GET READY FOR THE YEAR’S BIGGEST MARKETING GAME

Holidays mean more email! Typically, during the holidays we send a far greater number than on average during the rest of the year. Because of this, it's important to consider slowing ramping up the amount of email you send. By creating additional frequency earlier in the 4th quarter you will improve your email program ROI later when it really counts.

There are many benefits to this including the fact your sender reputation is less likely to take any negative hit since the volume you are sending has gradually increased over a couple of months vs. a couple of weeks. Second, your customer is less likely to get annoyed as you have steadily increased your sending over a greater length of time. Keep in mind, before you start ramping up the worth considering educating your customer to the fact you will be sending more email as the holidays approach.

Give them the chance to opt out or even tell you what their preferred cadence is. Considering this approach well in advance of the holiday season should increase how effective your email campaigns will be and ultimately how much revenue you drive. Happy sending!

Holiday email volume in 2020 will likely break all sorts of records due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19. Brands must be aware that they are not just competing with competitors, but almost every brand and other "emails" that subscribers receive.

While 2020 has not been an ideal year for the world, brands should consider pivoting a bit in their messaging during Holiday. At iPost, we believe that brands should Humanize, Harmonize, and Empathize in their email programs.

HUMANIZE

Brands need to use copy and content that speaks with rather than too their subscribers. A humanized tone rather than the traditional marketing tone should pay dividends in every email. Copywriting is a lost art, and it’s time for it to make a comeback.

HARMONIZE

If there were ever a time for brands to ensure that their messages are in harmony across their digital channels, it is now. Fragmented messaging and competing channels all for the same customer are no longer acceptable. Eliminate the VS. environment if you have one.

EMPATHIZE

Humans spot fake empathy quicker than you think. Your messaging in the Holiday season should contain empathy, but be cautious about going overboard and looking like you are trying too hard. Testing the empathy levels inside your creative to find the right balance is crucial, especially to those subscribers who have not engaged with your brand in a while. Be genuine but be unique.

Holiday 2020 will be a unicorn since the digital age began. Brands MUST pivot and not rest on what has worked in the past.

Deliverability can be a wildcard during normal holiday seasons. Each year brings new challenges, and 2020 has been anything but normal. In past seasons, we've seen major shifts leading up to holiday email peak, including sudden widespread block listings and unexpected drops in sender reputation. This year, marketers need to be prepared for anything. Plan ahead and stay alert. Build a strong sender reputation early, so you're not struggling to deliver when you need it most.

Remain vigilant: keep a close watch for changes to your reputation and other deliverability KPIs, and make adjustments before you run into problems.

It all comes down to the value proposition of the product, along with the process-level value proposition of each individual email sent.

Start with the customer and put yourself in their shoes. How has their world changed? And what other options can they choose? Based on that, where does your product fit in? And how can you communicate it credibly?

For some products, this may be a drastic change. For example, a rock band might choose to promote an old-fashioned vinyl LP or CD as a gift instead of in-person concert tickets. For others, it may be a slight pivot to a lower-priced offering because of the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Next, try to put yourself in the shoes of the customer again as it relates to the emails you send. What else are they dealing with in life? What else are they getting in their inbox and through other digital and traditional communication methods? And how can your emails add value?

This may mean a content marketing newsletter that helps customers overcome a pain point or meet a goal. Or it may mean introducing them to the right product with the right promotion at the right time (based on triggers from your content marketing, for example). But it most certainly does not mean endlessly haranguing them to buy your product as if nothing exists in the world.

Something else to note, while most of the focus during the holidays is likely B2C, B2B marketers shouldn't overlook holiday promotions as well.

According to several early reports, it’s going to be an e-commerce Christmas. With online steadily gaining share over in-store shopping year-over-year since e-commerce began, 2020 is shaping up to be the ultimate tipping point fully on the side of e-commerce, a trend we may never see reversed. That’s great news for email marketers since consumers will seek and rely to a greater extent on email messages for product selection, information and deals.

It also means the torrent of already-sky-high holiday inbox volume will increase yet again, so marketers need to plan their email messaging strategies earlier and more precisely. It’s time to adopt the creation of buyer personas and persona-specific journeys as proper email strategy and leave behind the high frequency, easy go-to approach of batch-and-blast promotions that has passed as acceptable for far too long. Burying subscribers in sheer volume is or will soon push them to a point of dis-engagement and overwhelm (if it hasn’t already), so emailing smarter vs. harder is the way to go.

I think we may also see a step-up in creative and design features too, such as animation and video in email becoming near-standard, plus greater attention paid to dark mode and mobile-friendly design, dynamic content, and eye-catching features like side-scrolling, count-down timers, etc. becoming more commonplace. Standing out in the inbox has always been challenging, but will be an epic fight to the finish this season, so anything holiday email marketers can do to creatively capture and keep visual attention will pay off in higher engagement and conversion.

2020 has been a challenging year without doubt. Despite the challenges and issues caused by the global pandemic, online marketing has seen a significant increase. It's not only about the increasing number of online users, but also the rise of new marketing tools and new enhanced features.

Email marketing remains one of the strongest drivers to engage with our customer audiences. All creative planning aside, we are focused on user segmentation more than ever. Our audiences want customized and personalized messages, curated collections, relevant content. During the holiday surge in traffic, segmentation will be set up and prepared. All custom emails will be in places and triggered as needed for each important segment. Segmentation is not about pure monetization. It's about staying relevant and engaging with our customer base

When we buy a gift online, we always have someone special in mind. These gifts reflect our perception of the people we care about the most. We know them deeply, and that’s why we’re looking for the perfect gift for each of them.

This is exactly the same mindset you should have towards your customers and users. Each one of them is different and unique: special. And you should treat them that way!

Personalization is key when it comes to your customers. By delivering a more personalized experience (based on behavior and preferences) you will make your customers feel truly special.

Refrain from sending standard emails or promoting standard offers. Stop and think: Who is this individual? What does this person really care about and want? What are they looking for?

Put your customers first. One by one. Leverage what you know about them to make their experience unforgettable. Holidays make us feel a bit special, so let’s make the holidays really special for our customers!

Want to succeed with your holiday email marketing campaigns? Here are a few things you should keep in mind.

First and foremost, be extremely mindful and respectful. What we're dealing with isn't only affecting businesses but, most importantly, it's affecting your audience and their close ones' lives.

Secondly, watch your data & forget about the best practices. The way we live (and consume content) has changed over the last months. What may have been the best time to send a message may no longer be the same today. The same goes for the length, format, or even the type of content you're sending. Start running A/B tests today and gather intel before the holiday season comes.

And finally, adapt. Various studies show that people still want to feel the holiday spirit, even if they can't see their close ones in person. That means they're still buying things, but mostly online. Analyze the trends data and how people are interacting with your website. See whether you're offering the right kind of services they'll now need – e.g. wrapping and sending products as gifts, online vouchers that you can use in the online store, free returns via post.

Perhaps needlessly, but I'll also like to mention that you should make sure your emails (and website) are optimized for mobile. If you haven't done this before, it's now or never.