Email marketing provides an amazing opportunity for online marketers to target their existing client base and drive repeat business. I’ve talked in a previous post about how retailers, who are perhaps new to email marketing, can capitalize on their increased Christmas marketing spend by sending their first email campaign on December 26th. But what strategies should companies already sending regular email marketing communications consider to boost their Christmas revenues?
The most obvious strategy is to increase your volume in the lead up to the big day.
This approach often makes marketers slightly nervous. They worry about sending too many emails and potentially flooding their subscribers’ inboxes with, what they might perceive as spam. This says more about the marketers’ belief in the quality of their own content and segmentation than any increase in activity. I personally believe, as long as your emails are relevant, engaging and timely (I’m assuming they are already permission-based and legally compliant), your subscribers will welcome the increased touch points. If your emails aren’t relevant, engaging and timely, it is time to take a crash course in producing better content.
6 Email Marketing Campaigns to Send This Christmas
Complementary Products: If your lists are neatly segmented by product or service, try creating a range of complementary email campaigns. For example a DVD seller could target existing customers with a range of similar titles by genre, director or actor. Similarly, a fashion retailer could send out campaigns based on previously purchased designer labels, sizes, styles or complementary accessories. If you are segmenting your lists appropriately and selecting your offers correctly, it will result in sending more emails to fewer people. If your email campaigns are template driven and your lists are in order, this shouldn’t be too arduous. If you struggle to find the time to create multiple campaigns, consider the ROI targeted email campaigns have the potential to generate ($44.25 for every dollar spent) and carve the time from less productive tasks. If your lists aren’t neatly segmented check out this post to learn how one online retailer dropped the shotgun approach to email marketing and got to know his customers a little better.
Free Delivery/Returns: Discounting your products might drive additional sales but can seriously damage your profits (and nobody wants to be a busy fool). By offering free delivery and returns will cost you money (and you’ll need to factor this into your pricing strategy) but will not devalue your product range and will enhance your reputation as a reputable retailer.
Last Chance Offers: Nothing converts browsers into buyers quicker than the perception of scarcity. Use compelling subject lines to reinforce this idea. Phrases like “limited availability”, “last chance to order”, “only XX left in stock”, will get the orders rolling in. When a product has sold out, don’t forget to update your landing page with alternative offers.
Free Gift Wrapping: As the big day edges ever closer, free gift wrapping will give last minute shoppers the opportunity to get a beautifully wrapped gift into the hands of their loved ones.
Online Gift Vouchers: An ideal opportunity to target gift buyers who have left it too late or missed someone off their list. Send this one out after your last shipping date to keep the pre-Christmas sales flooding in.
Post Christmas Sales: Once the Christmas rush is out of the way you can kick-start your January sales (clearing excess Christmas stock is one exception where discounting makes sense) by offering your existing customers a fist chance opportunity grab some bargains. Why not send this on Christmas day itself and position it as a gift?
photo: Patrick Gage
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