Wearing a lighted Santa tie or reindeer antlers might make you stand out at the office this holiday season, but to capture subscriber’s interest in their inbox – you’re going to have to get creative (and relevant).
With the average retailer sending a whopping 17.3 emails during November and December in 2010, making your message stand out from the rest is key to driving performance with your email marketing program this holiday season.
Standing out from the crowd doesn’t mean just creating the most compelling or edgy subject line you can come up with (though that helps), but consider how relevance, offers and testing can impact your holiday bottom line.
- Relevance
Beyond personalizing with a first name (which is a nice touch, in moderation), relevance is about offering the right message at the right time. Leverage dynamic subject lines to reference customer-specific offers (see below) or product recommendations based on known subscriber preferences. If you aren’t already, start using triggers to squeeze in additional customer touchpoints with engaging emails. Abandoned Cart and Browse Abandon are especially compelling during the busy shopping season.
- Make Your Best Offer.
Consumers are savvy shoppers who are receiving your email plus five of your key competitors. They are waiting for the best deal and discount and aren’t going to act just because you are promoting it as a “Cyber Monday” deal. It has to be good. That doesn’t mean you have to give away the farm. Instead think about offering discounts personalized for your customers (see relevance, above). Give your high value customers something special, and let them know why they are receiving this deal. Attempt to win back older or seasonal shoppers with limited time offers. And free shipping isn’t really a deal these days … more and more, free shipping has become the standard at the holidays and customers are expecting it.
- Test
We know, it’s a busy time of year – you’re trying to get campaigns out the door. But take the extra time to do a subject line test and send the winner to your whole list and you’ll likely eek out enough of a performance boost to justify the extra time you spent. Discover whether your subscribers respond to specific product mentions or percentages off, if they prefer strong images front and center, or to cut right to the deal of the email.
The holiday season is a busy and exciting time for retailers. Remember to think fresh, be creative and stay relevant, and your email won’t end up like the fruitcake buried at the bottom of the trash.
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