The Email Wars

From my experience, it starts in July and ends mid January.

It seems that just as we all wrap up the holiday season, we take a hiatus for a few months to focus on new campaigns… while simultaneously planning for the next big rush. After the slower season last year caused by the falling (collapsing) markets, many people took a beating. So what can we take from last year and apply to the current home stretch in which we find ourselves?

1. Get started early. As witnessed from as early as August of this year, campaigns are referencing the holidays (see Chad White’s post on holiday trends and what he has seen from retailers here). Countdowns are starting as far as 100 days out. Is it too early to start? Based on last year’s sales numbers, everyone is seeding the idea way ahead of the traditional October 15th date (that was just this past week).

2. Have a game plan. If you count on the holiday season to drive a large share of your business, a plan is necessary to avoid early list fatigue. There are so many days from now until the holiday that the more you bombard your subscribers about the holiday, the more you might lose out on the others that fall in between. Connecting with this group effectively can give a crucial lift to your sales. Work your way into it and show a little restraint. Hints or even a nice call out in your creative with a countdown or reminders are a good approach without placing too much focus on the event. With a plan that is designed well you will have a good cadence and frequency refined and timed to go to the distance.

3. TEST TEST TEST. That is right – test your campaigns. This is a perfect time to be experimenting with smaller segmented lists, timed offers, variables in your email creative, and subject line testing. I mean, if you are going to get all over this time of year as your time to shine, why waste it with massive drops? Taking the time to test, and most importantly measure your tests, can pay off this time of year. Don’t get lazy just to get a campaign out. Make it your goal to run as many tests as you can.

4. Frequency. Sure you can drop one email a month, even one every other week. Better yet, if you are sending good emails that are relevant you can even get closer than that. I have saved campaigns for the past 7 years during this season and have seen that they start out (around this time) at about once a week, moving closer and closer as the Dec 25th approaches. We even see some campaigns move to every day the last two weeks of this season. You would think that people unsubscribe at a higher rate with this type of frequency, but remember they are in market at this time of year trying to get those last minute gifts, using their budgets (both personal and corporate), and are just as busy are you. If you are providing good campaigns and not simply making slight changes to the one you sent yesterday as a reminder (“Sale Ends Today”) then they will be welcomed most of the time. But pay careful attention to your metrics and unsubscribe rate so that you do not damage your future campaigns.

This is the longest time of the year in email, so take the high road and immerse yourself in the job so that you can do it right.