Proof to Product_7 Strategies to Boost Holiday Sales with Email Marketing

Let’s get real for a moment and agree that 2020 has been insane. But, however you look at it, online sales this holiday season are a sure thing.

Plenty of folks are avoiding bricks and mortar stores in favor of ordering online. Last festive season, ecommerce sales hit $138.65 billion in the US. Out of total retail sales of $722.60 billion (source: Digital Commerce 360). Whatever happens, there’ll be lots of fingers tapping credit card details into phones, tablets and laptops.

What’s interesting to me, as an email strategist and copywriter, is that plenty of stores - big and small - still aren’t investing much in email.

They put strategies in place for Insta, or they’re all over Facebook, but their email strategy is more of an afterthought.

This is good news for you if you want to up your email game. It means getting noticed in the inbox is easier than it should be. And the great thing about emails? Customers who buy products through email are likely to spend 138% more than people who don’t get email offers (source: Hatchbuck).

So let’s talk strategy. How can you make sure your emails get opened and read - and bring in sales for your brand?

(I want to quickly interrupt myself here and tell you this. If you find the idea of email overwhelming, I hear you! You’re busy, and there can be a lot to take in. If that’s where you’re at, take it easy. Pick one or two of these strategies and check them off before you even think about the rest. Like eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner - one delicious bite at a time.)

1. You will bring your neglected list back to life with re-engagement emails

If you haven’t been emailing your list, then you need to give it a little TLC.

Take an online store in Scotland I wrote for. The founder had 11,000+ people on her list, but they hadn’t heard from her in months. So when we kicked off her 12 Days of Christmas campaign to sell hand-blended teas, festive hampers and gift vouchers, we needed to send “warm-up” emails to get people in the mood.

We mapped out emails that would deliver value as well as subtle sales messages, and hinted at some offers to come. The campaign eventually boosted sales by 80% compared with the previous year.

So how can you re-engage your list?

The best way to tackle this is to open a doc or grab a piece of paper, and brainstorm everything you’ve been doing in your business. Have you made changes to the business, won an award, or added a cool video to your Facebook page. Figure out what you can share that will be useful or interesting to your list.

If nothing springs to mind, ask questions. Are people buying mainly for themselves or for others as gifts? What do they love about your brand? What are their plans for the holidays? This is all information you can use to connect with your audience and make them feel you really get them.

2. Make friends with your subscribers with a winter warmer welcome sequence

Hang on a festive minute - this is about holiday emails. So why are we talking about your welcome sequence

Thing is, welcome emails get some of the highest open rates. Average open rates are 82% and average click through rates are 27% (source: GetResponse). Compared with an average open rate of 15.7% for standard ecommerce emails (source: Smart Insights).

So whatever the season, your welcome emails need to be high on your list of priorities.

If you do most of your sales in the holidays, then it makes sense for you to create a welcome sequence with a festive feel to run through November and December. You can revert to a standard welcome sequence afterwards.

Here’s one simple flow:

Email 1 (send immediately): A sales email and opt-in discount code,
Email 2 (send on day 2): A nurture email, with origin story or brand ethos,
Email 3 (send on day 3): An engagement email to share more about you and encourage them to follow you on one specific social media channel
Email 4 (send on day 5): A reminder the discount code expires soon (give them a date).

This isn’t the only way to structure your welcome sequence. But it’s a flow that’s been effective for my clients, and it’s quick and easy to set up.

After this, you can send people your holiday campaigns, knowing they should be feeling all warm and fuzzy towards your brand.

3. Abandoned cart emails are the gift that keeps on giving

Some 69% of carts are abandoned. The average open rate for cart abandonment emails is 45%, with a click-through rate of 21% (source: Moosend). Don’t panic - I’m not going to make you do the math. That means that - on average - 11% of people who get that initial cart abandonment email from you will complete their purchase.

If you’re recovering fewer than 11% of carts - there’s some easy money for you to make. That’s why I recommend fixing those emails before you start on your festive campaigns.

But don’t accuse anyone of “forgetting” to check out.

People drop off for different reasons. Sometimes they get distracted and forget, but it could be they’re weighing up the purchase, they need input from their boyfriend, or they just decided not to buy. If you send an email suggesting they’re forgetful, it won’t connect.

So find some creative ways to remind them about the products in their cart. Use humor if that fits with your brand.

