Is it too early to send out email marketing campaigns for the 2019 holiday season? Yes. But it’s not too early to help your clients plan their holiday email marketing strategy. That’s the advice from YES marketing analysts in their 2019 Holiday Marketing Guide.

Black Friday Email Conversion Rates are on the Rise

Marketers love Black Friday email campaigns. Last year, nearly half, 47.5%, invested in an email campaign to drive traffic for this important date in the annual holiday shopping season. The average unique click rate was 1.3%, unchanged from the previous year. More importantly, the average click-​to-​open rate of 11.0% and the average conversion rate of 8.8% both increased, when compared to 2017. Analysts point out that marketers continue to have high conversion rates because consumers believe that Black Friday emails contain good deals. 

Timing

Your clients might be eager to get their email offers into consumers’ hands well in advance of the actual shopping holiday. But Yes Marketing analysts note that sending out a campaign on November 1 won’t necessarily yield a high ROI, especially if the offer doesn’t take effect until Black Friday. They actually yielded only a 4% open rate for marketers last year, so the best approach may be to use these early email communications as engagement builders. 

The Power of Offering a Deal

Almost half of Black Friday email messages sent last year on the actual shopping day scored over a 5% conversion rate. If your clients really want to make an impact, their Black Friday email campaigns should include a $ off promotion. That format resulted in a 14.8% conversion rate last year. By comparison, 7.1% of offers with a % off promotion converted, while 3.6% of Black Friday emails with no offers converted. 

Researchers also reported that themed promotions serve as a way to generate activity from buyers who are seeking limited-​edition items. Shoppers who are afraid that an item might run out of stock or who don’t want to run to the mall will respond to these types of emails immediately and they may buy online.

To get the most out of a holiday Black Friday email strategy, remind clients to go after abandoned shopping carts. The hectic holiday weekend means many consumers get interrupted when they’re shopping online. If your client offers an incentive to people who didn’t finish their transactions, they can generate more revenue.

To learn more about the types of advertising Black Friday shoppers respond to, check out the AudienceSCAN report available from AdMall at SalesFuel.