Pre-Christmas email marketing: tips and ideas for online retailers
Christmas is just around the corner, and with it comes the question of the optimal marketing strategy. Our tip: Focus on email marketing and increase your sales opportunities. We at MyCOMMERCE provide the right inspiration and show you what you need to consider so your emails don’t get lost in the pre-Christmas flood of mailings.
Good planning is half the battle
Email marketing is a cost-effective way to achieve your goals. It only takes your personal time. However, it requires extensive planning. Follow the steps below and, with careful planning, lay the foundation for successful email marketing.
1. Do you analyse past campaigns?
To get the most out of your email campaigns, it’s worth evaluating past mailings. Find out which pre-Christmas mailings resonated particularly well with your customers and optimize your email campaigns for this year based on the insights gained:
What you need to do:
- Make a list of all the ideas you implemented over over the last year.
- Record customer responses to these ideas.
- Analyze the customer segment and the offerings that performed best.
This should be enough to figure out what works best for your company. It’s a huge advantage if you have data from multiple years, not just from the previous year, available for this analysis.
2. Are you learning from your competition?
Now you know how important it is to analyse past campaigns, but it is almost more important to always keep an eye on your competition.
We recommend the following procedure:
- Sign up for the newsletter mailing lists of four to five competitors.
- Collate all mailings sent during the pre-Christmas season.
- List the competitors’ offers and the chosen time.
Once you have this information, you’ll be able to identify certain trends. Ask yourself this question: have several competitors implemented the same idea, or are there offerings that repeat over several years?
3. Are you creating your own email marketing plan for the pre-Christmas season?
Once you’ve completed the steps described above, you’ll have valuable data at your disposal that will allow you to tailor your mailings precisely to your recipients. To ensure your success isn’t left to chance, the next step is to create a concrete plan for each mailing you plan to send.
Ideally, your plan should include the following points:
- Delivery date for each mailing
- The email subject lines + alternative subject lines for A/B testing per mailing, sorted by date
- Assignment of responsibility for each mailing
- The primary goal of each mailing
- The target audience for each mailing
For convenience, you can use a shared document or Google Calendar to create an email marketing plan.
MyCOMMERCE tip: Schedule your mailings to be sent during business hours. According to a study by Galaxus and Digitec, significantly more orders are placed in Switzerland between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. than outside of normal business hours.
Our tips & ideas for successful Christmas email campaigns
A successful email campaign is a blend of art and science. The real art lies in writing compelling copy, creating appealing designs, and crafting the perfect subject line. Fact-based science, however, makes it possible to approach potential customers at the right moment with the right offer. If you’re still unsure about which email marketing strategy to pursue, we’re happy to help. Here are some useful tips and ideas for successful Christmas email campaigns:
Start early
Did you know that many people start their gift hunt as early as September? For you as an online retailer, this means planning the launch of your email campaign as early as possible.
Take a look at the following mailing:
This is a great example of how you can get an early start on your Christmas sales. You can also run an early Black Friday promotion by giving your customers early access to your Black Friday deals. Get creative, but keep in mind that sending too frequently can negatively impact click and open rates. Plan your pre-Christmas email campaigns to further increase recipient interest.
Announce the Christmas deadlines
The classic: Christmas is here, but the presents haven’t arrived. You can avoid this scenario by ensuring maximum product availability in advance and proactively informing your customers about shipping times. Schedule your mailings around key dates, such as the last possible standard shipping day, so your customers can place their orders in time for Christmas.
Gift ideas
The question of all questions in the run-up to the festive period: what should you get everyone for Christmas? Help unsuspecting customers in their gift search by compiling a selection of Christmas gift ideas.
MyCOMMERCE tip: Thanks to our Mailchimp integration, you can easily integrate your products into your email marketing campaigns. This allows your customers to purchase your products quickly and easily with just one click.
Christmas wishes: small gesture, big impact
Your recipients’ inboxes are flooded with automated advertising emails from various senders every day. So don’t forget to surprise your customers with personalized Christmas greetings. For an extra wow factor, add a group photo of your employees in their Christmas-themed look.
Bargain alert
Especially during the Christmas season, online shoppers are busy searching for special offers and bargains. Set yourself apart from your competitors by offering your customers discounts or free shipping. With the MyCOMMERCE Starter subscription, you can easily create time-limited coupon codes and promote them in your mailings.
Revive abandoned shopping carts
Shopping cart abandonment is especially prevalent during the pre-Christmas season. With a Standard subscription or higher, the MyCOMMERCE “Email Marketing Automation” and “Mailchimp” features allow you to counteract abandoned shopping carts with a reminder email. This mailing also includes a discount code to further encourage your customers to continue the checkout process.
Last-minute offers
In the final days before Christmas, quick availability is usually the top priority when choosing gifts. The goal is for the gifts to arrive in time for Christmas. Consumers who want to play it safe therefore turn to gift cards. This is more than enough reason to offer gift cards in your store and market them as a practical last-minute gift shortly before Christmas as part of an email campaign. Learn more here.
Conclusion
There are many ways to delight your customers with email marketing during the pre-Christmas season. Start planning today to get the most out of the holiday season. We at MyCOMMERCE wish you every success!
