Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are over, but the holiday season is just getting started. You can reap the rewards of higher sales and an increased customer base if you launch a targeted holiday email marketing campaign during this season. It might seem overwhelming to think about, which is why a little expert automation help is in order. That’s why our team here at ContactPigeon has created a handy holiday email marketing checklist that takes the work out of your holiday emails. All you have to do is schedule – and check in to optimize. With three simple email automations, you’ll be helping your customers and your bottom line.
The only Holiday Email Marketing Checklist you’ll need
If you don’t have enough resources to spare, then this article is written just for you as here you will find a Holiday Email Marketing Checklist with the minimum 3 email tactics:
Step 1: Thank You Emails
A ‘Thank You’ email is a must-have for first-time customers and returning shoppers alike. Whenever anyone makes a purchase, they receive an acknowledgment of their order. Otherwise, customers grow concerned that their order wasn’t sent, or that your website is not legitimate. However, instead of a simple order confirmation email, you can turn it into a special greeting for this Holiday season for an extra spark.
Set a special automated Thank You email for the holiday season. Here are a few options that you can try:
- An appealing design for the holiday season
- An incentive for returning to shop for more holiday items (this can be small – research shows that any incentive makes customers feel appreciated)
- A guide to holiday gifts. You can arrange by price, type, etc. This will lead customers to click, gather ideas, and make even more purchases. The best thing is you can either set and forget, or you can use real-time tools to optimize your email.
- Segment your audience. You can create different audiences and test various promotions on them.
With ContactPigeon, you have the ability to see the campaign in real-time with live web analytics along with automation. You can create a nurturing campaign that’s completely automated, and check to see how it’s performing. Notice no one’s clicking on gift guide items over $50? Remove and replace that header with something else. Real-time web analytics lets you course-correct and adjust your marketing promotions for maximum impact.
Example: Holiday Thank You Email
Step 2: Cart Abandonment Emails
It’s a hazard that most e-commerce businesses face. Since you can’t be around to fully close the sale in person, so your customers may become distracted and walk away from their online shopping cart. Remind them of what they left behind in their cart and introduce them to other items waiting for them on your site.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Include a clear call to action in this email. Let them know how to get the items in their cart.
- It’s helpful to include a time limit or other incentives. Maybe the stock is running low? Or perhaps a free gift will be offered on purchases made before a certain time? Of course, there’s also the shipping factor – if customers want something by holiday, they must order it in time!
- Link on-site targeting with your marketing automation. Hopefully, you can keep customers with intriguing messages that follow them through their online shopping path, but if not, a triggered email message you set up will remind them of what they’re missing out on.
Step 3: Cross Sell & Upselling
Of course upselling is a natural part of your email marketing process, but creating a special holiday-themed message is important for your Christmas nurturing campaign. A good theme equals good optimization.
Here are a few things that you should consider:
- Include bundles of gifts that go well together for certain recipients. You know your customer base and who they shop for. Do they need perfect mother-in-law gifts? Gifts for the hard-to-please teenager? Or maybe they are looking for office-appropriate Secret Santa gifts. Whatever it is, you can show them what you have.
- Make it easy for them to spend with categories and incentives. Offer 10% off for every $100 spent, and increase the discount with the increasing totals. They’ll spend more and feel like they’re saving more.
- Encourage them you have what they need, and they don’t need to look elsewhere. With careful customization, you can lessen cart abandonment, especially if you toss in a limited-time-only offer.
Next Step: Discover more useful Holiday Marketing resources
- 54 Fairytale-ish Christmas Email Subject Lines for Holiday
- 9 Super Awesome Ho Ho Holiday Marketing Ideas
- Everything You Need To Know About Holiday Email Marketing
Ready to Check Off Your Holiday Email Marketing Checklist?
If you create a fun, positive, theme for your customers, you’ll keep them for the holidays and beyond. When executing the checklist items, it’s important to check in as often as you can to see how your holiday email marketing campaign is performing so you can adjust the offer and automated responses in more real time. It’s also helpful to automate the processes so you can easily scale it for the holiday traffic without the need to have a 24-7 holiday team.
Let us know if this checklist is helpful! Our team at ContactPigeon look forward to helping you make the most of all your e-commerce opportunities this holiday season.
