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HOW DO YOU KEEP OFFERS FRESH, DRIVE SALES, AND STAY IN FRONT OF HOLIDAY BUYERS WITHOUT TURNING THEM OFF OR DRIVING THEM TO UNSUBSCRIBE? MIX IN A BIT OF VALUE, EXCLUSIVITY AND WAYS TO SAVE TO STAY ON YOUR SUBSCRIBERS’ MUST-OPEN LIST. BEHOLD THE WAYS YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS: 1 GUIDE 92% of holiday shoppers buy online $850 average holiday spend per shopper $380 average spend, per shopper, on Black Friday 27.3% orders driven by email marketing on Black Friday +3.6% projected growth for this year’s holiday sales, compared to 7-year average of 3.4% 7-10% projected increase of non-store sales for this year’s holiday season 69% surveyed marketers who start planning holiday campaigns by August HOW TO STAY VISIBLE, RELEVANT & COMPELLING SCHEDULE OF TOP EMAIL MARKETING DAYS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS CYBER MONDAY CHUNK NOVEMBER/THANKSGIVING CHUNK GREEN MONDAY CHUNK 1. 2 DAYS BEFORE THANKSGIVING 2. THANKSGIVING DAY 3. DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING 1. CYBER MONDAY 2. 2 DAYS AFTER CYBER MONDAY 3. 4 DAYS AFTER CYBER MONDAY 1. GREEN MONDAY (2nd Monday in December or last Monday with at least 10 days before Christmas) 2. 1 DAY AFTER GREEN MONDAY 3. 3 DAYS AFTER GREEN MONDAY 4. 7 DAYS AFTER GREEN MONDAY SPREAD SOME HOLIDAY CHEER OFFER REWARDS AND INCENTIVES REFERRAL INCENTIVES LIMITED EDITIONS PRODUCT REVIEWS REWARD HIGH CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE (CLV) Freebie incentives Loyal customer incentives Social media contests, promos & rewards 2 LOCAL & ONLINE EVENTS Holiday party ideas Showcase followers and their creativity Donate percentage of profits to charity of choice Open letter to customers Send freebies to loyal customers SEND REMINDERS OR FOLLOW-UPS UPCOMING DEADLINES LAST DAY FOR GUARANTEED CHRISTMAS DELIVERY BEHAVIOR-BASED FOLLOW-UPS ABANDONED CART INCENTIVES RESEND TO UNOPENED 4 3 SHOWCASE EXCLUSIVE DEALS, SALES, & OFFERS Black Friday deals Cyber Monday promos Last-minute offers Daily specials Price-point discounts SALE 1 PREVIEW SALES & ANNOUNCEMENTS EARLY BIRD OFFERS FREE SHIPPING WEEKEND SALE THINK LONG-TERM COURTSHIP, NOT A ONE-OFF PITCH Although a single, well-crafted email can deliver a big payday, holiday email marketing works best when it builds up, over time, with a series of compelling offers. Looking at the top shopping days for online sales, Codeless Interactive recommends scheduling your email sends at those critical times into three phases, which they call “chunks”: 2 HOLIDAY SEASON WILL BE HERE IN A HURRY - WHEN SHOPPERS ARE EAGER TO DROP SERIOUS DOLLARS TO CELEBRATE THEIR LOVED ONES AND INDULGE IN THE WISH LIST THEY’VE DROOLED OVER ALL YEAR. NOW IS THE TIME TO STEP UP YOUR EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY TO BRING IN MORE DOLLARS THAN EVER BEFORE. 41% of online shoppers buy from a new retailer APPEAL TO EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS 7 SEGMENT USERS HIGHLIGHT SHIPPING TERMS & OPTIONS 12 KEEP YOUR LISTS CLEAN! PRIORITIZE CTA’S 16 BLEND EMAIL & SOCIAL 63% OF CONSUMERS WILL LIKELY SHARE A LINK FOR A HOLIDAY CONTEST. 8 50.3% OF E-COMMERCE TRAFFIC COMES FROM MOBILE. 3 80.9% OF PEOPLE WHO SHOP ON TABLETS END UP BUYING. 4 USE FACEBOOK’S CUSTOM AUDIENCES FEATURE TO TARGET YOUR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS WITH FACEBOOK ADS. 10 DRIVE SOCIAL FOLLOWERS TO YOUR EMAIL PROMOTIONS AND VICE-VERSA. REWARD SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING WITH DISCOUNTS, EXCLUSIVE ACCESS AND DEALS . TURN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS INTO SUBSCRIBERS WITH A FACEBOOK SIGNUP FORM OR TWITTER LEAD GEN CARD. 9 HIGH PERSONALIZATION = HIGH RELEVANCE = HIGH ENGAGEMENT . REWARD LOYALTY & LIFETIME VALUE FOR LOYAL CUSTOMERS. SEGMENT BASED ON PAST SUBSCRIBER BEHAVIOR & INTERESTS . SEGMENT BASED ON DEMOGRAPHIC AND/OR GEOGRAPHY , AS APPROPRIATE. INCLUDE PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PAST PURCHASES. 