Holiday success starts early
From mid-November to New Year’s, and especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers are exposed to a high frequency of messages across a short, intense period.
During this period, shoppers will also take the time to research deals, join lists for exclusive offers, and are more likely to respond to urgency and scarcity messages. Emotional triggers drive both impulse and considered purchases.
So, how do top-performing brands stand out?
- They prepare in advance
- They test, fine-tune, and segment their campaigns early
- They personalize past first names, using the full customer data suite, including purchase history, location, and customer interests
- They create consistent customer experiences across every channel
Get email ready for the holiday season
There’s still time to adjust your holiday season strategy that will improve results and engagement ahead of peak season. Here’s how to get started:
1. Analyze previous performance
- Review last year’s campaign data, identify your high-performing messages and campaigns, and run them again. There’s nothing wrong with repurposing what works
- Split test subject lines, send times, and creative, and leave enough time to analyze the results and act on what you learn
- Continue to refine campaigns and strategy at regular intervals to continuously put those learnings to work
2. Review your list health and data hygiene
- Clean your contact lists before the holiday rush
- Remove bounced, incorrect, and unengaged contacts to boost deliverability
- Follow the data regulation guidance and laws for each region you are sending to and from
3. Segment for success
- Identify VIP Customers and active donors, and give them exclusive early offers
- Follow up with recent purchasers and donors to offer related products or donation opportunities
- Reach out to lapsed buyers and donors and re-engage them with win-back campaigns and special offers
- Group together your holiday shoppers from previous years, and target them early with content and/or products based on their previous engagement
- Create relevant, personalized onboarding and welcome offers for your new subscribers
- Target non-purchasers with holiday incentives and appeal
It’s highly recommended to consider RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) targeting too, and then use this information to create sub-segments alongside the above.
Automate with purpose
Automations are the only way to get through peak season without losing your marketing mind, and still being able to deliver the right message at exactly the right moment. For the best automation success this season:
- Run a pre-season audit, so you’re clear and up to date on what automations you currently have in place (it’s amazingly easy to lose track of these)
- Review and test your current automations, including welcome flows, abandoned cart reminders, abandoned browse messaging, post-purchase follow-ups, and win-back engagement
- Personalize your content with multiple data touchpoints. The journey may be automated, but the customer doesn’t have to know
- Use dynamic content blocks for extra personalized emails, which could even change images to relevant products based on purchase history
- Add festive imagery and themed CTAs to lean into the holiday spirit
- Reward & re-engage customers with genuine value, ‘tis the season for giving, after all
- Send personalized thank you notes, cross-sell recommendations, loyalty invites to show your appreciation
The great automation essentials
It feels ironic that the only way to personalize at scale is to automate – but the key to success is making every automation feel personal and unique.
- Include a welcoming introduction that sets a positive tone and authentically represents your brand
- Using first names is an absolute must, but this is only the start of your personalization opportunity
- Add tailored product recommendations based on previous customer behavior and interests
- Keep CTAs clear, concise, and easy to see
- Build emotional connection through relevant, relatable visuals
- Focus on building loyalty and trust throughout the journey – not just at the beginning and the end
The best automated campaigns combine clear messaging, smart personalization, strong visuals, and prominent CTAs, giving every touchpoint a better chance to land.
Dotdigital’s seasonal takeaways
There’s always so much that we could do as marketers throughout the holiday season, but time, budget, and resources often make trying everything impossible.
So, instead of stressing about what you can’t get done this year, just focus on these five simple steps, and you’ll be amazed by the results:
- Start early – plan, segment, and test before the holiday rush
- Prioritize personalization and relevance throughout customer journeys
- Keep lists clean and regularly check that your automations are running smoothly
- Analyze past performance and build on what works
- Refresh your creatives, reward loyalty, and win back lapsed buyers
And of course, don’t forget to have a great holiday – you deserve it.
If you’re already using Dotdigital, feel free to contact your customer success manager for strategic advice on how to make the most of your campaigns over the holidays. If you’re not using Dotdigital yet, check out all the ways it can help you.
Discover more seasonal readiness tips from our marketing strategists in this on-demand virtual session.
