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Why Email Marketing is so effective during the holidays

When heading into the holiday season it is common for people to put the blinkers on and switch into consumerism/ materialism mode, prioritising only B2C and completely ignoring the B2B crowd. Savvy B2Bs know otherwise and understand that this is the perfect time to get ahead and capitalise on this lapse in judgement.

Less Competition: Revenue.io platform states “there’s less competition” during the holiday season and found that “reaching leads before competitors this holiday season makes it a lot easier to close deals. And the decreased competition this month can enable you to generate more of those highly valuable non-competitive opportunities.”

Increased email and social media activity: People are checking their emails more, looking for news, updates, promos and deals. This increased engagement paired with a specifically tailored and targeted email marketing approach can result in more leads, meetings and opportunities. 

Email marketing is by far the best marketing tool to be utilised during the holiday season beating social media channels 40x for customer acquisition rates, according to research by McKinsey. The trends in consumer behaviour that were accelerated by the pandemic have only strengthened emails’ position as the number one holiday marketing tool.

Tips and Tricks for Effective Holiday Email Marketing

  • Many Businesses Have Leftover “Use it or Lose it Budgets”: This means businesses are looking to spend the rest of their yearly budgets on products or services that will provide a good ROI and position them well for the coming year. 
  • Spice up Your Subject Lines: A well-written subject line is worth its weight in gold throughout the year, when it comes to the holiday season, they become priceless. Standing out from the crowd with an engaging, enticing subject line is a surefire way to boost open rates and capture the attention of a potential client consumer. For a complete guide on how to write the perfect subject line, check out our latest blog.
  • Make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Two of the year’s most significant shopping events. Be sure to promote these events early and a lot. As a rule, don’t increase your email frequency by more than 3x your average as people will start to see it as spam. 
  • Optimise Emails for Mobile: Since 2020 more people open emails on their phones than on their Laptops/PC, so make sure you are using appropriate templates and layouts that work well and look good on the smaller screen of a mobile device.
  • Personalisation and Humour: Adding a touch of personalisation and humour to your marketing over the holiday season can make your marketing more memorable, so don’t be afraid to let your hair down and embrace the Christmas spirit in your email marketing. 
  • Send Post-holiday Email Campaigns: Your holiday email marketing strategy doesn’t have to end when the holidays are over. Use this opportunity to send a post-holiday email to encourage customers to stick around and hopefully convert that first-time customer into a loyal one. 

What are the Facts?

Ever Increasing CTR: According to HubSpot over the Holiday Season, the best time to kickstart your email campaign is in early-mid November with click-through rates increasing right up to Christmas Day. 

Closing Deals @ Christmas: According to research by Software Advice: Christmas Day and the following days are prime time to qualify and nurture leads further, so don’t shy away from sending emails during this period. 

Attention is on the Increase: In 2019, almost two-thirds (68%) of holiday shoppers said they pay more attention to emails from companies during the Christmas holidays.

Personalisation is King: Emails with personalised subject lines can increase open rates by 26%. 

Grab the Reindeer by the Horns this Holiday Season 

Both B2C and B2B businesses often see a large majority of their revenue during this holiday season, so the potential to amplify your marketing and grow your business is huge. By implementing these strategies you will be able to capitalise on this time of opportunity and create compelling email campaigns that position you ahead of the competition going into the new year. 

Remember to follow up your holiday email strategy with a post-holiday campaign to try to keep those customers coming back again and don’t be afraid to be funny and personal.