Creative Email Marketing Ideas For The Holiday Season

Except in a few circumstances (such as emailing a repeat customer about a special discount),it is simply a fact of life that your promotional emails will probably not be read, even when you spend hours finely-tuning your email subject and text. While there are ways to be creative in finding an excuse to email your contacts, a lot of the time your main aim will be to drive traffic to your website and potentially increase sales during the holiday season.

Creative Promotional Emails

If you are actively trying to sell a product or service, there's little point in pretending your email is anything but a sales pitch. Here are some creative ways to encourage potential customers to take the plunge and make a purchase:

  • Have an interactive email designed that offers something engaging. For example, during the holiday season an email could include an interactive holiday gift guide to assist the recipient in selecting which of your products would be perfect for a specific family member.
  • One very creative and very effective approach is to offer a random discount to all your subscribers. For example you could use the subject line "Mystery Savings" and each recipient would receive 10%, 20% or 30% off your normal prices depending on the random code they receive when they click on a link in your email.
  • Countdowns are possibly over-used but in the right context they can be effective. For example, there is little point in telling email recipients that they have 28 days to use a coupon that entitles them to 5% off purchases. But imagine if the email itself contained a dynamic 12 hour countdown in which to use a 25% discount coupon code.

Non-Promotional Emails

While you certainly don't want to mislead your contacts, it's entirely possible to send non-promotional emails that are just as likely to nurture your relationship with customers as heavily promotional emails. Here are some examples:

  • Why not send an email announcing when your offices are closed over the holiday period and what customers can do if they have a problem? You can put a positive spin on this by detailing how you want your staff to enjoy time with their families.
  • You could send an email about any charitable giving your company or workforce is taking part in during the holiday season, with details about how your customers could contribute.
  • If you have some news to share with your customers it's often well received, even if it's not new news. For example, you could introduce new members of your team this year, or highlight awards your company has won.

Now, compare all of the ideas above with the promotional emails you have received lately, and hopefully you will see that it's easier than you might think to come up with something a little different. But it's worth remembering at all times that your promotional emails can either enhance or damage your reputation, so always ask for a second opinion before pressing "Send".