Halloween is finally over. The candy and tummy aches have passed, and the pumpkins have been smashed. You know what that means! It is officially the holiday season, and it’s also the busiest season for businesses and marketers. So grab your peppermint hot chocolate and buckle down, because ‘tis the season to plan out your holiday email campaigns. Here are a couple of tips to get you started on prepping your holiday email campaigns for this festive season.
Holiday Email Design
Well-designed email campaigns are always important but, during the holiday season, it is particularly imperative to pay attention to design so that your emails get the results you are looking for. Let’s start with the basics – holiday colors! You’ve got your pretty fall color palette for Thanksgiving, your traditional green and red for Christmas, blue and white for Hanukah, and more. Colors are a great way to get into the holiday spirit, but you don’t need to go overboard with your designs.
For professional email campaigns, subtlety is better. It is important that your audience still knows that the email is coming from your business. So rather than going crazy with your holiday email design, try adding an easy, festive spark to your holiday email campaigns by inserting simple holiday imagery or changing your banner colors accordingly. This will ensure that your branding stays intact as you partake in the holiday cheer.
Standout Subject Line
Your audience is already receiving a lot of emails urging them to buy now. Blasting out emails with overly sales-driven subject lines can work against you. Take the time to write an interesting and thoughtful subject line to stand out from the crowd. Also, craft a distinctive subject line that not only sets your email apart from the rest of the holiday noise, but also appeals emotionally to the audience. It is about being authentic with the emotions you are trying to convey to your audience. Fuel Design shows that customers’ buying decisions are based on 80% emotion and 20% logic, so take advantage of this and capitalize on the sentimentality of the holiday season.
Short and Sweet Messages
Everyone is busy this season, whether you are a marketer, a mother or both. Try to keep your email copy clear and concise. Use subheadlines and images to make it easy for the reader to scan the email and find what they want quickly. Adding links to “continue reading” or “learn more” is a good idea in case your recipient isn’t in a hurry and does have time to read on. Links are your main call-to-action. For example, when you send out an email about a new holiday discount deal, you can ask the email recipient to visit your website for more information about the deal. Your email campaign should entice and engage your audience, and your website should help them buy.
After sending out your holiday email campaigns, it is a great idea to take further action with the people that responded or showed interest in your holiday email. Well thought-out and considerate follow-up emails will increase your chance of hooking in customers and also open up more business opportunities for the future. Also, don’t forget that the holiday season isn’t only about Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year’s. Remember, there is Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday too. The holiday season is a great marketing opportunity for all businesses. When done well, holiday email campaigns can have a great impact on your business.