27% of U.S. consumers plan to start their holiday shopping in October, according to data from eMarketer. Since 55% of consumers say they prefer receiving holiday email ads over other ads, your client needs to get moving. Here’s what they need to know.

How to Craft this Holiday Season’s Most Successful Email Marketing Campaign

Start Now

U.S. consumers aren’t waiting as long as they used to before beginning their holiday shopping. We’ve gotten used to Thanksgiving being overlooked in favor of Christmas, Hanukkah and other winter holidays. But now, even Halloween needs to watch its back.

This year, holiday shoppers plan to start their buying process in:

• October: 27% of consumers will start shopping then
• In November, but before Thanksgiving: 26%
• During Cyber Week (Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday): 19%

Only 16% of consumers are going to wait until December to start their holiday shopping plans. That means successful email marketing campaigns need to start ASAP.

Personalize Them

Personalizing emails makes recipients 8x more likely to open and click on the email’s call to action link, says Mailmunch. But personalization doesn’t stop at adding the recipient’s name in the subject line. For truly successful email marketing, your client’s email ads need to feature relevant messages.

This means using the data your client has collected on consumers (e.g., their shopping and browsing history). That data can help you feature offers for products they’re interested in and create personalized offers for them. The more relevant and personalized the subject matter, the more likely an email is to succeed in driving sales.

Nail the Subject Line

Aside from the recipient’s name, Mailmunch also recommends using attention-​grabbing words in subject lines. “Last chance,” “last-​minute offer” and “tick tock” create a sense of urgency that make consumers more likely to take action.

Mailmunch also recommends having fun with the subject line (and email content in general). For example, as a whole, consumers love puns. “Yule never guess what we have back in stock,” will get a chuckle and a click out of more shoppers than anticipated.

Seasonal emojis also add to the fun. They’re eye catching, help express feeling and just make inboxes look more festive. So, don’t be afraid to add a snowman or a holiday tree at the beginning or end.

Questions can also contribute to successful email marketing subject lines, as long as they focus on a consumer pain point. Mailmunch recommends using questions like:

• “Are you looking for some gift ideas?”
• “Did you miss the latest items on sale?”
• “Christmas present panic? We’ve got you”

Have a Holiday Email Schedule

The key to successful email marketing around the holidays is to not oversaturate recipients’ inboxes. According to a previous SalesFuel blog, based on data from optimove, 37% of consumers want to receive fewer holiday emails. 12% say that they’re even overwhelmed by the number of holiday email ads they receive.

So, don’t send out emails just for the sake of staying top-​of-​mind constantly. Instead, time them appropriately.

For example, your client can align them with popular shopping periods. Your client should always send at least one email out to promote their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. And with consumers starting their shopping early, your client can send out an email promoting early deals.

Automation can also help your client send out well-​timed email ads. Automation can ensure your client’s potential customers get emails that can help drive sales, like:

• Abandoned cart emails
• Welcome emails for new subscribers
• Additional deals on related items when a consumer makes a purchase

Learn more about what types of email ads your client’s target customers enjoy on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel.

Don’t wait; successful email marketing campaigns need to start being put together right now!

Photo by: Joshua Mayo