Cyber Monday is the fastest growing online shopping day of the year. According to IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark, this year’s online sales went up by 8.5% compared to last year’s Cyber Monday sales, although according to Adobe’s 2014 Digital Index Online Shopping report, it may have increased as much as 15.4%. Whichever report you decide to believe, one thing is clear: online sales definitely increased on Cyber Monday this year. These numbers make Cyber Monday 2014 the biggest day in US online shopping history, shattering records of previous years!
The Custora E-Commerce Pulse report says that overall growth for the holiday weekend sales was driven by mobile shopping, Google searches, and email marketing. Who said email marketing was dead? Email marketing is still an effective option for marketers, and given the online focus of Cyber Monday, email campaigns are particularly effective on this day. That brings me to the main topic of today’s blog post: the best 2014 Cyber Monday email campaigns. Here are some email campaign highlights of Cyber Monday 2014 that stood out to me as great email marketing examples, and why they grabbed my attention.
Cyber Monday Tactic #1: Straight Forward – Kate Spade
This company’s email campaign draws all of your attention to its message and what you need to know about it. The viewer doesn’t have to scroll through the email or dart their eyes around looking for important information. It’s all right there in front of you. This Cyber Monday email campaign gives you all of the important information without frills or distractions. Sometimes simplicity is the most effective tactic.
(Source: Kate Spade)
Cyber Monday Tactic #2: Time Sensitive – Disney Store
The Disney Store Cyber Monday email campaign includes a fun count-down clock for its email recipients. People tend to be motivated by time sensitive offers. Knowing that you only have limited time to take advantage of the great deal delivers urgency and pushes people into action. Time sensitive offers get people to buy the product now instead of later, when they might forget about it.
(Source: Disney Store)
Cyber Monday Tactic #3: GIFs – American Eagle Outfitters
The eye-catching animation in this Cyber Monday email campaign complements the marketing message rather than distracting away from it. It may not exactly be Cyber Monday-themed, but it is definitely holiday-themed (and Cyber Monday is certainly part of the festive holidays). American Eagle uses traditional Christmas colors and icons in their GIF that shout “HOLIDAY!” and get their recipients ready for this festive upcoming marketing season. This Cyber Monday email campaign is clear and concise in its promotional copy, and its main message flashes so it draws attention and is hard to miss.
(Source: American Eagle Outfitters)
These are just a few of the many excellent Cyber Monday email campaigns this year. Email marketing is a great tool for reaching new and existing customers during the holiday season. Businesses can utilize holiday-themed email campaigns as a way to advertise new products and services, introduce new promotions, and re-engage customers that have not shopped in a while. If you haven’t executed an email campaign for this past weekend, don’t worry. Even though these emails were all centered around Cyber Monday, you can apply these same tactics to just about any email campaign, whether it’s for the upcoming holiday season or any other time of year. If you are interested in learning more about email marketing opportunities, please call US Data Corporation at (888) 578-3282.