How to Plan a Successful Holiday Email Campaign

Baltimore, Maryland

Blue Sky Factory

Eggnog, Elves, and Email:How to Plan a Successful Holiday Email Campaign

Lindsay Clark & Joanna Lawson-Matthew

Thursday, September 16, 20101:00 – 1:45 PM (EDT)

Driving Email Marketing Performance

Getting Acquainted

Feel free to submit questions via the GoToWebinar dashboard

or #bsfwebinar on Twitter.

Lindsay ClarkSenior Client Services Manager

Joanna Lawson-MatthewSenior Client Services Manager

2Copyright Blue Sky Factory 2010

About Blue Sky Factory

Blue Sky Factory is both a full & self service ESP.

Design, execute, and track your email marketing communications

with Blue Sky Factory’s platform, Publicaster.

Visit us at www.blueskyfactory.com.


http://www.blueskyfactory.com/

Why start planning for the holidays now?

4

Copyright Blue Sky Factory 2010

Why Start Now?

Consumers are already starting their holiday shopping and research.


Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007872

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007872

Competition is Heating Up!

Email marketing volumes are expected to increase 15% to 20% for the upcoming 2010 holiday season, compared to

the same time period in 2009.1

1 Experian Marketing Services’ annual 2010 Holiday Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report. 2 Flickr Photo Credit: mx5tx


Our Agenda

1. Getting Started

2. What Worked in 2009

3. The Best Practices You Should Stick With

4. The Most Important Tip for 2010 Holiday Emailing

5. Q&A


I. Getting Started


Ask Yourself

• What are your goals for this year’s holiday campaigns?

• What will be the main call-to-action of your campaigns

• Will you have a dedicated holiday email series or will you jazz up your current campaigns (think: auto-response campaigns and transactional emails) with holiday flair?

• How will you measure success this year?


Review last year’s campaigns to evaluate what worked.

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Review Last Year’s Campaigns

Which campaigns generated the best response? Remember to look at all metrics:

• Open

• Click-through

• Conversion

• Forward

• Unsubscribe

• Complaint



Did your complaint or opt-out rate start to spike mid-series? Identify the issues and plan for 2010 accordingly.



What days of the week did you send on? Were weekdays or weekends more successful?


Come up with a schedule, a plan-of-action.

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Develop a Schedule

Plan frequency and number of campaigns:

• How often are your subscribers used to receiving emails currently?

• Do you want to increase that level or maintain the same schedule?

• Will you come right out and announce your holiday series and deals or will you slowly tailor the emails more and more to the holidays?


Develop a Schedule

Review your schedule with other departments to confirm there are no conflicts. You want to sprinkle timely and relevant emails in between now and the holidays, not bombard your subscribers.

Flickr Photo Credit: emma.kate


Don’t Flood The Inbox

59% of US and UK Internet Users said the reason for not regularly opening/reading email marketing messages is

that they come too frequently.1

1 e-Dialog "Manifesto for E-mail Marketers: Consumer Demand Relevance" (2010) 2 Flickr Photo Credit: Greg Hayter


For a full pre-holiday audit guide, check out our two-part blog post, “It’s Time for your Pre-Holiday Email

Check-up”:

Part One: http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/general/it%E2%80%99s-time-for-your-pre-holiday-email-check-up-part-1/

Part Two: http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/creativeanddesign/it%E2%80%99s-time-for-your-pre-holiday-email-check-up-part-2/


II. What Worked in 2009


What Worked in 2009

Announcing early bird specials to encourage subscribers to shop early


What Worked in 2009

Creating urgency closer to the holiday

• Only 10 more days until Christmas!

• Guaranteed shipping by X date


What Worked in 2009

Giving your recipients “insider status”, special deals just for them


What Worked in 2009

Introducing a daily or weekly sale item just for subscribers


What Worked in 2009

84% of recipients open an abandoned cart emails within 24 hours, and 99% of recipients open within a week.

Experian (2010)

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Triggered emails for abandoned shopping carts


What Worked in 2009

Recommendations based on what was frequently viewed in recent sessions


What Worked in 2009

Showing recipients the closest store to them to encourage both online and offline purchases


What Worked in 2009

Promote “last minute” gift items


What Worked in 2009

Showcase gift ideas by budget, gender, age and interests


No Matter What the Core Offer…Include Free Shipping!

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Last holiday season, free shipping offers with no minimum spend requirement had 70% higher transaction rates, triple the revenue per email, and more than double the average order value compared to free shipping offers with minimum requirements. 1

1 Experian Marketing Services’ annual 2010 Holiday Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report (2010) 2 Flickr Photo Credit: Robert S. Donovan


What Worked in 2009

Participate in National Free Shipping Day

• Friday, December 17

• Delivery by Christmas Eve guaranteed

• Last year, more than 750 merchants participated, and over 35,000 sales took place!

