How to Boost Your Holiday Email Marketing ROI
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•168 views
1) The document discusses best practices for email marketing during the holiday season, including planning campaigns around key dates like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, using offers and bundles to drive urgency and sales, and being mobile friendly given the rise of mobile shopping. 2) It also emphasizes the importance of retaining customers acquired during the holidays through ongoing automated programs to build relationships and encourage repeat purchases. 3) Data from past years is highlighted as important to analyze buying patterns and inform the right messages, offers, and timing for each campaign.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (15)
Similar to How to Boost Your Holiday Email Marketing ROI
Similar to How to Boost Your Holiday Email Marketing ROI (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
How to Boost Your Holiday Email Marketing ROI
- 1. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is great ROI from Email… In Partnership with
- 2. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Welcome! • You can hear us, we can’t hear you • There will be time for questions at the end • Tweet us @adestra
- 3. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Hello! Page 3 Al Keck Managing Director toinfinity Liz Smith Marketing & Partnerships Adestra
- 4. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Introducing Adestra Page 4 Our obsession is to make our customers successful by delivering the right email-driven technology and awesome customer service. We bring clarity to complexity.
- 5. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com About toinfinity Page 5 The world of online marketing is complex and it never stands still - that’s what we love about it. We work hard to understand your growth aspirations, dig deep into your data to put a strategy in place to make it a reality. toinfinity is one of The Drum’s 2015 Elite Agencies in the UK.
- 6. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com What we’ll cover 1. Learning from last year – the facts 2. What to send & when to send it 3. Key dates to keep in mind 4. What type of offers to use 5. Retaining customers after the holiday season
- 7. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com First, the facts Page 7
- 8. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com When do consumers want to hear from you? Page 8
- 9. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com …and when do they actually shop? Page 9
- 10. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Retailers’ expectations for the holiday season Page 10 Source: ChannelAdvisor’s 2015 Online Retail Survey
- 11. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com A recipe for success – 3 key ingredients Page 11 1. Quality and quantity 2. Plan ahead 3. Make your subscribers’ life easier
- 12. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Quality and quantity Page 12
- 13. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Make your list…and check it twice! Page 13 • What day of the week do people buy? • What time of day do they buy? • Are there buying patterns? • Did they buy at this time last year?
- 14. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Best time to send Page 14
- 15. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Best time to send Page 15
- 16. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Plan ahead Page 16
- 17. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Website traffic increase Page 17
- 18. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Black Friday took the UK by surprise in 2014
- 19. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Mind these key dates Page 19 • Thanksgiving November 26th • Black Friday November 27th • Cyber Monday November 30th • Manic Monday December 14th • Delivery Cut-offs • Christmas Day December 25th • Boxing Day December 26th
- 20. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com And think about… Page 20 External factors • What are the key buying occasions? • When do people get paid? • When do people panic? • What other events prompt buying?
- 21. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Set the mood for shopping Page 21 • Switch on the reds, browns and yellows • Subtlety is key when setting the tone • Don’t mention the ‘C’ word just yet • Have a team plan
- 22. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Set the mood for shopping Page 22 • Switch on the reds, browns and yellows • Subtlety is key when setting the tone • Don’t mention the ‘C’ word just yet • Have a team plan
- 23. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Make it easy for subscribers Page 23
- 24. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Keep customers informed Page 24
- 26. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Urgency Page 26 • Countdown • Manual • Dynamic • Live stock levels
- 29. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Bundles and add-ons Page 29
- 30. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Separate by price Page 30
- 31. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com How important is it to be mobile-friendly? Page 31 45% of all online traffic to retail web sites and apps came from smartphones and tablets (Nov. 1 - Dec. 31) Source: IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark
- 32. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com How important is it to be mobile-friendly Page 32 Source: eMarketer
- 33. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Case Study: Dobbies Garden Centres Page 33 400% increase in click-to-open rates after adopting responsive template
- 34. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Get creative! Page 34 • Abandoned basket • Calls-to-action • Personalised image
- 37. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com You have them, now retain them! Page 37 Six automation programs to help you: • Build a relationship with customers • Encourage interaction with your brand • Tailor interactions through the use of behavioral data • Reignite brand awareness with lapsed customers www.adestra.com/automationseries
- 38. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Make 2015 your best Christmas yet! Page 38 • Have a plan to manage traffic & delivery spikes • Have a plan B • Look at your data • Be a personal shopping assistant • Get creative • Be mobile-friendly • Retain new customers
- 41. @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com Thank you For more information please contact us: +44 (0)1865 24 24 24 or email moreinfo@adestra.com @adestra @toinfinity adestra.com
Editor's Notes
- LIZ A few house-keeping things before we start: You are all on mute so we can’t hear you, but you can ask any questions using the questions panel in the sidebar. We’ll have some time at the end for discussion, so I do encourage you to use this feature. Alternatively, you can also ask questions on Twitter to @adestra.
