{"id":1716,"date":"2015-10-23T14:53:09","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T14:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2015-10-24T14:55:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-24T14:55:50","slug":"the-secret-to-the-perfect-holiday-email-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/the-secret-to-the-perfect-holiday-email-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to the Perfect Holiday Email Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"articleHeader\">\n<h1 id=\"articleHeader__title\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.entrepreneur.com\/content\/16x9\/822\/1391811870-generic-email-newsletter-needs-die.jpg\" alt=\"The Secret to the Perfect Holiday Email Campaign\" \/><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<header>\n<div><a class=\"name\" href=\"http:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/author\/kaleigh-moore\" rel=\"author\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hero lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.entrepreneur.com\/content\/1x1\/124\/20150806173919-moore.jpeg\" alt=\"Kaleigh Moore\" data-original=\"https:\/\/assets.entrepreneur.com\/content\/1x1\/124\/20150806173919-moore.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>KALEIGH MOORE<\/div>\n<div class=\"title\">CONTRIBUTOR<\/div>\n<div class=\"bio\">Social Media Consultant and Copywriter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Image credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/atosorigin\/11008394895\/sizes\/o\/\" target=\"_blank\">Atos International<\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<aside>\n<div>Contributor<\/div>\n<div>Social Media Consultant and Copywriter<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><time>October 23, 2015<\/time><\/p>\n<div id=\"bd251927\">\n<p>Yes, it\u2019s that time again. Holiday shopping season is on its way. (Although, for some, it\u2019s already started.)<\/p>\n<p>For online retailers, there\u2019s more competition than ever before. Cyber Monday brought in more than $2 billionfor online retailers in 2014, and holiday spending was up 15 percent\u00a0from the year before, according to a ComScore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.comscore.com\/Insights\/Press-Releases\/2015\/1\/Final-2014-Desktop-Online-Holiday-Sales-Reach-53.3-Billion-Up-15-Percent-vs.-Year-Ago\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To be sure they don\u2019t miss out on this incredible time for sales, some merchants already have begun plotting their holiday marketing strategy,\u00a0which includes<a href=\"http:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/topic\/email-marketing\" target=\"_blank\">email marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Why email?<\/h2>\n<p>Email is one of the most important aspects of a holiday strategy because in 2014, more than one in fouronline orders on Black Friday were placed as a direct result of email marketing. Plus, this medium was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marketingadept.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-list-of-e-commerce-marketing-stats-for-holiday-2015\/\" target=\"_blank\">cited<\/a> as the single most effective marketing channel in the United States that same year.<\/p>\n<p><em>Think about it: <\/em>While many people have a crowded inbox, an email has much more staying power than a social message that falls victim to algorithms, time passage, and limited reach without paid promotion.<\/p>\n<p>The next question, then, is: \u201cHow do I write the perfect holiday email campaign?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/250891\" target=\"_blank\">How to Create an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Write an Open-Worthy Subject Line<\/h2>\n<p>The subject line of your email is essential. After all, it\u2019s what gets your reader to open and discover the marketing message inside. Write a snooze-worthy subject line and your email will sit unopened until it eventually gets pushed down in the queue (and ultimately becomes out of sight, out of mind).<\/p>\n<p>Think about using these tried and tested subject lines:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u201cYou\u2019re Missing Out on X\u201d (create fear of missing out)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cA Special Discount for You, (First Name)\u201d (personalized)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWant a Free Gift?\u201d (everyone loves free things)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Next, think about your email\u2019s core objective\u2026what should the reader do once they open the message?<\/p>\n<h2>Start With One<\/h2>\n<p>When crafting your holiday emails, think about the single objective you want your customer to accomplish as a result of opening and reading your message. Eliminate decision fatigue by resisting the temptation to showcase every sale and promotion\u2014just focus on the single-best promotion based on past success or customer feedback.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve identified your objective, create a simple call to action button that is centrally located and easy for the scanning reader to find. Your button should have compelling microcopy (that\u2019s the words on or around the call to action button) such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get my discount<\/li>\n<li>See the sale<\/li>\n<li>Get shopping<\/li>\n<li>Show me more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These simple phrases tell the reader exactly what they can accomplish by clicking on your button as well as what they can expect to find on the other side.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/250503\" target=\"_blank\">4 Apps That Can Make You a Better Writer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Keep It Simple<\/h2>\n<p>As for the overall design and messaging of your holiday email, <em>less is more.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Your customers are being bombarded with marketing messages all season long. Don\u2019t add to the noise by sending complex email with bells and whistles. Your email should download quickly and leverage whitespace that lets messages and images breathe.<\/p>\n<p>Also, it must be mobile-friendly. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/53-of-emails-opened-on-mobile-outlook-opens-decrease-33\" target=\"_blank\">Litmus<\/a>, 53 percent\u00a0of all emails are opened on a mobile device\u2014so if your content doesn\u2019t display correctly in those environments, your customers probably won\u2019t take the time to pinch and scroll until they can see things clearly.<\/p>\n<h2>Get Planning<\/h2>\n<p>The final secret to your holiday email campaign: Start writing drafts right now.<\/p>\n<p>Shoppers are starting earlier than ever, so you need to allow for time to refine your message and email campaign design before your competitors start sending their own messages and snapping up customers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/249292\" target=\"_blank\">5 Blog Topics You Need to Stop Writing About<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KALEIGH MOORE CONTRIBUTOR Social Media Consultant and Copywriter Image credit: Atos International Contributor Social Media Consultant and Copywriter October 23, 2015 Yes, it\u2019s that time again. Holiday shopping season is on its way. (Although, for some, it\u2019s already started.) For online retailers, there\u2019s more competition than ever before. Cyber Monday brought in more than $2 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/the-secret-to-the-perfect-holiday-email-campaign\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Secret to the Perfect Holiday Email Campaign<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MGMb-rG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1717,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions\/1717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}