11 93% OF SHOPPERS TAKE ACTION FOR FREE SHIPPING, DEEMED THE MOST IMPORTANT PURCHASING FACTOR AFTER PRICE. 50% ABANDON CARTS THAT DON’T ESTIMATE DELIVERY. 58% ABANDON CARTS AFTER SEEING SHIPPING CHARGES. DELIVERY SPEED IS THE 4TH MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE ONLINE BUYING PROCESS. 50% OF SHOPPERS WILL CHOOSE SLOWER DELIVERY FOR FREE SHIPPING. 7 BUSINESS DAYS IS THE AVERAGE TIME THEY’RE WILLING TO WAIT. 20% OF MARKETING EMAILS NEVER REACH A SUBSCRIBER’S INBOX, AND MANY MORE GET DELETED OR MARKED AS SPAM. 73% OF BUSINESSES REPORT EMAIL DELIVERABILITY PROBLEMS. 13 IF MORE THAN 10% OF YOUR EMAILS BOUNCE , LESS THAN 40% REACH THEIR INTENDED INBOXES. 14 DELIVERY RATE IS 80% INFLUENCED BY YOUR REPUTATION WITH INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ISPS) WHICH IS TURN ARE INFLUENCED BY SUBSCRIBER ENGAGEMENT LEVELS. 15 DUMP FAKE, MISSPELLED, OUTDATED, PURCHASED OR RENTED EMAILS , ASAP. USE A SINGLE CALL-TO-ACTION (CTA), REPEATED AT LEAST 3 TIMES . PRIORITIZE CTA’S BY VISUALLY EMPHASIZING THEM. DELETE CHRONICALLY INACTIVE SUBSCRIBERS , AS WELL AS THOSE WITH FULL OR SUSPENDED MAILBOXES. CONVEY A DRAMATIC VALUE GAIN OR PAIN RELIEF. PAINT A CLEAR BEFORE-AND- AFTER PICTURE IN ALL MESSAGING. SHOW THE TRANSFORMATION YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE WILL DELIVER. ENSURE MESSAGING, HEADLINES, VISUALS, CTAS CONVEY THE ABOVE. 1 IN 5 SHOPPERS PURCHASED AFTER OPENING A RETAILER’S EMAIL ON A MOBILE DEVICE. 5 WRITE & DESIGN WITH MOBILE IN MIND 38% OF CONSUMERS WILL NOT RETURN TO A RETAIL WEBSITE IF IT’S NOT MOBILE-FRIENDLY. 6 MEASURE, REFINE, REPEAT CONTINUE TO TEST, DO MORE OF WHAT WORKS , AND DITCH WHAT DOESN’T. INCORPORATE WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING ABOUT BUYER BEHAVIOR FROM YOUR WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND CLIENT FEEDBACK. 1. http://blogs.constantcontact.com/email-marketing-examples-holiday/ 2. http://codelessinteractive.com/email-marketing-tips/ 3. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 4. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 5. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 6. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 7. http://codelessinteractive.com/email-marketing-tips/ 8. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 9. https://mailchimp.com/holiday-tips/ 10. https://mailchimp.com/holiday-tips/ 11. https://mailchimp.com/holiday-tips/ 12. http://blog.marketingadept.com/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2016/ 13. https://250ok.com 14. http://www.convinceandconvert.com/convince-convert/15-email-statistics-that-are-shaping-the-future/ 15. https://returnpath.com/downloads/deliverability/ 16. http://codelessinteractive.com/email-marketing-tips/ SOURCES: MARKETING TECH BLOG | ADEPT MARKETING | CONSTANT CONTACT | NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION | CODELESS | CAMPAIGN MONITOR | MAILCHIMP | CONVINCE AND CONVERT | 250OK | RETURN PATH THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY EMAIL MARKETING “Learn from the best,” suggests Codeless. “Watch any major online retailer; they’ll be sending you something very similar.” NOT SURE ABOUT THIS APPROACH? MAKING EMAILS SWAY & SELL BEGIN NOW TO BAKE THESE PRACTICES INTO YOUR HOLIDAY EMAIL MARKETING, AND WATCH YOUR ENGAGEMENT AND REVENUE RISE. HERE’S TO OUTSELLING YOUR COMPETITORS AND EXCEEDING LAST YEAR’S REVENUE. TAKE ACTION FREE LIST ANALYSIS! OVER 20,000 ORGANIZATIONS ENJOY REAL-TIME EMAIL VERIFICATION AND CLEANING SERVICES WITH NEVERBOUNCE. OPEN A FREE ACCOUNT AND ANALYZE YOUR LISTS FOR FREE! NeverBounce.com/Holiday2016
