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Dear Tayllor,
Happy Holidays! Well, not yet, but they'll be
here
before you know it. As consumers, we bemoan
the fact that retail shops have the halls
"decked" with
everything for the December
holidays—the day
after Halloween. But put on your
business-owner hat,
and you know that you've got to get a holiday
marketing plan in place before you hear the
little ones
say "trick or treat." And we want to help.
Last year, we offered you Gail's article,
Using Email
Marketing for the Holidays, which was
chock full of
holiday email ideas for businesses and
nonprofits.
When we considered what to share with you
this year, we discovered that the best thing
we could do is give you last year's
article with a few additions. This article,
along with a number of
current real-life examples, will give you
just what
you need to
get your email marketing plan in
place—before
your
doorway is filled with ghosts and goblins!
Sincerely,
Amy Black
Editor, Hints & Tips e-Newsletters
In this issue:
Using Email Marketing for the Holidays
Tips for including email in your holiday marketing mix
By Gail Goodman, Constant Contact CEO
Ready for the holidays? You still have plenty
of time to
purchase all your gifts. You can even do your
shopping as late as December 24, if you dare!
But
when it comes to holiday communication from your
business or organization, now is the time to
take
action.
Sending holiday email campaigns is an
excellent way for you to stay connected with
your customers, clients, donors, or whoever
is on your list. In this month's article, we
will start with a few tips for everyone, then
explore some creative ways that retailers,
B2B businesses, and nonprofits can
incorporate email marketing into a holiday
communications plan.
Three quick tips
1. Get started now - Your competitors
aren't wasting any time getting started with
their holiday promotions, so why should you?
Most businesses that benefit from the
November/December season start sending their
holiday communications the first of November.
Starting then gives you the
chance to sell to the early shoppers and
build awareness with the ones who will buy
later.
2. Send throughout the season - You
may have
noticed that most large companies (retailers
in particular) communicate frequently during
the holiday season. Some send two or three
different versions of a catalog or multiple
email promotions highlighting different
products and specials. While you don't want
to communicate too often with the people on your
list, sending consistent communications
during the holiday months can increase sales,
attendance, or donations. Make sure to be
sensitive to the expectations of your audience.
3. Schedule it and forget it - Think
through what products, promotions, and events
you want to highlight (there are more
pointers on promotions below) and then create
a plan that includes what you will send
and when. Pick a holiday template you like,
create a series of campaigns, and schedule
them to go out on the appropriate days.
By planning, creating, and scheduling your
email campaigns before November, you can put
your promotions on auto-pilot and focus on
your customers during the busiest time of the
year.
Read on to get tips for retail, B2B, and nonprofits
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October 2007
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Get help with your holiday e-promotions
Take a free online seminar to get ideas on
how you
can plan, design, and measure the success of
your
holiday email communications.
Click on dates to register (all ET):
Tuesday,
10/9
11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Thursday
10/18
4:00 - 4:45 p.m.
View all live webinars
Email marketing seminars in your area
Constant Contact has small business marketing
experts across the country. Attend a seminar,
speaking event, or trade show in your region,
where you can meet your local marketing
expert in person.
See events in your area
Sign up for our new e-newsletter!
Sign up for Hints & Tips
Online Surveys. Get
practical advice and learn techniques for
conducting successful online surveys. Just
click on the "Update Profile/Email Address"
link at the bottom of this email, and check
off the box that reads Survey Hints & Tips.
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Resources
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The Learning Center
Free 60-Day Trial
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Send Feedback
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Holiday Email Marketing Campaigns
Looking for ideas for your holiday emails?
Here's how three Constant Contact customers
use email promotions to boost their holiday
sales.
"When the holiday season came, I did some
additional research and discovered that
buyers don't just want to be sold to, but
they also want
information. I began writing small articles
related to
our jewelry product line, such as how to
select the
perfect gift, how to care for different types
of jewelry,
etc. The response was wonderful! Although our
open
rates were about the same, our click-through
rates
nearly doubled overnight, and our
e-newsletter related
sales went up 300%!"
Jenna Marie
Maciel, Owner, Le Loft
Jewelry |
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"Three weeks
prior to Christmas 2006, a short 'postcard'
style e-mail
was sent out to the entire database to remind
shoppers that a Wanderlust Tours gift
certificate would be a great gift
idea.
Although open rates were average, gift
certificate
sales tripled over the past year—all
due to a
simple, clean, full color, HTML e-mail
postcard."
Patrick Conlon,
Marketing Manager,
Wanderlust Tours
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"When we test marketed our CasaQ Ornament
Collection by sending out a 'Top 10' email, we
received orders and media responses from across
the country showing interest in our unusual
collection
of Latino-themed holiday ornaments. As a
result, the
ornaments were included in the Andy Roddick 1st
Annual Texas Hold 'Em Tournament Celebrity
Gift Bag.
"Because we did no other marketing for
this
collection, we know the success we
experienced was
because of the 'Forward-to-a-Friend' feature. We
piggybacked the promotion by emailing a press
release. The combination of these emails
helped to
increase our ornament sales by 450% over the
previous year! We did no TV, print or radio
advertising,
it was purely online efforts."
Darlene
Tenes, Founder, CasaQ |
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How will you use email marketing this
holiday
season? Share your ideas and learn from what
others are doing in the Hints & Tips Email
Marketing forum.
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Share Your Story
Do you have an email marketing success story?
Share it with us, and you may be featured on
Constant Contact's website or in Hints &
Tips.
Share
your success story!
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About the Author
Gail Goodman, the CEO of Constant
Contact, is a dynamic speaker and author, as
well as
an expert in small business and marketing.
She has
been featured in numerous online and offline
publications including Fortune Small Business,
Entrepreneur, Small Business Technology
Magazine,
Inc. Magazine, CNN, and the Boston Business
Journal.
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