Holiday Marketing

Leverage the data you gathered this holiday season to build long-terms relationships with your shoppers!

Any lasting customer relationship begins with an initial interaction, and for many shoppers, the holidays were like a first date on your site.

Now, the “getting to know you” process begins with these thousands of new customers. With each click, these shoppers are giving you access to their thoughts and buying habits. Each product viewed, description clicked, shopping cart filled, and item purchased gives you insight into each unique shopper’s wants, needs, preferences, and lifestyles.

And just...

Making your way through a shopping mall during the holidays can be like navigating your way through a maze. ‘Tis the time of year when stores are busy, crowded and noisy and sales associates seem impossible to come by. Still, there’s something fun and exciting about shopping at brick-and-mortar stores during the holidays, and many consumers still enjoy the overall experience. But with limited staff on hand, how can retailers provide enough sales support to usher customers to a sale this holiday season?

That’s where Guided Selling comes in. Consumers enjoy interacting with technology and...

During the holiday season, most retailers want to maximize their email revenue. This time of year it's very tempting for senders to dig deep into their databases. Hey, let's send an email to everybody from ten years ago. Hey, let's reactivate those bounced addresses - maybe some of them will deliver now. More email means more money, right?

But, it's never quite that simple. It actually seems to lead to deliverability problems just about every time somebody digs up and mails to that old list.

It all starts on Black Friday. Or "Blacklist Friday," as a representative for another ESP put it. (What...

We all know the holidays are a busy time. With all the rushing around and holiday chaos, it can be tough to get people to stop and read what you have to say -- even in a short format like Twitter or Facebook.

But remember that old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words?"

These Top 10 Holiday Infographics, compiled on the blog of UK webmaster resource triPHP, prove there's more than one way to get your message across this holiday season. So look for interesting ways to present your content visually, make sure it's mobile-optimized for consumers on the go, and remember that a little humor...

In its “Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and Trends” issued in September, eMarketer predicted that 25 percent of e-commerce sales will happen during the 2012 holiday season.

Without question, retailers are using traditional advertising tactics including radio and television commercials, direct mail and print ads to drive customers to stores. And many will use social media, online video, and in-store promotions.  But the biggest catalyst for holiday sales this year will be mobile.

New research Prosper Mobile Insights reveals why mobile devices are fueling holiday retail sales:

• 66 percent of...

In Part 1 of this post, ExactTarget client JetBlue provided recommendations around helpful content and holiday staffing. Today we continue with Part 2.

As one of the top airline carriers in the country, with service to 75 locations mostly within the continental US, JetBlue is familiar with the holiday rush – and the strain it puts on travelers, many of whom are first-time or infrequent flyers. They make it their mission to alleviate that stress and put some cheer back into holiday travel using both offline and online methods – including social media.

How do they do it? Laurie Meacham, social...

Let’s face it; the holidays can be a really stressful time. Last-minute shopping, decorating, traveling, cooking, hosting, and the coordination of everything that comes with making the season merry and bright... It all translates to increased pressure for brands to provide outstanding service to their sometimes-frazzled customers. In this 2-part post, ExactTarget client JetBlue provides their best advice for the holiday season.

The ATA estimates that 47 million passengers will travel during the winter holiday season (between December 13 and January 2) which directly follows a Thanksgiving...

Pinterest is all the rage this year and will continue to be this holiday season. Not only are consumers using this social sharing site as a way to keep track of new recipes and style tips, they’re also actively engaging with brands and purchasing the products they love. In fact, a PriceGrabber survey found that 21% of consumers have purchased a product after seeing it on Pinterest. In addition, ExactTarget’s SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS report, Retail Touchpoints Exposed, found that consumers have pinned products from 93 of the 100 fastest growing retailers in the U.S. and the average Hot...

