Marketers greatly rely on the Holiday season to drive profits, as it is the busiest time of the year that brings maximum conversions for businesses. This time, marketing professionals will be able to reinvent new opportunities as e-commerce has exhibited growth worth 10 years in a single quarter.
During the Holidays, business owners will be able to compensate for the lost revenue in the previous quarters. So, to make your Holiday season really happy and lucrative, we are here with a detailed guide on how to create flawless Holiday email templates and woo maximum customers.
The first step to any successful marketing strategy is a solid plan.
Let’s start our odyssey with how to create an effective email marketing schedule.
1. PLAN in advance
As clichéd as this sounds, you must always start thinking about your holiday email marketing strategy well in advance so that you have sufficient time for execution. After all, well begun is half done.
Remember that your subscribers will be bombarded with numerous marketing emails throughout the Holiday season. To make sure you get results, your emails must stand out and reach them at the right time with the right (relevant) message.
Too many emails are likely to wear your customers down and your email should not be one of them. It should bring freshness to the inbox while generating Holiday vibes.
Furthermore, you must think about the resource crunch during the Holiday season. To make sure that the lack of resources does not lead to unhandy email campaigns, you must start planning for the Holiday marketing right from the start of September.
2. SEGMENT your subscribers to send hyper-personalized emails
Make different lists based on age, sex, geographic location, demographics, and past purchases so that you can target the subscribers with offers that they can most relate to. For example: If you are sending out a Holiday email to your female subscribers, consider sending them offers on party wear or a gift guide to help them find the right present for their loved ones.
For marketers of SaaS companies, you can check the past interaction of the subscribers and promote offers related to the services they have shown maximum interest in.
Another advantage of segmentation is that it allows you to send inclusive Holiday email templates according to the cultural practices of the subscribers. As an illustration, consider the subscribers from the U.K. and the U.S.
While most of the subscribers in the U.S. will look forward to Christmas (a festival of Christian), a significant number of subscribers in the U.K. celebrate Hanukkah (a Jewish festival).
You must respect such cultural and religious differences and send out the right Holiday email.
Fab segments their subscribers and sends out different emails for the occasion of Christmas and Hanukkah. Doing so makes your subscribers feel “included” and lets them know that you care about their culture.
3. A/B TEST and always have a contingency plan in place
You must always A/B test your Holiday email campaigns and see what works the best for you. It is advisable to promote the “Christmas in July” sale and see how customers are responding to it. Based on these results, you can plan your Holiday email campaigns in the last quarter of the year. Test the holiday subject lines, preheader text, emojis, kind of offers, personalization, email layout, visuals used, and CTA placement. Track the email performance metrics to get an idea of what kind of emails resonate the most with your customers.
Also, have a contingency plan in place to cope up with any inadvertent occurrence. Besides, keep an apology email ready in case there’s any technical glitch on your website or you end up sending the wrong email to your subscribers.
These three aspects form the basis of your Holiday email marketing.
Now, we shall delve deeper into what your email templates should include during these special days.
i. Pay attention to your email subject lines
Holidays call for some special treatment for your email marketing campaigns. It is not about highlighting “business as usual” or mediocre offers. Your subject lines must be able to draw the subscriber’s attention and prompt them to open the email. You can even use Holiday-specific emojis like Christmas tree, Santa Claus, gift, or party emoticon.
Take a look at these subject lines and Holiday email templates that are perfectly in sync with each other.
Also, check the kind of emojis they have used to match the occasions of Halloween and Christmas.
You can even ask a question through your email subject line to pique the subscriber’s curiosity and put the answer in your email copy.
For instance: Draft a subject line that says “Looking for last-minute Holiday gifts for your loved ones?” and promote a same-day delivery offer with free shipping on select gifts in the email.
(These stats will tell you why!)
Source: Walker Sands
Your subject lines must have power words like discounts, savings, hot deals, and no delivery charge to entice the subscriber to open the email. You can even create a sense of urgency by using words like limited time offer, order now, and last 24 hours only. Apart from these, you can have subject lines that reflect gratitude and make the subscribers feel special. Holidays are a good time to get creative, so think of some interesting puns that would take your subject lines to the next level. For example: You can use the subject line: “BOO-tiful costumes for your kids” to promote kidswear for Halloween.
Last but not the least, personalize your subject lines to impart an exclusive experience to the subscribers.
ii. Let your email copy exude Holiday vibes
Write an email copy that perfectly matches the mood of the Holidays. Use relevant words like “trick” and “treat” for Halloween, “Thank you” for Thanksgiving Day, and “Santa” and “reindeer” for Christmas. Do not have too long copies that would leave the subscribers bored. Just write a short, engaging copy that can drive your subscribers to make a purchase.
iii. Use visuals that support your copy and the kind of offers you are promoting
The holiday season is that time of the year when you can experiment with different types of visuals. You can think out of the box and use GIFs, cinemagraphs, and videos in your Holiday emails to get ahead in the competition and bring something unique to the subscriber’s inbox.
