If you are in the retail industry and have not begun to define your strategy for Holiday 09, it is time to get moving. On July 1 Hallmark reached out to subscribers announcing the arrival of the 2009 ornament collection. Yes, this is early. Yes, Hallmark did this last year. Yes, today is the day to write your 2009 holiday email marketing strategy.
Typically, holiday marketing begins softly in late July and escalates in volume quickly beginning in October. By November it will be roaring. In 2008 Chad White reported Christmas retail emails as a percentage of total daily retail email volume at 20% in mid-October, 70% in mid-November, and close to 90% by mid-December. Expect the pace to be equal or faster this year, with holiday shoppers budgeting and looking for offers from their favorite brands.
Relevancy & frequency define your holiday email marketing strategy
Like all solid email marketing strategies, relevancy and frequency are the foundation of your holiday email marketing strategy. Too little communication and a potential customer may purchase gifts from a competitor who was communicating and top-of-mind. Remember: relevancy rules. Segment your list and send messages containing content that you know for certain your subscribers are interested in.
• Segment on past purchasing behavior and send messages promoting related products.
• Segment on clicks from previous emails. While a purchase may not have been made, the consumer may still be interested in that product or something similar.
A Holiday Email Marketing Strategy in 5 Steps
1. Identify the products you will promote this holiday season, and which months you will promote them.
2. Define your promotional offers and the time frames for the offers. Consider getting strong offers out early to reach consumers before they have spent their budgeted funds. Tiger Direct sent a “Black Friday in July” email on July 13 – that’s getting your best offer out there early.
3. Segment your list as much as possible. Use your preference center, read and click activity, and past purchasing behavior to target unique audiences with specific, relevant offers.
4. Plan your deployment calendar with intelligence. Look at the best and worst performers from your 2008 campaigns and follow your own best practices. Setting actual dates will enable your creative team to work in advance and keep you on schedule.
5. Design your creative for maximum performance. Get that CTA above the fold and in the preheader as well so that people are certain to know what your email is all about.
Click here speak with an email marketing expert who can help you write your 2009 email marketing strategy and deployment calendar, or to learn more about smart email marketing.
