You know email is an important marketing channel for driving your holiday sales, but with everything else on your plate, planning a comprehensive e-mail strategy might feel as daunting as climbing Mount Everest.
Don’t worry though, it’s not too late to get started with your planning.
Focus on sending out the right e-mails and you can still have an effective e-mail holiday campaign, while doing everything else you need to do to prepare for the holidays. Here are the five you don’t want to miss out on.
1. A Pre-Holiday Sale
Bring people into your store before the holiday rush with a preview sale! Encourage current customers to bring their friends, and even offer additional discounts to them for helping you spread the word.
When hosting a sale early in the season, offer a convenient way for new customers to sign up for your email list. Let them know you’ll be following up with more updates about holiday offers later in the season.
2. A Gift Guide
A holiday gift guide is a great way to give your customers some ideas to find the perfect gift. Consider designing your email based on price (Gifts under $25, gifts under $50, gifts under $100) incorporating a collection of products or services available under those prices.
Also look for ways to differentiate your gift guide based on your customer audience (gifts for kids, gifts for dads, gifts for grandparents).
Email services like
Constant Contact allow you to target customers based on interest, location or segments that are relevant to your business.
3. Small Business Saturday
As a small business, it’s tough to compete with Black Friday deals. Consider sharing some background on why Small Business Saturday is important, and offer an incentive to bring customers through the door. Whether it’s a discount, Buy One, Get One or a free gift, customers will appreciate the offer and return the appreciation by shopping with you!
Also make sure to let your customers know that you participate in Small Business Saturday with a badge on your website. Download a free one
here.
4. Cyber Monday
Customers have high expectations looking for deep discounts during this busy day. They’re likely receiving lots of emails, so focus on the deals that make you stand out. You can send a series of emails leading up to Cyber Monday, letting people know about special discounts, and send a final reminder when the big day finally arrives.
5. Thank You
Seeing a thank you in the inbox makes customers appreciate you more. Acknowledge your personal experiences from the holiday season. There’s no call to action needed. Simply express your gratitude and help build the trust you need to build customer relationships.
Now wondering what to write in your e-mails? Check out these professionally designed holiday
e-mail templates from Constant Contact.