With email responsible for over 20% of online holiday site visits, don't get sent to the junk folder. Thanksgiving and Black Friday account for some of the highest open and click rates. Preparing for increased traffic is part of any successful marketing strategy. Use our Black Friday 2021 Guide to help get your emails delivered this holiday season. Highlighted below are some steps outlined to be ready for this year's holiday sales.
Plan Ahead, To Get Ahead
Give some love to your customer data. Preparation includes grooming your list for success. List hygiene is critical when optimizing your campaign for profitability. ReachMail list cleanings perform both data hygiene and email verification scans to your customer data. Data hygiene encompasses much more than just verifying addresses. With everyone competing for the inbox, make sure your emails stand the best chance when it comes to deliverability. Proper data hygiene rids your list of potential spam traps that appear to be openers and non-responders and seeks to return results that maximize delivery to the inbox.
You've heard the saying, "Timing is everything." Well, this is especially true when it comes to promoting your holiday deals. During this period, users receive an influx of marketing mail. Being prepared requires an intelligent marketing plan to ensure the message stands out from the rest of the crowd. Start early by sending campaigns to your engaged core audience around the end of October or the first week of November. The highest percentage of opens tends to occur before and after the holiday itself, according to this study on email open rate trends during the holidays.
Dates tend to be the most critical aspect, but it is also necessary to keep time in mind. Litmus crafted a detailed analysis of the best times to send an email that sorts the information by country and opens by the time of day. Most of your opens and clicks usually occur within the very first hour of your campaign's lifecycle.
Once you have cleaned your list and decided on the perfect date and time. Then craft an engaging subject line, personalize the offer and present a visually appealing email to encourage your recipient to open since you have spent all this time planning to get it delivered to their inbox.
Dress To Impress
Whoever said looks aren't everything was never in the business of marketing. Once you've finalized your strategy, cleaned your lists, perfected your timing, selected personalization, and selected your offer, the next step is to procure your style. Create a sense of excitement and urgency with your phrasing. Take advantage of our brand new Stripo integration, just in time for the holidays, or use our responsive message builder to create stunning email designs. Stripo is a no-code email builder that includes over 800+ email templates with direct integration to export your email quickly into ReachMail. Test out different subject lines and content with A/B testing. This feature allows you to experiment with your subject line and content and use actual data to make an informed decision when the data speaks for itself. To the victor goes the spoils.
Types of offers to think about:
- Announce a sale.
- Offer a free gift.
- Launch a giveaway.
- Provide a coupon code.
The most crucial aspect of your content in your message is your call to action. Use bold and high contrast calls to action to prompt an engagement for your recipient immediately. Providing additional information comes secondary to the act of clicking on your main offer. People are overwhelmed with email on Black Friday, so presenting a clear and straightforward call to action will respect your customers' time. Make them an offer they can't refuse, along with a process so easy they don't know they have completed the call to action before it's done.
This example has an immediate call to action, simple and cohesive branding, and contrasts nicely against the background to focus on the message's intent. Make the most of your design space above the fold and make your message eye-catching. Instantly individuals know what the company is offering and how to acquire that offer.