Last minute tips for spreading the cheer with email this year

The happy holiday inbox

It’s not too late! Last-minute shopping continues to generate significant holiday profits. Year over year, retail revenue was up 5.5 percent during the last weekend before Christmas 2010, and the National Retail Federation confirmed that approximately 38 percent of shoppers planned to buy their last-minute gifts online.

Over the last couple of years, a strong multichannel-focused holiday plan emerged with email at the center of most advertising campaigns; and the push to capture last-minute buyers drove volumes higher. Email volume surged 34 percent from Dec 21 to Dec 31 last year. To generate those last-minute results, leverage tactics including:

• Express shipping options• Buy online and pick up in store • More in-store offers• e-Gift Cards

Capitalize on the end-of-season surge

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10%

20%

Nov 21–27 Nov 28–Dec 4 Dec 5–11 Dec 12–18 Dec 19–23 Dec 24–31

30%

40%

Volume increase by week from 11/21-12/31/2010 compared to 2009

21%

11%19%

12%

32%38%

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Cyber Monday Echo Monday 1 Echo Monday 2 Christmas

In 2009, 20 percent off was the most prolific of the percent discounts during the holidays; in 2010, it was 30 percent. Deeper discounts — of 50% or higher — also increased.

Emails with dynamic store locators also have 14 percent higher click rates

Tell them what they need to know1Include deadlines and locations that provide urgency and directions that encourage customers to act quickly. Analysis of last year’s holiday mailings indicates that on average:

Shipping deadlines improve transaction performance by 22 percent

Fifteen percent of email openers read emails on a mobile phone, and that number is growing

Keep it fun and fresh

Catalogers, multichannel retailers, and travel brands all tend to experience higher open rates on campaigns using the recipient’s name in the subject line. During the 2010 holiday season, many retailers did a great job of this by carrying the personalization through to the pre-header text, as well as the email copy.

Links to social networks can amplify any email marketing promotion, including your last-minute eGift Card availaibility or shipping deadlines. Forty percent of online consumers who use social networking sites plan to use Facebook for feedback from family/friends to help make a decision about a product, according to a recent survey.

Animated GIFs are a great way to quickly enhance your creative during the holidays. This fun and simple technique enables marketers to highlight multiple products in one position and emphasize creative elements with animation — helping to engage customers with something that resonates with them.

For example, last holiday season Oriental Trading Company added a twinkling effect to the Christmas lights in their email as they thanked their customers for their business (another best practice).

Open rates aren’t the only performance metric positively influenced by personalization. Last

holiday season, catalogers also had a significant lift in transaction rates (30 percent) and revenue per

email (300 percent) with personalized campaigns compared to campaigns without personalization.

Compared to email campaigns without animated GIFs, 90 percent have significantly higher

transaction rates (60 percent), 5 percent higher open rates and 118 percent more revenue per email

than the campaigns without the animation.

Make it personal Socialize your email

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It’s not too late – gift cards for sale!

Promoting Gift Cards and e-Gift Cards in email also is a great way to address last minute shopping.

In fact, Experian Hitwise finds that online searches for “gift cards” are highest during the week of Christmas.

For more information on holiday emails, email StrategicServices@cheetahmail.com or visit our blog at experian.com/MarketingForward.

During the 2010 holidays, 29 percent more email campaigns advertised

gift cards in November and 20 percent more in December when compared to emails sent during the first 10 months

of the year.

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November 2011