It’s mid-October so you know what that means, time for holiday emails and marketing of course! While it may seem early to start sending holiday emails, it’s not. All the big retailers are already doing it. So, grab a peppermint latte and we’ll quickly walk you through everything you need to know right now.

How often to mail – This gets a bit tricky as many businesses want to mail more often to ensure they end the year on a high note, but their readers may be being overwhelmed by email from lots of sources. If you plan to send more email than you normally do, it’s a good idea to let your readers know that you’re going to increase your sends and for how long you plan to do it for. It can be as simple as adding a line in your email saying, “During this holiday season we have some fantastic deals lined up!  To make sure you have a chance to take advantage of them, we’ll send you emails once a week through the end of the year.”

You can also send an email specifically spelling out the change in frequency and what your readers will get of value with that change. By letting people know there will be a change, you stand a better chance of keeping your readers through the holidays and getting less unsubscribes.

 

Holiday hours – If you’re a retailer, or have a physical location, sharing changes to your business hours over the holidays is important. Include this info in your emails at this time of year, and remember to update your website, landing pages, blog and of course, social media networks. Many people use their mobile phones to find info like location and hours, so making this information mobile friendly is a plus too.

Shipping – This time of year free shipping becomes pretty common, and even expected, but that’s no reason not to mention it to your readers. Since the most used subject line during the holidays is Free Shipping, you may want to spice up your subject line with additional compelling information and include the free shipping details in the body of your email or even in your pre-header. If free is out of the question, but you plan to offer a low flat rate, share that too! There’s even a day dedicated to free shipping – December 18.

Social media – Social networks are an important way to share what’s going on with your business over the holidays, and of course, call out any specials that you’re running. Include links or buttons to your social networks in all your emails to help your readers find them. And consider doing special offers or contests now to encourage people to follow you and stay with you all year long.

Staff up – This may seem like a no-brainer, especially if you have a business that usually has seasonal help, or if you’ve been around for awhile. But think beyond a retail or restaurant business to what you hope or expect your holiday sales to look like. Are you planning on doing more marketing? Running specials in email and on social media? If so, you may need another set of hands or two. If you’re a one-person shop, will you be able to take care of all the day-to-day needs of running your business and fulfill extra orders or demands?

You may need someone to help pack up orders, or someone to help post offers to social media while you create and ship your products. Take a realistic look at what you can accomplish, keep your customers happy and still enjoy the holidays.

Now that your latte is done, you’re ready to create your holiday marketing and get the the registers ringing. Make sure you visit the VR Everything Holiday site for all your email and social media goodies this holiday season

© 2013 – 2018, Contributing Author. All rights reserved.

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