There are a TON of outstanding posts and PDFs on holiday marketing best practices and considerations. With the clock ticking, I decided to compile some concrete questions posed by these thought-leaders with some of my own to help you shape a framework for your holiday messaging today.
1. What did you do last year that worked and is worth repeating? What failed?
2. When/how often do you plan on sending your emails? Check out Chad White’s 18 Phases of Christmas post. You may want to avoid some of the heaviest-sending timeframes to have a better chance of standing out. Also, if you’re thinking about increasing frequency, the more targeted and timely you can be (think lifecycle marketing!), the better.
3. Do you plan to change any of your graphics/backgrounds/nav bar/footer to reflect the holiday season? This would be important for standing out in the inbox and providing proactive holiday help to gift-buyers.
4. Are you planning on including any animated gifs or video to help grab attention during this high-volume time?
5. What different angles/navigation paths can you use to highlight gifts and make decisions easier, such as featuring gifts by recipient type, price, best-sellers, and so on? Check out one of my all-time favorite posts, “13 Ways to Categorize Holiday Gifts.”
6. Can you send some targeted promotions based on past purchases? For example, did people buy gift baskets or holiday-themed dog biscuits from you last year? Give them a special discount for ordering again this year. If for some reason you can’t get that granular, consider a VIP offer just for past customers.
7. Does your site offer wish list capabilities? Consider sending a special discount or free shipping offer to folks with wish lists that can be shared with potential gift buyers (or used themselves!). You could also encourage subscribers to create and/or share their wish lists and get entered into a drawing to win their list.
8. When are your important shipping deadlines? How will you communicate important shipping policies/expectations in your emails and on your site? Strongly consider sending reminders when shipping deadlines are near. Also, what will you focus on once shipping deadlines have passed? This could be a good time to push customers toward brick-and-mortar locations and electronic gift cards.
9. Will you send a warm and fuzzy “greeting card”-type email to wish folks a happy holiday season? The week between Christmas and New Year’s may be the best time to do this. Add in a secondary message/promotion if appropriate.
10. What are you going to send right after the holidays? This is your opportunity to focus on gift card redemption, post-holiday sales (“Didn’t get what you wanted this holiday season?”) and New Year’s themes (new products, organization, resolutions).
This list is certainly not all-inclusive, but can help you flesh out your plans, especially if you’re getting a late start.
What do you think? Are there any other good questions to shape your overall plans that you’ve found helpful! Let me know!
Kristen Gregory
Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto
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