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Gear up for the holiday exodus with email marketing!

Pre-planning your marketing efforts before the start of the holidays will serve as a huge advantage in seizing the opportunities presented by the festive season. This may convert visitors into first-time buyers and help you re-engage with previous customers.

The most effective marketing strategy to achieve these conversions during the holiday season is ‘email marketing’!

Lift your brand’s holiday spirits with these email marketing tips that your customers are sure to engage with.

Email Marketing Tips for the 2023 Holiday Season

1. Use action-inducing, attention-grabbing words!

Email subject lines have the power to make or break your campaign as they are the first thing your customers will lay eyes upon. If they decide to open the email, consider it a win! 

To compose a compelling subject line, add words that evoke action and attention. Email subjects such as ‘10 gifts under 20 AUD’ or ‘5 Christmas gifts for your other half’ can spark the interest of your subscribers, especially if they are still deliberating on probable holiday gifts or are on a tight budget. 

Call to actions like “Buy Now” or “Order now and get a 30% discount” are more compelling and will more likely propel your customers to react in order to benefit from the offers and promotions displayed. 

2. Add personalised, festive touch to your emails.

One of the best practices in email marketing is ‘personalisation’. Oftentimes, campaigns tend to get extremely aggressive and impersonal. The golden rule for any successful email marketing campaign is the ability to establish a connection with the buyer on a personal level.

You can create emails that fit within the holiday season’s setting. Festive puns, jokes, or engaging activities such as asking customers to send their best holiday selfie and potentially win prizes are proven to set the tone well. Subscribers will feel more connected and will more likely retain their relationship with the brand. 

Emojis are also a great way to elevate your emails and grab attention. Using ‘snowman’ or ‘snowflake’ emojis for Christmas or ‘ghost’ and ‘pumpkins’ for Halloween will tie these into the spirit of the targeted holiday.

Additionally, identify and address your subscribers not only by their name, but also with the duration of experience they hold with your brand. Are they first-time subscribers or prospects? Give them a warm welcome! Are they repeat buyers? Show them appreciation and eventually, extend further offers their way. Are they returning customers? Tell them how much you’ve missed them and share new deals and offers with them!

3. Send emails as if you’re a real person.

Ditch those ‘no-reply’ emails from your campaign. Those tend to give out an impersonal feel which may lead to customers disconnecting from the brand as their ability to interact and respond is taken away. 

Instead, fill out the email’s ‘From’, ‘To’, and ‘Reply’ fields with appropriate information. Include your website, socials, and contact details encouraging them to connect with you via those channels. 

Leaving a dedicated customer care email address for them to send their enquiries to without having to switch to another app is an even better option. 

4. Ask them a question.

Engage with your subscribers by asking a relatable question. Alternatively, including this question directly into your subject line can entice and lead them to opening the email. 

With your audience fully immersed into holiday related trends, you may offer solutions about potential gift ideas. Asking them about it and steering them towards your products/services may come more naturally as long as you provide viable answers and solutions showcasing your brand.

5. Don’t use large images!

Image sizing can also contribute to the success of your email campaign. They may be attractive but can still work to your disadvantage if not sized correctly. 

Images sized at 600 pixels or wider can only be opened on desktops, however, most of the email subscribers operate via mobile devices which can already be crippling. 

Hence it is important to pay attention to the size of the images that you include in your email marketing campaign. Attractive visuals can always draw your subscribers in so be sure to utilise these correctly. 

6. Engaging text for CTA buttons.

Include competitive CTAs at the end of your email. It is advisable to avoid vague CTA texts like ‘click now’ or ‘subscribe now’. Be more specific with CTAs and make them land on the desired pages. 

Some specific CTAs worth trying include ‘Find out how our brand can help you’ or ‘Access our limited edition products’.

Create added urgency with your CTAs. Compel them to act on it by using words that call for an immediate response. For example: ‘Buy now or miss out’

7. Use holiday-themed email templates.

Holiday-themed email templates can make your content more captivating and fun as they allow you to insert festive designs. 

Make sure that your designs are simple enough and compatible with various devices – phone, desktop, or tablets.

8. Plan up your holiday email marketing campaign schedule.

Holidays happen annually, so planning your email marketing schedule gives your brand ample time to prepare and discover better strategies to keep yourself ahead of the competition. 

Decide what promotions will be offered by your brand. For example, ‘limited-time discounts’. Categorising your email list will differentiate your current, new, and returning subscribers from one another thereby helping you target them better with the adequate marketing plan. 

We suggest this eCommerce calendar to help you set up your email marketing campaigns for the holidays. 

Conclusion

And there you have it: 8 effective and proven email marketing strategies will surely make your campaigns as festive as the holidays itself! 

As Melbourne’s leading digital marketing agency, our job is to help your campaigns! 

Whether it be email, social media, or websites, you can boost your brand’s position and gain leverage in the industry. So why wait when you can begin the first step towards your brand’s success here?