It’s that time of year again when inboxes are flooded with so many special offers, coupons, and “must-haves” that it’s impossible to have time to look at them all. So how do your recipients decide which ones to open and which to send immediately to the trash?
Here are some tips to improve your holiday email marketing strategy and prevent your messages from going straight to the circular file.
A Catchy Subject Line is Key
We get so many emails with subject lines referring to “limited time offers” and “exclusive” discounts that it’s hard to keep them straight after a while. Everyone loves a good sale these days, but it’s hard to make your business stand out when your subject lines mirror those of your competitors.
With the holiday shopping season well underway, it’s OK to promote special offers your company has going on, but maybe you should approach it in a different way. Instead of saying, “Save 30% In-Store Now Through Friday,” consider using a holiday greeting or thank you in the subject line instead. This way you can stage the offer as a sign of gratitude or holiday spirit rather than trying to convince someone to come to your store. If you focus on generating rapport rather than making a sale, you may see these subscribers turn into satisfied customers.
Some Ideas:
- “From Our Family to Yours: Best Wishes This Holiday Season”
- “Let Us Help You Keep That Resolution: Join Today”
- “You’ve Earned It: Spend Your Next Date Night With Us”
Use Graphics and Images to Grab Attention
Reading emails can get to be a bit cumbersome if you’re looking at paragraph after paragraph of text. Instead of a lengthy message, let a relevant image or infographic do the talking. Like social media posts, emails with images are much more likely to be read in their entirety because our eyes are drawn to a colorful image or design. Also consider the formatting and design of your emails to make it easy to read, to the point, and an accurate representation of your brand.
Include Social Share Buttons
Social media has become a major outlet for sharing coupons, deals, and special offers, and what better way to promote yourself than to have subscribers do it for you? Encourage your recipients to share the deal with their friends and family and consider offering an additional incentive to do so. Promotions by prospects or customers carry much more weight than a social media post you share yourself, creating positive opinions of your company and potentially future customers!
Don’t Email for the Sake of Emailing
If you don’t have something important to convey to your subscribers, don’t feel obligated to send out an email. People will actually respect you more for NOT bombarding them with constant promotions. Reserve your email marketing for important announcements, thank yous, and the occasional sales pitch to keep recipients engaged and less likely to unsubscribe from future emails.
When it comes to email marketing, put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. Everyone receives dozens and dozens of emails per day, and there’s certain features to an email that makes us more inclined to actually open it. When you think about what prompts you to open and read an email, you become customer-focused. And that’s ultimately who you’re targeting, right?
Hopefully these tips will help you this holiday season and throughout future campaigns. Good luck!