More than half of consumers owning a mobile device plan to use a smartphone or tablet to tackle their holiday shopping this year. According to Prosper Mobile Insights’ online poll of 333 smartphone users, among those 55.3% of mobile holiday shoppers:

• 62% say they plan to use their devices primarily to purchase products and compare prices
• 50% say they are most likely to use their devices to plan and research while making their holiday lists
• 43% say they are most likely to use their devices while shopping in-store or online

eMarketer shares a statistic from Chase Paymentech that US retailers with a...

Don't underestimate the power of the social media when it comes to gift-giving. Social media marketing is multi-faceted and can take a bit of work to measure, but in the end it's about building relationships that pay off over the long term. People buy from companies they trust and that others trust. Some quotes from Jay Baer, social media guy, for you to consider this holiday season:

"Social media creates kinship between companies and customers, and kinship equals purchase intent."

"Social media is an ingredient, not an entree."

"The goal of social media is to turn customers into a...

A chasm is developing between retailers and cash conscious consumers, as Americans turn to smartphones for coupons and product information to find many leading retailers have yet to integrate mobile into their shopping experience.

The use of mobile is on the rise, according to independent research firm Forrester Research. Twice as many consumers compared to last year are researching products for purchase using their mobile device, according to a Feb. 2012 Forrester Research,  Inc. report entitled, “Mobile Marketing: Three Principles For Success.” The report also found more U.S. mobile phone...

Looking for tips to help you hit the inbox as the Black Friday/Cyber Monday kickoff to the holiday season approaches? You’ve come to the right place. In Part 1 of this series, we took a look at the unique challenges facing seasonal senders. In Part 2 and continuing in today’s post, we offer some guidelines for a successful sending season.

• Encourage recipients to add your email address to their Address Book. Every marketer should be doing this already. If you can get your subscribers to do this, not only will your emails have a higher probability of landing in the inbox, it may also contribute...

As the Black Friday/Cyber Monday kickoff to the holiday season approaches, we’re happy to offer some tips to help seasonal senders hit the inbox. In Part 1 of this series, we took a look at the unique challenges facing seasonal senders. In today’s post and Part 3, we’ll offer guidelines for a successful sending season.

• Create a consistent sending environment. This is one thing you have direct control over.  Year over year, you should maintain the same "From" address, sending IP, and DKIM domain so that ISPs who look at long-term reputational data will have an idea of your sending reputation...

Florists approaching Valentine’s Day… hotels and airlines as summer vacation nears… and perhaps most notably, retailers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are parts of every year where email sends spike for certain businesses. This is even more pronounced for niche companies who only send during one particular time of the year.

There’s no denying it: seasonal senders face unique deliverability challenges. If you're one of them, understanding these challenges is the first step to making the most out of your busy season.

In Part 1 of this three-part series, we’ll explore these...

With four young children, a couple of working parents, two dogs, a guinea pig, a fish named John, and a hamster who’s been MIA for about a month, my life sometimes spirals out of control. Breakfast dishes are left on the counter for more than twelve hours, dirty socks are rescued and reused from the depths of the laundry abyss, and small pets sometimes go unfed (but only occasionally—usually the kids alert me when they find Bob, the guinea pig, crawling listlessly toward a water mirage in his basement cage).

The most recent faux pas, however, involved my soon-to-be 9-year-old son and his...

Lots of thought has been given to triggered email marketing in recent articles. What I’m referring to is primarily triggering based on a customer activity (purchase, site visit, cart abandonment, email open, click, etc.), or a subscription or time event (birthday, subscription end date, card expiration, etc.). Why the buzz? These emails are effective.

One of the main reasons these emails are so compelling to customers, often achieving opens and click rates far above average, is that these communications by their very nature are relevant. In David Baker’s article, "Triggered Messaging 101," he ...

At our recent user conference a customer asked me, “What’s the one thing I should consider in my email design to deliver a big win for the holidays?”. Essentially, he was looking for a silver bullet to make his holiday season filled with riches from his email program. Of course, design starts only once program direction, value proposition, list quality, relevance, deliverability and envelope fields have been optimized for results. A designer needs this cornucopia of program riches before planning the design.

While there isn’t one silver bullet, I suggest a design checklist that covers the six...