ecard can be a great way to nurture that relationship well into the new year.
This article was originally published here