Sending emails to your customers can be one of the most effective forms of Christmas marketing, but you have to approach it carefully. Use email marketing strategically and sales skyrocket. Use it thoughtlessly and you get a lot of unsubscribes (and perhaps annoyed customers).
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Here are some questions to ask yourself before you start sending out your festive marketing emails.
Are we sending too many emails?
Don’t stand out from other companies for the wrong reasons, like flooding your customers’ inboxes. Unless you’re nearing the end of a killer 24-hour sale and want to send a reminder message, emailing more than a few times a week is excessive. But don’t rely on feelings and anecdotal evidence, rely on metrics. If open rates and engagement plummet when you send multiple emails a week (or in a day), then rein it in.
Are we including special offers?
Reward customers for opening your email with incentives like discounts, free shipping and other exclusive deals. In other words, gain their trust by making your message worth their time. If you can do this, they’re more likely to open subsequent emails.
Is our email mobile-friendly?
A global survey by Airship predicted that 51% of UK respondents expect online shopping to account for three quarters or more of their Christmas shopping, and 49% of those say this will be done on smartphones rather than desktops. So if your email and website aren’t optimised for these formats, you’re at a significant disadvantage. If customers have a difficult time reading your email or navigating your site on their mobile devices, you might not have a second chance to make it up to them.
Have we checked (and double-checked) that the links work?
When customers click a link in your email, you want them to get quickly to a product page, not an error page. So when it comes to links and discount codes, you need to check, recheck and check again. Also, if your email focuses on one specific product, make sure you have substantial levels of that item in stock. Of course, the reality is that sometimes items just sell out, but make your best effort to avoid disappointing customers by ensuring that you’re promoting items they can actually purchase.
Have we looked at our metrics?
While paying attention to how your email is performing is always crucial, it’s especially vital during the busy holiday season. So, with each message you send, analyse click rates and open rates, and try to determine why they are performing the way they are. If email is underperforming, look at your most successful messages for guidance and adjust subject lines and offers accordingly to capture customers’ attention.
Is our timing annoying?
The products and services your company is selling are intended to enhance your customers’ time with their friends and family, so on the actual day of the holiday, like Christmas Day, lay off the email. If you must send a message, refrain from any sales language and just thank them for their business and wish them a wonderful holiday. But one of the biggest gifts you can give your customers is one less email.