Online holiday sales were up more than 17 percent from 2017 to 2018, and it’s clear that this trend will only continue as consumers move from traditional to online shopping.
To capitalize on this trend, marketers should be working to develop strong advertising campaigns, no matter what time of year it is. After all, each dollar spent on email marketing leads to an average return on investment of $32, and having a strong email campaign can help make your holiday email campaign a success.
This post will show advertisers how to move beyond best practices like segmenting lists and verifying email addresses to get the most out of their next holiday campaign.
Trends to Monitor in 2019
As in any area of marketing, success in email requires keeping up with the latest trends and practices. Most importantly, online sales on Black Friday alone led to more than $6 billion in revenue, underscoring the importance of targeting the biggest shopping day of the year.
That said, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday season continue to make up a disproportionate percentage of yearly sales. Retail brands should have a carefully considered plan in place for November and December in order to see the greatest benefits from the holiday push.
How to Step Up Your Email Marketing
There’s no one size fits all approach to a successful email campaign, but there are some effective tactics that can act as a starting point for improving your ROI. Once you’ve made some adjustments, continually monitoring metrics and A/B testing your emails against each other will enable you to consistently adapt your approach.
As inboxes become more and more saturated, readers begin to expect the same generic copy. One of the simplest methods of increasing interest involves taking your email’s text and design more seriously and creating engaging content that will grab your audience’s attention while they’re scrolling through messages.
It’s also easy to build interest and urgency by offering limited-time or otherwise exclusive promotions that entice your readers to act immediately. Consumers will be more likely to make a purchase if they’re accessing a deal that’s only available to email subscribers.
This same mentality applies to offering new users unique welcome deals in order to incentivize email list subscription and other customer behavior. Your goal should be to convert as many new subscribers as possible and later turn them into returning customers.
Catching Their Eye with a Strong Subject Line
One of the most effective ways of standing out from the other emails in your readers’ inboxes is crafting a subject line that tells them they’d be missing out if they didn’t read more. A creative and concise subject line can significantly increase your open rates and give you more chances to convert these leads into sales.
If your email includes a unique value, discount, or other offer, that should be made clear in the subject line in order to appeal to more readers. Emphasize the limited time or availability of the offer to maximize urgency and motivate your audience to make a purchase.
Integrate Your Campaigns
Like any marketing medium, email is most effective as one cog in a larger wheel, and multi-channel marketing remains the best way of reaching the greatest audience possible. Almost anything that’s being promoted across other platforms can also benefit from being pushed out through email, and the same applies vice-versa.
Regardless of your brand’s approach to marketing, email should be a key part of your holiday push. A strategy that’s coordinated across social media, email, blogs, and other platforms is likely to see substantially more success than one that is limited to a single marketing medium. This requires consistent attention to detail, but it will lead to a stronger relationship with your audience and a greater sense of brand loyalty.
Email remains one of the most powerful tools in the hands of a skilled marketer, but it can be difficult to put together a standout campaign at the most competitive time of the year. These strategies will help you stay in front of the competition and make this holiday season a success for your brand.