• This year’s goal is 1,000 merchants with over 50,000 sales


http://www.freeshippingday.com/

http://www.freeshippingday.com/

What Worked in 2009

During the holiday season, be sure to spread the cheer.


Spread the Cheer

Relevant holiday tips, how-to guides

• Recipes

• How to stay healthy this holiday

• Guide to a stress-free holiday

• Travel tips

• Party planning


Spread the Cheer

• Give a “family & friend” discount, reward for referring a friend

• Prompt subscribers to submit their own holiday tips, recipes, money-saving ideas, best traditions

• Send a video that will give your subscribers a good laugh

http://blog.g1440.com/2009/12/happy-holidays-from-all-of-us-at-g-1440/



















Spread the Cheer

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Emails with a refer-a-friend link have been proven to drive 14% higher open rates, 20% higher clicks and 40% higher transaction rates than those without.1

1 Experian Marketing Services’ annual 2010 Holiday Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report (2010)


Spread the Cheer

http://www.blip.tv/file/3021827/

Encourage sharing by providing Forward to a Friend links and Share With Your Network buttons


http://www.blip.tv/file/3021827/

Spread the Cheer

Be interactive by showcasing a game, quiz, or survey


Spread the Cheer

Give away something…for FREE!


Spread the Cheer

Show your subscribers you appreciate them, and don’t just see them as a dollar sign


Spread the Cheer


Add a little humor to your subscribers’ holiday season

Spread the Cheer


Show subscribers the more charitable side of your company

What Worked in 2009

Your job is not over come New Year’s.

Be there after the holidays.


Post-Holiday Emails

Survey buyers about their purchases


Post-Holiday Emails

Image source: Smith-Harmon, “Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season” 2009

Complement their holiday purchases with accessories


Post-Holiday Emails

Encourage gift card redemption or purchases


The promotion of gift cards in holiday email marketing messages more than tripled transaction rates for multichannel retailers last year.Experian Marketing Services’ annual 2010 Holiday Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report

Image source: Smith-Harmon, “Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season” 2009

III. Best Practices to Stick With


Best Practices To Stick With

The holiday season is not the time to try out new and fancy tricks. Instead stick with what works for you and

follow these 15 general tips.


1. Make sure only true opt-in subscribers are included in your email campaigns

2. Segment list based on click behavior

3. Remember the expectations regarding frequency you set up front with your subscribers

4. Consider setting up a separate opt-in just for the holidays and set up a holiday-only unsubscribe option

5. Check with your ESP to make sure your IP reputation is in good standing

Best Practices to Stick With


6. Find a balance between offer and value-added content

7. A/B split test: subject lines, call-to-action placement, offer used

8. Use this holiday to plan for next holiday

9. Subscribe to your competitors' emails to generate ideas for next year

10. Ensure your call-to-action is prominent (5 second test)



11. Include a View in Browser link

12. Remember to include Share With Your Network links, and encourage social sharing

13. Ensure all images have alt tags

14. Take the time now to ensure your email renders well across all email clients

15. Build a strong subject line that reflects content of email and creates urgency



IV. Most Important Tip for 2010 Holiday Season


Mobile Version


Your carefully crafted email is often being viewed by a potential buyer or key decision maker on a mobile device

Mobile Version

Optimize each email for all mobile devices by featuring a link to a mobile version


Mobile Version


1 Experian Marketing Services’ annual 2010 Holiday Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report (2010) 2 Flickr Photo Credit: William Hook

24% of online consumers (with or without Web-enabled phones) say they expect to be comparing prices, and 22% expect to be purchasing items from their mobile phones in the next 12 months.

Mobile Version


Make sure all links in your email lead to landing pages which mobile devices can support (e.g.- no flash)

Time For Your Questions!


Thanks for Attending

Whether you’re an email marketing beginner, a casual mailer or a battle-hardened ninja, THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EMAIL provides proven strategies and tactics you can apply to your campaigns

Download your free copy here:http://www.blueskyfactory.com/holiday2010/


http://www.blueskyfactory.com/holiday2010/

Please Contact Us

Please submit your questions now via the GoToWebinar dashboard

Lindsay ClarkSenior Client Services [email protected]

Joanna Lawson-MatthewSenior Client Services [email protected]

www.blueskyfactory.comblog.blueskyfactory.comTwitter: @blueskyfactory

Contact Blue Sky Factory:


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How to Plan a Successful Holiday Email Campaign