Make This Holiday Season Your Most Successful with Targeted Email
To win holiday sales with targeted email, start early, lead with a compelling offer, make your sender name stand out in a crowded inbox, and stay present across channels. The post recommends a teaser email about a week out, a Black Friday offer email to people who opened it, and follow-up retargeting through display and Facebook to keep the offer top of mind.
- Start holiday email campaigns earlier than you think; holiday sales make up 20-30% of annual revenue and email influences about 25% of those sales.
- Send a teaser email about a week early, then a Black Friday offer email to people who opened the first send.
- If budget is tight, send one optimized email on a lower-volume day, such as the week before Black Friday or the Sunday before Cyber Monday.
- Make offers stand out with deeper email-only discounts, BOGO deals, or extra incentives tailored to the audience.
- Continue promoting the offer with retargeting display ads and Facebook retargeting to stay top of mind during the holidays.
The holiday email playbook here still anchors how sO2 works today; we now pair that targeted-email expertise with OTT/CTV and identity-matched social retargeting, all planned and activated on Atlas against a permissioned, identity-resolved data partner network.
T’is the season to help your clients get their email marketing in order for the holidays. Use targeted email to reach customers who are interested in your offers. Pinpoint people who want a deal this holiday season, with an offer that compels them to action. Whether your client is a major retailer or a small business, help them get the most out of this holiday season with targeted email.
BlackFriday.com predicts that 2019 Black Friday online spending will surpass $12 billion. Of the shoppers they surveyed, 61 percent plan to do most of their holiday shopping online. Not sure how to send a targeted email campaign for the holidays? Here are a few tips to try this year:
- Find the Right Time
- Make an Offer
- Stand Out in the Inbox
- Be Persistent and Present
Find the Right Time
The best time to get started is sooner than you think. There’s a lot riding on holiday campaigns – on average, holiday sales account for 20-30 percent of annual revenue (depending on the industry). And email influences a whopping 25 percent of those sales. The most effective way to engage customers is through an email, and then follow up with those people a week later with a reblast or another send. Let’s walk through a good strategy for Black Friday weekend.
Make an Offer
The first email should be a teaser or preview of your offer for the big day. Build anticipation and get people interested in your offer. This email should be sent a week early. Then, on Black Friday, send another email containing the big offer to people who opened the first email. Alternatively, you can choose to resend to everyone.
Stand Out in the Inbox
The key is for people to look forward to your name in their inbox on Black Friday, making you stand out from hundreds of other emails they receive. If a series of emails isn’t in your budget, optimize one email you will send strategically. Send your email during lower volume days (a week before Black Friday), and the Sunday before Cyber Monday (emails sent on this day typically have great ROI). This way you avoid sending on the actual holiday altogether.
Plan your offer and promote it across all marketing channels. Start with targeted email, then continue to promote via retargeting ads and Facebook retargeting. This will help keep your great offer top-of-mind during the holiday season when people are overwhelmed with deals. Offering a deeper discount unique to people receiving your email is a great way to motivate customers into action. Make your offer stand out from the crowd and appeal to your unique audience.
Are you an auto dealer with a great APR or interest rate promotion? Now is the time to offer a little extra to sweeten the deal and make it stand out from other dealerships in the area. If you’re selling a product, a BOGO deal or a free gift with purchase may help drive the sale.
Be Persistent and Present
Plan your offer and promote it across all marketing channels. Start with targeted email, then continue to promote via retargeting display ads and Facebook retargeting. Keep your great offer top-of-mind during the holiday season when people are overwhelmed with deals. No matter your budget, or what you’re selling, targeted email can help you reach your sales goals during the holiday season. Contact us to get your holiday targeted email campaigns started today.
Frequently asked questions
- When should I start a holiday targeted email campaign?
- Start sooner than you think. The post recommends a teaser email about a week before the big day, followed by the main offer on Black Friday, because holiday sales account for 20-30% of annual revenue.
- How can my email stand out during Black Friday?
- Send during lower-volume days, such as the week before Black Friday or the Sunday before Cyber Monday, and offer a deeper discount unique to email recipients so people look forward to your name in their inbox.
- What should the first holiday email contain?
- The first email should be a teaser or preview that builds anticipation for your offer, sent about a week early. On Black Friday, send the full offer to people who opened the first email, or resend to everyone.
Nicole Harriman contributed to Summit Thoughts as part of the sO2 Digital team, with a focus on targeted email, audience building, and the data that makes outreach relevant.
Christina Rice is the Founder & CEO of sO2 Digital (Supplemental Oxygen Digital, LLC). She has spent her career building the people, processes, and technology that make digital advertising perform at scale, and leads the team behind Atlas, sO2's media activation platform. She reviews and updates Summit Thoughts to keep the agency's thinking current.
