A holiday email marketing campaign doesn’t end once Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over. In fact, this is just the beginning of the holiday shopping season for most consumers. That’s why it’s important to plan out holiday email marketing campaigns through November and December to ensure that you take advantage of every opportunity to engage and convert your target customers.
Below, we’ll take a look at a few of the best holiday email marketing campaign examples that will help provide some inspiration for your email marketing campaigns this holiday season:
1. Add a sense of urgency to your holiday email marketing campaign.
If you really want to grab the attention of your audience with a holiday email marketing campaign, you’ll need to create some sense of urgency. This will inspire consumers to act sooner rather than later. The easiest way to do this is to communicate that the promotion or sale is only available for a limited time and clearly state the deadline in the email content.
In this example from J. Crew, you can see how they create a sense of urgency for their customers in their holiday promotion:
This holiday promotion email is short and simple, but it does the job. Not only does it highlight the promotion in large text at the top, but then it also clearly provides the parameters of this special holiday deal. The words “Hurry, Ends Thursday,” and “Shop Now,” create a sense of urgency for shoppers who want to take advantage of this holiday promotion.
Here’s another great example of a holiday email campaign from J. Crew that creates a sense of urgency for shoppers:
This email urges consumers to “shop now” in order to take advantage of some attractive holiday promotions. By offering free shipping “today only,” the email message encourages consumers to shop now. J. Crew also has some fun with holiday imagery here, with a festive mouse and a play on words that tells consumers to take action by grabbing their “mouse.”
2. Let last-minute shoppers know when they can still get gifts shipped for the holidays.
In addition to building a sense of urgency with your sales promotions, you can also create a sense of urgency for your customers by letting them know when they need to order their gifts if they want them to arrive for the holidays. This is a nice reminder for late shoppers or those who may have forgotten a gift and still need to do some last minute shopping.
Here’s a great holiday email marketing campaign example from ASOS that lets consumers know how long they have left to order their holiday gifts:
What’s great about this holiday email marketing campaign is that it takes into consideration how and when last-minute shoppers will be reading it. The closer it gets to the holidays, the more rushed people will be to get things in order. The content of the email is short and to the point, which is ideal for consumers who probably won’t have much time to read it.
The animated GIF at the top of the email message is a great way for ASOS to catch the attention of their busy audience. You can achieve this same effect by using an eye-catching graphic with large text.
And of course, the most important part of sending this type of holiday campaign email is the timing. You want to make sure that you send it in enough time for consumers to read the email and take advantage of the opportunity to do some last minute shopping. Make sure it’s clear in both the subject line and the email body what day and time is the last possible moment for shoppers to order gifts and get them delivered in time for the holidays.
Here’s another example of this type of email campaign from Birchbox:
The headline “Under the tree, just under the wire,” is clever and gets to the point. Like the ASOS email, the email body here is short and sweet. It tells shoppers when their last opportunity is to order to ensure the first box arrives just in time for Christmas Eve.
3. Take advantage of the excitement around the new year.
Christmas isn’t the only holiday that consumers shop for, and therefore, it shouldn’t be the only holiday that you create email campaigns for. As the new year arrives, many consumers see the new year as an opportunity to better themselves. Not to mention, many consumers are looking for after-Christmas deals. You can take advantage of the excitement around the new year by developing special new year holiday promotions.
Boden House uses the new year as an opportunity to offer consumers some great after-holiday sales that will help them “celebrate in style”:
The happy new year message is a great way for Boden House to engage customers and leads after the Christmas holiday is over. Since many consumers are looking to put their best foot forward in the new year, the “celebrate in style” messaging is a great way to harness some of the excitement around new beginnings for their new year sale.
Hayneedle takes the premise one step further by putting together special shopping recommendations based on the new year:
Since many consumers will be making resolutions for the new year, this messaging will appeal to their desire to better themselves. The email content plays on the consumer’s desire to make positive changes and take small steps toward achieving their goals or resolutions. Then, Hayneedle makes it as easy as possible for consumers to shop by allowing them to click on a button to “shop resolutions” on the site.
Whether you want to have a blow-out post-holiday sale like Boden House’s 70% off or just make it easier for consumers to make the right purchases to achieve their goals like Hayneedle, the new year is a great opportunity to engage your consumers and encourage them to convert. Just make sure that you make it easy for consumers to shop and offer them a promotion that’s worthwhile for them to keep shopping after Christmas.
Need help creating an effective email marketing campaign?
Vinci Digital offers a full line of email marketing solutions to help get your message out to your audience during the holidays. Not sure where to start? Not getting the results you hoped for? Contact us so we can discuss your goals and strategy and get your holiday email marketing campaign and advertising goals back on track!
