Whilst most Christmas marketing campaigns are planned months in advance, it’s still not too late to put something in place for the big event. The key issue is to be clear on exactly what you want to do, how and when, in order to achieve Christmas marketing glory. Therefore (because it’s the season of giving and all) we’re going to give you some top tips for seasonal success.
Making a list, checking it twice
There’s a reason why Santa has a naughty and nice list – he wants to know his audience and make sure each person gets the right present.
Now, we’re not suggesting that you give your customers lumps of coal, but you should take a leaf from St Nic’s book and segment your lists appropriately so you deliver the right gifts and offers to the right group of customers. If your segmentation is already in place, have you sent those segments the most appropriate information you could? If not, why not? Double check everything is highly optimised before your campaigns go out.
If you don’t want a lot for Christmas…
If all you want for Christmas is a little bit of time off, there is just one thing you need – scheduled posts.
Scheduling posts gives you control, content and spot-on targeting which can be vital in continuing to generate interest in your brand and engage with your customers, as well as giving you some peace of mind knowing your work is already done. Then all you need to worry about is enjoying that third glass of mulled wine…
Seasons tweetings!
Engage, engage, engage.
Christmas news and offers can spread like wildfire on social media, so make sure you’re prepped and ready to engage on a social scale with your customers. There’s still plenty of time to get your customers involved in a twitter campaign, and this in turn will generate awareness of your brand through organic likes and retweets.
Not sure how to get them involved? What about running a campaign encouraging customers to take a photo in-store or share a picture of their purchases? Simple, but effective.
Get everything wrapped up
Go through your website now and identify what (if any) are the barriers to completing a purchase with you. Do all of your links work? Are your delivery costs clear? Is your checkout process as secure as Fort Knox? Check all of this now before those last-minute shoppers can’t make that vital purchase and lose confidence in your company (and you lose their purchases!).
In 2014, over 40% of Christmas shopping was done online and so checking for issues like broken links is a wise investment of your time before it’s too late.
Have a creative Christmas
We know that at some point in the day your customer is likely to, in a post-turkey-and-Christmas-pudding-haze, take a cursory glance at their phone or tablet. Is your campaign going to catch their eye? Is it going to tempt them to open up your email, or click on that link?
Think of something new to send to your customers so that your campaign isn’t lost amongst the Christmas inbox chaos. Our suggestion: Include a GIF or a festive video, or perhaps an emoji subject line – anything that will catch your customers’ eye that is suitable to your business identity.
Dasher, Dancer, Donner and… Data?
If you don’t have Rudolph’s nose to guide you on the path to campaign success, your analytics and insights will do the work for you.
When the festive season is over, it can be tempting to collapse in a tinselled heap in the corner. However it’s worth taking the time to analyse what parts of your campaign worked and what didn’t. So be sure to review your analytics and assess your insights, make a note of your high-engagement articles, your best social media shares and what links saw the best CTR. Then keep these in your back pocket for next year!
If Christmas has confused your campaigns more successfully than twelve foot of tangled fairy lights, then use the tips we’ve given you to get yourself ready for the festive fun. Whilst time and resources may be running out, there are still some simple steps that you can take to prepare yourself and make the most of the Christmas season.
If conquering your campaigns is top of your New Year’s Resolutions, start 2016 right with our Email Maturity Model.
[mk_mini_callout title=”Download The Pure360 Guide to Christmas Email Strategy” button_text=”Download the guide” button_url=”http://www.pure360.com/white-papers/christmas-email-strategy/”]Stand out in the inbox this festive period[/mk_mini_callout]