Here’s a great example of a cart abandonment email that doesn’t take itself too seriously:

Whatever you do, one really great cart abandonment email is better than none. But create a sequence or 3 or 4 if you have time.

4. ‘Tis the season for boosting holiday sales with email

Hurrah! Finally we’re getting to the good stuff. The “hot chocolate by the fire with the snow falling outside” style emails.

People get a lot of emails in the run up to the holidays. But they also open a lot of emails. So get your emails right and you can have a big impact on sales.

But before we dig into ideas for festive email sequences, let’s get super clear on what’s important. I’m an email strategist, so in my ideal scenario I’m going to do a ton of customer research. I’ll survey customers to find out why they bought and what’s most important to them. I’ll look at competitors, and hang out online to listen in on your ideal customers’ conversations.

And only when I’ve analysed all of that do I come up with a strategy for a sales sequence. It means the emails I write are perfectly positioned to connect and sell. Plus all of that research can be used for multiple promotions.

But it’s a lot of work! And you might not have the time or the experience to do it.

So here’s what matters most:

Use what you know is important to your audience, and speak their language. Talk about your products the same way your customers might talk about them to their friends.

Look at the promo messages your competitors use and think about how you can position yourself differently, so you stand out in the inbox.

Come up with a mix of different emails to put into your campaign. You’ll want to think about offers and promotions for the big days around Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and potentially Early Bird offers and Last Minute offers for holiday shopping in the run-up to December 25. But don’t only focus on selling. Include nurture emails like gift guides, educational content (blog posts and videos related to your products or brand) and engagement emails, where you survey customers, encourage them to share your social posts or forward your email to friends.

Consider the copy in your emails as well as the images. Images are important, but how can you make people feel something with the words you choose? Get them imagining their friends and family opening their gifts - or let them know why they should treat themselves to the products they want. Especially after the year we’ve all had!

Send the emails! Emails that get sent generate way more sales for you than the ones that stay as a draft inside your email provider because you didn’t think they were ready. Done is better than perfect!

5. Get your holiday emails all wrapped up with great ideas - old and new

Writing the copy for your emails can be daunting, but if you’re already writing effective social posts for your brand then you’re halfway there.

Think about which messages get you the best traction (and sales) on social, and apply that to your emails.

If it helps, open up a blank doc and add everything you know about what’s already working for you.

Then, whenever you have new ideas that could work for your brand, add them in. Keep your eyes open for ideas you can borrow or adjust for your audience. Don’t copy brands exactly, but let companies in other spaces inspire you.

Once you start looking, you’ll see and hear ideas everywhere.

6. All the trimmings for winning emails

There are two super important elements to your emails. These are critical when it comes to getting good open rates and click-throughs.

The first - subject lines. Keep these super short (1 to 6 words) or go long. Mid-length subject lines blend in with everything else in the inbox.

Use emojis if it suits your brand. And say something a little more interesting than “20% off”. Some sales messages with discounts are ok, but not in every email. Mix it up.

Secondly - calls to action and button copy. Be as specific as you can, so “Shop wooden baby toys” is better than “Shop toys”. And go easy on the number of calls to action you have in one email. A few different “shop” links is ok, but if you want someone to follow you on social, make that the main call to action. Two many different options lead to overwhelm and inaction. Not the result you want!

7. Share some seasonal love at the most wonderful time of the year

This year, more than ever, we need to show our audiences we think about them as more than people with credit cards. You likely didn’t go into business for the money alone - so make sure your audience knows that. Include some simple “greeting card” holiday emails at the end of your sales campaigns.

The key here is to make sure it’s not a generic message that gets lost among all the others

If you’re the face of the business, then talk about how you’ll be spending the holidays. Or if you have a team, share what they’re up to. And tell your customers you hope they get to enjoy time with their family too.

If you only email your customers with sales messages, it’s harder for them to believe you care. Sending nurturing messages is vital if you want to build a strong, trusting relationship with your audience.

My final wish for you this festive season

I hope you’re feeling confident you can bring in tons more sales with email this holiday season. My last tip of all is to head over to your calendar right now and schedule in some time to work on your emails. It’s the best way to make it happen and boost seasonal sales. Happy Festive Emailing!

And if you’d like more help to create the perfect email at any (and every) time of year, head over to my website and pick up my Anatomy of an Email Checklist. It’s a quick-read checklist you can run through before you hit send on any email - to help you boost sales and build stronger relationships with your customers. Download your checklist here.