It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And it is here already! Christmas is also a wonderful time for businesses worldwide. It is one of the biggest spending periods globally, as customers are already primed to buy gifts. All marketers have to do is convert this interest into sales. Christmas email marketing is one of the most effective strategies to capture customers’ attention and bring in big dollars for your brand.
People spend a lot of time visiting different websites and eCommerce platforms to find and buy stuff, hopefully at the best-discounted price. They are also at the receiving end of a lot of Christmas advertising and so your Christmas marketing should be unique and must stand out.
One of the best ways to reach your customers is through email. The key to successful Christmas email marketing is not trying to sell your products and services to your users. You, as a brand, should instead focus on spreading the joy and spirit of Christmas. Your emails should put a smile on your customers’ faces.
It’s imperative for brands not to lose out on the chance to cash in on the biggest shopping season of the year. But before you jump ahead and start devising your Christmas email marketing campaigns, let’s first discuss how your brand will benefit from it.
Advantages of Christmas Email Marketing
1. Biggest shopping season of the year
In 2020, the retail eCommerce Christmas season sales went up to $186 billion, and this number saw a 14% hike and climbed to $207 billion in 2021. This number is further expected to rise by 15.5% to cross $236 billion in 2022 and 2023.
As you can see, there is huge money to make for the brands during the holiday season. It only makes sense to devise a strategy for Christmas email marketing to tap into this and skyrocket your sales.
2. Easier to transition leads into paying customers
Your target audience is already in a celebratory mindset and wants to spend money to shop. All you need is to have a well-planned, timely, and full-of-merriment email campaign to loop customers in to boost sales and loyalty.
3. Email communication reaches users directly
Email marketing, unlike many other marketing channels, is direct and can be personalized. You can ensure that your communication reaches the intended user.
It is also possible to try out different email subject lines for different audience segments according to behavior. Doing this skyrockets the chances of the email being opened.
Stages of Christmas Email Marketing Campaigns
Now, we know that designing Christmas email marketing campaigns is important and hugely beneficial for your brand. But when do you send it? On Christmas eve, or on Christmas itself?
Well, email marketing is not something that your business can hack in one day. It is based on the year-long trust relationship that you’ve developed with your email subscribers.
For Christmas, divide your email campaign into three parts:
Stage 1: Pre-Christmas Campaign
Not everyone is late to the party, and many people start their Christmas shopping a few weeks before Christmas. So your campaign needs to start at that time too.
It is the best time to get in the head of your customers and email subscribers and remind them to start thinking about their Christmas shopping. It also makes sure that you stay ahead of your competition. Your email won’t have to work too hard to fight for your customer’s attention in their inboxes.
Sending out pre-Christmas emails warms up customers for all your Christmas communications and keeps your brand and products at the top of your audiences’ minds.
Pre-Christmas email marketing is usually in the form of wishlists, gift guides, and early access to sales.
Stage 2: Christmas Campaign
The holiday season is finally here, and you have nurtured a trusting relationship with your email subscribers with your pre-Christmas emails. Since you started early and also used a personalized approach with your emails to show subscribers what they’re interested in, they are all primed and ready to shop for products. It is the perfect time to go in for sales.
An easy way to convert customers and encourage them to make a purchase with your brand is by sending them email-only discount codes in emails. They can also then share these discount codes with friends and family, which is beneficial in growing sales.
Stage 3: Post-Christmas Campaign
Even if Christmas is over, you should continue with your campaign and make use of the upcoming New Year celebrations. After Christmas, everyone is relaxed, and your emails will land in virtually empty inboxes.
By sending out emails with catchy and trendy email subject lines, your brand can stay connected with your subscribers. This is a great way to establish trust with your customers and lay the path for the next year.
Your emails can offer more discounts to repeat customers, show gratitude and appreciation to your customers for buying, and share useful content with them.
Best time to start Christmas Email Marketing Campaigns
It is not always easy to send emails and have good results during the holiday season. Firstly it is because there is a high volume of emails that are sent to customers by all brands, and it is difficult for any brand to stand out from them. Secondly, the user’s behavior is modified during the holiday season. It is imperative to monitor it to get the best time and frequency for sending out Christmas email marketing campaigns.
The first and last week of November is the best time to start a pre-Christmas email campaign. The CTR, i.e., the Click-Through Rates, are at the highest during the days leading up to Christmas eve and Christmas day. The open rates go down post the holiday till the new year. The ideal time to send email marketing campaigns is during the evenings to avoid traffic and competition.
10 Christmas Email ideas to soar open rates and conversions
1. Christmas Timer
As soon as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales are over, it is time to start the countdown till Christmas. It can be a pretty and intriguing teaser for your Christmas sales with limited information to keep your audience on their toes. The frequency of these emails should be monitored to prevent them from being monotonous or spam-like for the receivers.
2. Gamification
You can add an element of gamification to your Christmas email marketing to make it more fun, engaging, and memorable. You can hold contests for your subscribers with product discount codes as rewards. Another way to introduce gamification is by asking email subscribers to enter a lucky draw or spin the wheel to win a prize.
3. Offer Free shipping
Have your potential customers focus entirely on buying your products by waiving the shipping charges. It is a nice gesture on the brand’s part and shows goodwill. It is also an effective way to gain an edge over your competitors, as high shipping costs are one of the biggest friction points for buyers.
4. Gift Guide
Gifting is not an easy task, and people often get confused when deciding what to gift their loved ones. Curating a gift guide and wishlists made up entirely of your products is a great way of boosting the readership. It ensures that users will have a one-stop shop for all their shopping needs.
The guides could be personalized and also educate and spread awareness about your products among the subscribers.
5. Discount offers
The most important communication in the Christmas email marketing campaign is the one where you announce the actual sale offer. Your subscribers will already be ready with the things they need to buy from you due to the pre-Christmas teaser campaign. All you need to do is give these window shoppers an enticing discount to convert them into paying customers.
6. Early-bird offer for loyal customers
Reward customers who’ve remained loyal to the brand throughout the year by giving extra early-bird discounts on products. It makes your loyal customer feel special, loved, and appreciated. Personalize the products and offers based on the items which are recently viewed or items that were added to the cart but not bought.
Add a personal touch by using terms like “Special Offer for the people we love” or “Just for you.”
7. Thank your subscribers
All your Christmas communication to your subscribers shouldn’t necessarily be about sales. You can send them a warm season greeting and be grateful to them for a great year. You can highlight all your brand has achieved in the year and outline your key plans for the next year.
8. Shower some love
Let your customers know that they’re the reason that your brand has had a great year. Tell them that you value each one of them and how you plan to deliver on your brand promises in the next year. Also, deliver a happy Christmas greeting to your customers. This greeting should be interactive, engaging, and relatable.
9. Christmas holiday newsletter
Don’t make the Christmas communication all about yourself and your business. Instead, celebrate the Christmas joy and share recipes, things to do, tips, etc. Provide your customers with ideas on how to entertain guests and host a great party! It ensures that users turn to your emails when looking for information about stuff other than just your products and services.
10. Reminder email
Remind your subscribers to continue and be on track to complete their Christmas shopping in time. Make them believe that they’re not too late and can still get the best deal for your products. Include estimated delivery dates, special shipping prices, and your best-selling products to entice your customers.
Conclusion
I’m sure that you now know why it is extremely important to set up Christmas email marketing campaigns for your business. You also have a roadmap on how to design and optimize your email marketing strategy to boost your Christmas sales.
Not sure how to set up a Christmas email marketing campaign? Here’s the solution.
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