- BOTH
- LIZ But first, I’ll just tell you a little bit about Adestra. We’re specialists in contextual 1:1 digital marketing focused on email-driven technology solutions, we have been helping global and growing brands maximize their marketing ROI through smart email marketing strategies for 11 years. …and we do that by being obsessed with their success. We like to say we’re not just a Software as a Service company, we offer Software and a Service.
- AL
- Liz An ambitious agenda to cover in the next hour…
- LIZ 73 sleeps until Christmas – just over 6 weeks until Cyber Weekend. November and December can account for as much as 40% of a retailer’s annual sales. So it is a KEY period for us all… let’s start by taking a look at some stats from past years…
- AL Although this research is based on US respondents, Christmas fever covers similar dates in the US & UK so it’s fair to assume it would expand to British audiences as well.
- AL
- AL This was published in article from MarketingLand: http://marketingland.com/59-percent-of-retailers-have-already-started-their-holiday-promotions-survey-141413
- AL 1. Quality and quantity Less definitely isn’t more at this time of year. Do send more emails, but make them worthwhile. How? By thinking wisely about both content and timing. 2. Plan ahead Don’t send festive emails on a whim. Use a calendar to map out your campaigns and promotions to ensure they’re well-timed and in keeping with your wider strategy. 3. Make life easier Make it simple and convenient for your customers to get what they want. The more helpful you are, the more time you save them, the more likely they are to convert.
- LIZ As Al just mentioned – More emails need to be sent but the relevance needs to be dialled up also in order to cut through the noise of the crowded inboxes at this time of year
- LIZ Quality: The information you have about your customers should inform what emails you send and when. This is already available to you in your data, so why not take advantage of it? What data to look for in your reports: (questions on the slide) You can then use this information to set up specific automation programs to send targeted campaigns to the relevant subscribers. Tip: resell to subscribers: Lots of people buy magazine subscriptions for their loved ones, so why not use that data in your campaigns? How it would work: Email the buyer asking if they’d like to gift the same title again Establish a time limit and wait to see if they convert No purchase? Email the recipient and ask if they want to renew instead
- LIZ Cyber Weekend (From Black Friday to Cyber Monday) will fall on payday weekend this year, Blackfriday.com predicts that total sales will eclipse $80 billion in 2015! Over 300 million shoppers will participate in this marathon. so email marketers should plan accordingly. Al, your own trading report from last year reports £810 million for UK retailers’ Key time of day: emails spiked between 6am and 1pm with another spike from 5-6pm. There is 6 weeks to go: Still time to encourage people to subscribe for alerts or black Friday offers: gives ready made engaged audience Promote on social media, paid search etc Turn them into ‘special offers’ – make subscribers feel exclusive Start Early – avoid the crush of the inbox, start offers/sales early Include dynamic elements – Webscrapes pulling in latest web offers, inventory countdowns, countdown clocks, time-limited offers
- LIZ …and Cyber Monday… coined by ‘America’s National Retail Federation’ to encourage online shopping. According to IBM, Cyber Monday is still the largest for Online Sales. On Cyber Monday online sales were 30.5 percent higher than for Black Friday in 2014. although average spend per consumer was higher on black Friday in comparison. UK retailers still saw £720 million in revenue on this day last year. Carry out a ‘campaign for non-openers’ following Friday offers Also send out separate email offer Subject Line – more than ever catchy subject line is paramount to stand out Basket abandonment follow up - According to Business Insider, 55% of people abandon their carts
- AL
- AL Are you prepared for high traffic period? Are you driving it with email?
