This week I hosted a ‘Maximising the opportunity of Christmas’ webinar. If you missed out you can view the webinar by clicking here, alternatively here are my top takeaways and some of the questions and answers from the Q&A session in this extended blog.
I asked the marketers who attended our webinar two questions:
Do you change your homepage at Christmas?
63% Yes
37% No
Do you change your welcome campaigns at Christmas?
9% Yes
75% No
16% Not sure
Five key areas of opportunity at Christmas
Trade – for obvious reasons. You can capitalise on trade even more by implementing a welcome programme. When a customer first registers on your site it’s the most engaged they’re ever going to be so capitalise on the momentum of engagement by sending them a welcome email thanking them for signing up and ensure it reflects the season.
Brand building – it’s easy to get caught up in trading and forget about this so make sure your brand is still considered. Ensure you change your content, templates are the scourge of email marketing – if you change your homepage at Christmas change your email design
Customer service – if you offer good customer service then Christmas is the time that it will be called on so this is a fantastic opportunity to get customers talking about the service they received. Don’t just sell to your audience via email, notify them of website changes, Christmas delivery times, customer service numbers and refunds over the Christmas period.
Social networks – invite feedback in your social space, talk about Christmas with your customers and invite them to talk with you. It’s unlikely that customers will share your entire email, but they are likely to be willing to share one favourite product or article. Therefore ensure they can share specific product pages or articles in your emails.
Data – capture as much data as you can; capture what customers buy, what they buy for gifts and how their buying habits change. Also play close to attention to the devices they are purchasing on. This way you can use the data you gather for targeted campaigns the rest of the year.
Six seasonal tips for successful campaigns
- Review and change your creative including your welcome mails
- Implement a wish list
- Present your offer with limited availability
- Don’t be so focused on trade that you forget other opportunities
- Optimise your email (last shopping days especially) for mobile
- Do a Christmas Day campaign
Questions and answers
Q: What is a welcome campaign and what makes a really good one?
A: A welcome campaign is the email a subscriber should receive after they have signed up to your brand for the first time, for example signing up to a newsletter, making a purchase etc. A good welcome email should represent your brand, represent the benefits of the ongoing relationship and set expectations moving forward e.g. what they can expect to receive from you now they are on your mailing list.
Q: How often should I be sending emails at Christmas?
A: It’s important not to go overboard and spam your mailing list so ensure you have a good mix of marketing and customer services emails. For example, if someone has ordered something off your site then keeping them informed of when it is going to be delivered and who they can speak to if they have any problems can only be a good thing.
Q: How do you go about asking people what they want on their wish list?
A: It depends what you want to achieve with your wish list. If you’re trying to categorise people then try using a drop down menu with a few options, if not then use a text field. Direct the questions depending on how you want to use the data ongoing.
Q: What are your tips for marketing to mobile users this Christmas?
A: It’s important to understand what devices people are using and at what times of the day, your ESP should be able to provide this information in the reports suite. For example, if people are out shopping then they are unlikely to want to read a lot of content.