Last week we enjoyed fireworks and a 90 degree day by the pool, so to most it might seem crazy that we want to discuss Cyber Monday and holiday promotions now. It is vital to start planning a holiday marketing strategy now while ideas are fresh and fires are at a minimum. Ever heard of Christmas in July? We’re giving the gift of insightful tips and statistics for your holiday marketing pre-planning.

First on the holiday strategy checklist is email marketing. Close to 50% of shopper’s claim that they hear about the best deals through emails from retailers (VentureBeat). That means email strategy should be a top priority on your holiday marketing plan. With this is mind, here are several tips for thinking about your email strategy:

1. If you haven’t sent an email out in a while, you need to start now. If it has been awhile since you last sent an email and you decide to send one out during the holidays when inboxes are jam packed, your email will probably get deleted or overlooked. People appreciate consistency and reliability when it comes to email frequency.

   Aside from frequency, if you start sending emails now you can weed out unsubscribers, establish a baseline for measurement and test out special offers.

2. Start thinking about mobile. 75% of consumers said they would be “highly likely” to delete an email that doesn’t render correctly on their mobile device (Experian). Alternatively, consumers are much more likely to complete transactions from mobile friendly emails. Start checking how emails look from different devices and make tweaks accordingly.

3. Segment your lists. One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is pitching the same promotion to several different audiences. If you haven’t already begun capturing preferences and demographic information from customer email sign ups, try tracking interests by what an individual has clicked on in past emails.

4. Test discounts and special promotions. Does your audience value 10% off or free shipping? Work on testing different offers and products to find what increases click-through-rates and conversions.

5. Craft your subject lines with finesse. Again, the holidays are a busy time, so it is vital to create open worthy subject lines. Avoid words that trigger spam filters like “free” and other words that send a negative vibe like “percent off” and “reminder”. Instead, keep it straightforward, personalized (if possible) and under 50 characters.

6. Send emails before and after the holidays. With email volume increasing up to 20% during the holidays (Experian), inboxes are flooded with “buy now” messages and discounted products. How will your email stand out among the others? Simple, while everyone else is sending emails during the holidays, you should start sending emails much sooner in the season and send follow up post-holiday emails. 

   You might assume that most individuals fall into the “last minute shopper” category, but that is surprisingly inaccurate. 30% of holiday shoppers begin shopping before Halloween (Google Consumer Surverys). Purchasing also increases after the holidays with peak email CTR (click thru rate) falling one week after Christmas.

Stay tuned for more holiday marketing strategy tips during the month of July. If you don’t have a workshop of Christmas elves, we can help!