1. Prepare your campaign in advance

For a campaign to be successful, it is important to prepare it well in advance, especially since the holiday season is often synonymous with a heavy workload. Starting early also allows you to test the effectiveness of your campaign and to have time to adjust it according to the first results (see point 6).

To maximize its effectiveness, your emailing operation can start as early as November, in particular to target your customers who prefer to anticipate their Christmas purchases in order to avoid the rush of the last few days.

2. Target your recipients by segmenting your contact base

To optimize the effectiveness of your Christmas newsletter, it is important to properly segment your customer base by separating active (recent purchase) from inactive (those who have not opened your emails, clicked on a link or made a purchase in the past year). Moreover, Christmas is an ideal time to revive inactive customers during the year. Reconnect with them by offering them a special offer (see point 5). And for your active customers? This is an opportunity to thank them for their loyalty.

As with every email marketing operation, remember to use as much information as you have about your recipients to personalize your campaigns: adapt the message, visuals and products highlighted according to previous purchases, male/female, age, place of residence, etc.

3. Give your customers a benefit

It's Christmas and you're not the only ones seeking the attention of your recipients. So consider offering them something through a promotional code or a special coupon: free delivery, free gift wrapping, gift ideas for the whole family, a small gift for each order, etc.

4. Establish a schedule for your emails

Define in advance the number of newsletters you will send for your Christmas campaign. Here are some ideas:

• The 1st email corresponds to the initial launch of your campaign and can be sent from November. Present your offer, your flagship products, etc.
• Between November and mid-December, highlight certain products or categories depending on the state of your stocks and readjust your strategy for Christmas according to the first sales.
• As Christmas approaches, do not hesitate to emphasize the imminent approach of the holidays to your customers (create a sense of urgency) while providing advice and suggesting gift ideas.
• For merchants with a physical store, remember to inform your customers of your opening days and hours during the holiday season.
• Inform your customers about your pre-Christmas delivery guarantees and the deadline after which their orders cannot be delivered before Christmas. For example, if you guarantee delivery within 48 hours, send an email on the 21st or 22nd to specify that orders placed the same day will be delivered on the 24th, in time to be at the foot of the tree.
• Wish customers a Merry Christmas. This email can also be combined with information on the trade-ins, exchanges that you could offer. It is best to wait a few days after Christmas before sending this email.
• After the holidays, it's time to inform your customers about your de-stocking operations, etc.

Once the list is established, all you have to do is format your emails and schedule sending dates according to the determined schedule.

Reminder on the days and times of sending with an optimal opening rate:

• if you are in B2C (your customers are individuals), send your emails on weekday evenings and weekends (if your customers are businesses or professionals, schedule your daytime mailings during the week).
• adjust your sending days and times according to the weather. The weather influences purchasing behavior.

5. Adopt a Christmas theme for the design of your emails

Take advantage of this period to bring some new visuals to your template / email template. But be careful not to overdo it. An overloaded email could lose effectiveness. You can opt for a new email template designed especially for Christmas or adapt yours by dressing it in colors and images related to the end of the year celebrations, always with the aim of increasing the click-through rate. An email theme consistent with its content will improve the overall performance of the campaign. Check our professional templates ready for desktop and mobile.

6. Go further: test and adapt your campaign

As mentioned in point 1, starting your email marketing campaign early enough allows you to have time to test variations. Do an A/B test beforehand on a small group of your recipients to determine the best subject of your email (generating the best open rate), the best offer (generating the best rate of clicks and sales), etc.

Once the best variants of your newsletters have been identified, you will only need to retain them for the majority of your recipients.

7. Analyze your campaign results

At the end of your campaign, take the time to analyze the campaign statistics. Do not underestimate the importance of this work because it will allow you to:

• clearly identify the revenue generated by your campaign;
• to differentiate the emails that will have worked from those that will have been less efficient;
• and even identify the most successful products and product categories by comparing the number of clicks.

All this data can also be used during your operation and can allow you to readjust your strategy according to the accumulated results (for example: modifying one of the emails to come to adapt to the products that work well). Naturally, these statistics will be useful for you to deliver an even more effective email marketing campaign next year or even to learn applicable lessons from your winter sales emailing operation.