- AL Let’s learn from last year’s disasters when Black Friday took the UK by surprise leaving many retailers unprepared for the traffic spikes causing many websites to fail. Worth to note: Even if their website experienced some issues, John Lewis registered is biggest ever sales week in its 150 year history.
- AL You need to run a Christmas marketing campaign (or multiple campaigns!) that spans the entire festive season. Boxing day 2014 saw 47% more e-commerce transactions than the previous year Manic Monday is the 2nd Monday in Dec UK delivery cut-off dates: 19 Dec 2nd Class in UK, 21 Dec 1st Class, 23 Dec special delivery US shipping cut-off: 15 Dec standard class, 19 Dec 1st class, 21st priority mail, 23 priority mail express
- LIZ But apart from just dates, keep in mind external factors as well like… Origin of black Friday was that it was the day following thanksgiving in the US… much like boxing day sales in the UK… following holiday Payday coincides with cyber weekend Weather should tip the balance for buying decisions also Personalised gifts – if as part of your range there is the ability to personalise the gifts, let people know when the cut off is for this and include countdown timers Staying careful not to gender stereotype but typically ‘husbands’ tend to be last minute and so humorous targeting to acknowledge this can be effective.
- LIZ - acknowledging the stat that Al showed earlier about early messaging and unwillingness to embrace it too early You should start ‘priming’ your customers now for the holiday campaigns Don’t annoy people by bombarding them with overt Christmas-themed emails now in October. We have a wealth of strong themed events between now and the time Santa comes down the chimney.. Halloweeen, bonfire night, thanksgiving etc. For now, just start setting the mood for shopping: Blog post: http://www.adestra.com/holiday-email-planning-time-to-set-the-tone-for-shopping Image: example of colours
- LIZ For now, just start setting the mood for shopping: http://www.adestra.com/holiday-email-planning-time-to-set-the-tone-for-shopping: Image: example of subtly creating a holiday atmosphere without saying it outright or filling it with Christmas trees and reindeer. Fortnum & Mason cleverly suggested the change of season with ‘The Chapter has nearly closed on Summer Picnics, and its not quite time to lavish parties. Yet’
- LIZ In order to convert subscribers, you have to make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for. Imagine your emails like a personal assistant to help, remind and offer solutions.
- LIZ People’s attention spans are short and so is the time they have, so average time spent on email is 15-20 seconds, this time is likely to go down the busier the inbox. So call to action need to be obvious and clear. - Don’t keep shipping dates to yourself! Inform your customers - Tell them exactly when they have to order for the different levels of shipping. Creates urgency, but is also informative and helpful. Subject Lines: more than ever it is key to have a subject line that makes your email stand out from the rest in the inbox 38% of recipients will open an email based on subject line alone Nearly 70% will mark email as spam based on subject line Inboxes will be flooded with phrases such as Christmas Shopping, Christmas bargains… We have a keyword checker to test any single words you are using using results from our recent ‘subject line report’ where we tested words how they performed: Wrapping 56.4% Presents 25.1% etc However, it is KEY to test subject lines, run multi-variant tests (A-Z testing in our case)
- LIZ Customers respond well to informative and engaging content such as this one from Fortnum and Mason Don’t just do the ‘hard sell’ You wouldn’t call your customers and just shout ‘buy things’ down the phone so don’t do the same in your emails Offering ideas and info in the next 10 weeks building up the engagement of your customers with your brand build a brand personality: DIY ideas for Christmas tree décor, crafts with kids, family dinner recipes Advent campaigns with clicks through to unlock daily discounts or competitions. Keeps them coming back and engaging with your content.
