Tis the holiday season and thus an onslaught of holiday sales emails that will grow from the seeds of late-summer/early-fall planning.
(You did discuss this with your team already, right? I mean, you wouldn't wait until Thanksgiving week to start hatching a plan, would you?)
With the stigma of buying online evaporating more and more by the day and purchase, online retailers are in the pole position when it comes to reaching their audience, connecting with that audience and creating brand loyalty. People just don't have time anymore to spend wandering aimlessly around a mall or shopping district.
If you're like me, you want to get in and get out IF you have to go out at all. However, with going online, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and not feel bad if I leave a shopping cart full of stuff because I just got an email from another retailer with a better offer.
Here's a few quick-hit thoughts about holiday email campaigns that might be of use.
> What's the point? - This is one of my favorite questions to ask email marketers. If you can't tell me the point of your email in two sentences, then you shouldn't be sending it. If someone says, "The point is to boost holiday sales," my first thought is "No s**t. Give me more specifics." Do you have a target audience or specific products you're looking to move? What's the incentive? Would you take action if you got this offer in your inbox?
> What's the offer? - I have thousands upon thousands of choices of where to buy something with two major differentiators being a) price and b) convenience. Too many retailers seem scared to offer great stuff at a great price or incentive. I hate ads that say "Buy $200 and save 10%". $200 with one retailer seems like a lot and 10% is only $20. This is too passive. How your offer immediately hits someone will either send people inside your e-store or send them to the Delete button. You've got a few seconds...make it count with that sweet spot of the email.
> What are the success metrics? - So what are you looking to achieve with specific holiday campaigns? Do you have some internal success benchmarks or are you just winging it? Having some sort of financial goal is obviously a good idea so you can see whether all of your effort was worth it and what adjustments you can make for the future.
There are obviously some other things to keep in mind like how active your list is, how many days before the holidays you send out and how competitive your industry is that all play important roles in the ultimate success of your holiday email campaigns. If you're starting now, you're not completely lost but you're behind. Do what you can for this season and then, lock and load on a plan for 2010's holiday rush which will be here before you know it.
So what did we learn today?
- Your holiday email marketing plan should be completed by Labor Day and pushed into action in early-to-mid November.
- It should be different, relevant and grab people within a few seconds.
- You should have specific goals and objectives for the success of your program and have the methods to validate where you're at in reaching them.
- I accept presents 365 days a year.
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