When it comes to email marketing there is a whole new set of SEO best practices to keep in mind. Many of the “staple” practices, like using keywords, still apply, but it’s important that whenever you create a campaign you’re optimizing is fully. During the holiday season this becomes even more important as people start to get more and more emails pushing more and more products this season. The competition is tough out there, and although people may be shopping more, that sometimes means you have to act faster than usual.
Consider some of the tips below before you write your next email marketing copy and before you send out your campaign, and take note of why certain tactics are extra important during the holiday season:
Send emails a week before the “season” and always send reminder emails.
Timing is always incredibly important when it comes to email marketing, and although that doesn’t change during the holidays, the optimal times will change. In the past you may have created a campaign a few days before a sale, but around the holidays you should time your emails about one week before when you think your competition will do the same. As Daryl Colwell of Matomy Media Group says, “time your emails slightly ahead of the main media push.”
When it comes to sending reminder emails, you should try and send them about one week later so that you don’t lose your subscriber’s attention (this is slightly shorter than we would recommend for a campaign not around the holidays). You should also focus on adding in links for users to learn more.
Identify seasonal subscribers along with your loyal ones.
Regardless of the time of year you should never spend time constantly sending email campaigns to subscribers who haven’t interacted with your brand in over a year, but for some reason the holidays make companies think this is a good idea again. The truth is that if you keep emailing these non-active people then you could get marked as spam so often that your emails will be flagged; therefore never reaching your loyal subscribers. It isn’t worth it.
Instead, consider keeping a list of your subscribers who are active only around the holiday season. These are people who you should add to your list and might help give you a boost. Simply look at your email marketing analytics to find out which email addresses fall into this category.
Don’t use your subscriber’s historical data.
This was an idea that came from a Search Engine Land article and is incredibly important. Usually historical search data is an excellent way to make sure you’re sending personalized and relevant content and offers to your subscribers, but around the holidays they are searching for items for other people. Therefore, it’s a good idea to ask your subscribers through an email poll or survey what they’re most interested in learning about this holiday season.
Your email marketing campaigns don’t always have to be about sales.
Keep in mind that around the holidays, email-marketing campaigns can (and should) get creative. Consider sending recipes, greeting cards, DIY projects, and more to help establish a relationship that you’re a great campaign to open around the holidays. Plug in your promotions when relevant, but make the main bulk of your message just something nice for the season.
Extra: Always remember to revise your email content.
Many companies have what we call “triggered emails,” meaning there are email marketing campaigns setup to trigger every so often. If this is the case, it’s important that you revise these messages to include content that is appropriate for the holidays. This will not only make the emails more relevant, but by creating CTAs it could help your emails earn more clicks if you play your cards right.
Remember that all of your staple email marketing efforts—CTAs, engaging subject lines, creative design, mobile friendliness, etc.—is all still important during the holiday season, so visit our sister company HigherVisibility here to learn about the basics first. Is there anything you would add to the list? Let us know how you create successful email marketing campaigns during the holidays in the comment section below.