Happy Easter! You don’t need to sell chocolate to increase your ROI during the Easter season, as clever seasonal campaigns can produce some sweet surprises of their own. Our motto at this time of year is “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and rely on just one campaign or one email to your entire database. Instead, implement clever segmentation in order to see the biggest benefit and maximise your ROI.
“S-egg-mentation”
If you segment your list, you’ll eventually deliver a uniquely tailored message to everyone, and naturally the more you segment, the smaller the group getting the offer. It seems to go against the grain to think that excluding certain subscribers can actually improve your ROI but (even though April Fool’s is coming up) we promise we’re not pulling your leg.
Consider what would happen to your time investment and potential sales if you sent the same offer to your entire list? An influx of unsubscribers (because no one appreciates an irrelevant email) and a small group who may actually take you up on the offer. One group generates revenue, the other generates emails spam flags and are a loss to your database. Your audience can be segmented infinite ways, how much risk do you want to take?
Think outside the box (of chocolates)
Use your CRM system to track individual customer’s sales in order to create a one-to-one experience for that customer; don’t forget to focus on the information that will be most relevant to you. For example, you could have a segment of “spent over £5,000 on products in 2015” or “influential in obtaining more customers for us by sharing our campaigns”. Think a little more laterally when it comes to creating your segments and you will generate data that is hugely meaningful to your brand.
Inside the Easter Egg
On a similar note, you should also get adventurous when it comes to the content of your seasonal campaign. Easter provides another opportunity in the year to offer your subscribers a gift-wrapped surprise, and every-bunny loves a nice present!
If you have segmented your list appropriately, you’ll be able to send a targeted campaign to each segment and reap the rewards afterwards. Whether you’ve got an Easter sale and have “Early Bird Prices” or a “Truly eggstraordinary Easter offer”, consider this holiday as big a retail opportunity as Christmas.
Hop to it
No matter what your industry, there’s an Easter campaign out there for you. For many of us, Easter will be the first time we’ve had time off work since Christmas so families will be thinking about a well-deserved break.
If you’re involved in the travel industry, Easter is the perfect time to target customers who are considering their summer holiday or offer a “last minute prices going cheep!” Similarly, industries involved with food and leisure will be targeting families with discount codes or special Easter menus. Retailers will be clearing the winter clothes off the shelves and preparing for a summer wardrobe, so dress those window displays but send a bright, sunny email out to your subscribers to remind them that summer is on its way and get them geared up ready for the next retail event.
Let’s get cracking!
Don’t forget, of course, that Easter is also the time for a traditional Easter egg hunt, which many e-commerce sites use to their advantage to drive engagement and increase sales.
An online Easter egg hunt is a simple and inexpensive way to encourage your subscribers to navigate their way through your website in search of an ‘egg’, which could be a discount code, free delivery or a surprise of your own creation.
If you’ve got a new line of products which you want to showcase, this is a simple way to get your subscribers to browse through your website and (hopefully) make a purchase or two after they’ve found that sneaky egg!
Final Thought
During the Easter weekend, retail opening hours are reduced. This means that people are spending more time at home and, hopefully, more time checking their emails. Whilst it’s often a time associated with eggs and chocolate, for some Easter also means new beginnings and resurrection, so if you’ve got a new email campaign to launch, perhaps a revamped brand image or a new website, now could be the optimum time to showcase it to your subscribers.