Summer is coming to a close and while we are enjoying our last days at the beach, retailers are already thinking about the holidays. While it will be several weeks before we see a holiday e-mail in the inbox, retailers are imagining what they might look like.
Yesterday the DMA’s e-mail arm, the Email Experience Council (EEC) released its Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season.
The 43-page guide provides advice on how to run a holiday e-mail campaign, including tips on when to begin a campaign, how much volume to send, which days to send it out, and how to compete with the busy inbox season.
E-mail marketing services firm Campaigner is also preparing a series of free tips to help retailers with their e-mail marketing plans through the end of the year. Campaigner’s approach differs from the EEC’s. Instead of a manual, beginning on September 2, the firm will release daily e-mail marketing tips for 100 days. The pointers are designed to help retailers with e-mail marketing campaigns, timing, list building, calls-to-action and CRM.
E-mail plays a big role during the holidays. It can help boost sales at e-commerce sites or drive consumers to the mall with special incentives. Unlike catalogs, which are planned months in advance, retailers can craft their e-mails throughout the season, depending on how consumers respond. It is no wonder holiday e-mail planning is getting underway. Everyone knows that the inbox gets busy during the holiday season. Planning early could help capture a consumer’s attention.