- LIZ Create a sense of urgency, this can be done in many ways: you can do more than just use the words ‘now’, ‘today’, ‘this weekend only’ and ‘expires tomorrow’. Countdown clocks until the main event Live stock levels – is there something they really wanted to buy? Tell them when it’s running low/back in stock (abandoned basket items) Flash sales using countdowns Image example: manual countdown
- LIZ Image left: animated clock to add urgency Image right: Make it dynamic and have a different deal every hour like Radio Shack. This was used to show exactly how long they had to wait for the next hourly deal, a slightly different stance from a countdown timer until the end of the deal. Call to action used also to show other relevant deals
- LIZ Use the knowledge you have about your customers, previous purchases, items they have selected and abandoned in their basket. Then make sure the links through to relevant, active pages on your website Image left: are they interested in a particular item category? Image right: or better yet, do they need to buy gifts for someone with a particular interest, e.g. coffee connoisseur or chocolate lover?
- LIZ Be creative in your product pairings, use leading products to sell accompanying inventory Bundles must be highly complementary and add value to the buyer than if they were to buy things individually
- LIZ With an extensive list of gifts to buy, consumers often allocate budgets to different friends and family. So help them find the best gift quickly! Or you have lots of Secret Santa occasions where budget is strict and people look for inspiration Again, acting as the personal shopper making life easier for your customers to make the right purchase, quickly.
- AL
- AL As you can see from these two different studies from eMarketer, there is already a large number of internet users access the internet on their smart phone or tablet. We have close to 80% smartphone and tablet penetration in the US & UK, set to increase, to 85% of all internet users by 2019. Also, the US and UK rank 11th & 12th in the world for smartphone user penetration, but if parts of your business are located in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and the Scandinavian countries, you have even more reasons to make sure your emails and content are mobile friendly. As you can see, the largest predicted smartphone market for 2019 is Denmark with a staggering 95.4% of total mobile users.
- LIZ Winner of our campaign of the month last November Dobbies saw that 68% of their opens were coming from mobile devices and prompted them to adopt a responsive email template and work with our Digital Design Team to adopt a ‘best practice’ approach to coding: using buttons instead of links, flexible area for copy to avoid any image-only emails IMMEDIATELY there was an uplift in click-through rates but not long after implementation the open rates started to soar.
- LIZ With customers browsing multiple emails to compare products and prices, it is important to use triggered emails to retarget basket and browse abandonement Our research shows 67% of customers abandon baskets – send an automated email and 20% on average return to purchase…. Run Mop-Up Campaigns: target people who have abandoned baskets with follow up campaigns on pay day or last delivery day before xmas Dynamic content is a large growing area for us, we work with a few partners to add hyper relevance into emails through the use of conditional content or serving up dynamic images based upon user preferences, previous behaviour or even weather or time of day specific
- LIZ Unleash creativity, use more inspiring calls to action: Starbucks invite you to ‘drink up the season’ Use creative subject lines such as ‘A present fell off santa’s sleigh’ for abandoned baskets
- LIZ Image left: Creative copy: unleash your inner ‘headline writer’ .. Ho Ho Hurry Image right: why not incentivize subscribers with a free gift to accompany their shopping. Everyone deserves a bit of indulgence for getting through the Christmas shopping season
- LIZ – while we have spent some time looking at the detailed elements of your campaign planning, we MUST not forget the bigger picture. All this work you are putting in to engage your customers through this, the busiest time of the year, should link into your overall email strategy… Invite first time buyers to subscribe to your newletters and send seasonal discounts on welcome emails. Ensure that you are setting up lifecycle programmes to turn your Holiday season buyers into repeat purchases and loyal advocates of your brand. Adestra’s automation programme builder makes it very easy to set up a journey for your customers to enjoy ongoing interaction with your brand and ultimately gives you the chance to learn as much behavioural info as you can through the year to enrich the campaigns you can run again at this time of the year. We have lots of material and case studies to show you how simple it is to start to build automated programmes into your digital marketing
- AL Develop emergency templates that can help you in the event that an unplanned email needs to go out – be nimble
- BOTH
- BOTH