Take a look at how Uncommon Goods has used a nice cinemagraph in their Holiday email template and promoted “early Holiday gift ideas” to their subscribers.
Here’s another email example to inspire you.
Apart from the GIF, take note of the kind of fonts they have used. The entire look and feel of the email supports the purpose and occasion it is sent for. Remember that apart from the vocabulary, the way it is presented also makes a difference to Holiday emails.
iv. Incentivize your subscribers for their actions
Whether your subscribers make a purchase from you or refer a friend to your business, you can incentivize them with a gift. You can have a point-system that allots points for every purchase that the subscriber makes. They can redeem these points for the next purchase. Furthermore, you can execute a referral marketing strategy to encourage more people to spread the word and acquire new customers.
v. Try to get user-generated content through your emails
Use Holiday email templates to inspire people to talk about you on their social media handles and boost your visibility. You can promote Holiday-related hashtags that match your offerings and organize a free giveaway contest for people who post on social media and tag you. This is like killing two birds with one stone. It will not only get people to take action but also build your online presence. In turn, it will amp up your conversions.
vi. Do not forget to send last-minute deals
Many of your subscribers will be looking for last-minute deals and offers that would cater to their Holiday needs. For such subscribers, you must send out last-minute deals and gift guides. It will prompt people to make instant purchases and contribute to your business growth.
Take a look at this email by Harry’s.
vii. Keep in mind the latest email design trends
Your subscribers are looking for something new in their emails and therefore, you must take into consideration the latest trends during this year.
Some of these trends are:
- Bold typography
- Pastel colors
- Monochrome layout
- Dark mode compatibility
- 3D images
- Animated illustrations
viii. Send out post-holiday offers
Once the Holidays are over, do not wrap up your marketing efforts. Send out some deals after the Holidays to encourage people to avail the reward points or use the gift cards they received during the season. This will get you some more sales for the first quarter of the next year.
ix. Include interactivity in your Holiday email templates
Besides animations and videos, you can make your emails more visually aesthetic by adding interactivity like menus, accordions, sliders, carousels, and hover effects. It will help your emails stand out from the crowd and at the same time, get you more conversions.
Litmus has sent out a nice spooky email to mark the occasion of Halloween.
x. Keep your CTAs actionable and clearly visible
One of the most important elements of your emails is the CTA as it is the final checkpoint before email conversions. You must have actionable CTAs and place them in such a way in the holiday email template that they are clearly visible to the subscriber. Another tip to get maximum people to take action is to draft innovative CTAs that are beyond “Buy now” and “Shop now”.
Here’s an example to help you get started on creating better “CTAs”.
Also, scroll up and check that Halloween email by Stop Aging Now.
Once you click on the CTA “Carve Now”, you will be redirected to a stunning landing page… (that brings us to the next point…)
xi. Design landing pages that match the email content
Your landing page must perfectly complement the email copy and visuals. Stop Aging Now has set a great example of the email and landing page duo.
After you click on the email CTA, you will be redirected to a landing page that allows you to carve a pumpkin with a knife (mouse cursor) and avail the offer it reveals.
It is a wonderful way of gamifying the experience and getting people to convert.
You can also take the subtle route like Moo has done.
The email has an animated sand clock with a countdown timer creating a sense of urgency, and once the subscriber clicks on the CTA, a relevant landing page that sheds light on the offer opens up.
BONUS TIP:
Apart from Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year, there are some other occasions like Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday, Columbus Day, and Sweetest Day.
You must not forget that all these lesser-known Holidays are also a storehouse of huge conversion opportunities.
Before signing off, let me share the Holiday Calendar 2020-2021 with you.
- Columbus Day: 12th October
- Sweetest Day: 17th October
- Halloween: 31st October
- Thanksgiving Day: 26th November
- Black Friday: 27th November
- Small Business Saturday: 28th November
- Cyber Monday: 30th November
- Giving Tuesday: 1st December
- Christmas: 25th December
- New Year: 1st January 2021
If you are catering to Jewish subscribers, Hanukkah falls from 10th December to 18th December.
Wrapping Up
Emails have the power to get people to take action immediately if done right… and that’s exactly what you want during the Holidays. So, just follow these tips, have an enticing CTA button, and achieve your Holiday business goals. Remember that your subscribers are as occupied as you during the last three months of the year. Therefore, your email must deliver value and compel them to take action.
If you are unable to get the ball rolling and create beautifully designed and perfectly coded email templates or need help with setting up your Holiday email campaigns, LET US HELP…
We would love to understand your needs and create an impeccable email campaign for you.