30 Creative Ideas for Your Holiday Email Marketing

Updated October 2022

Holiday Email Marketing

We know you are not ready to start your holiday email marketing. It is not even Halloween, and you are trying to decide on your costume. We love fall and the spooky holidays. As creatives, we welcome any chance to dress up and turn into our favorite anime characters.

In 2022, there are nearly 4.26 billion email users worldwide.

99 Firms

But days are getting shorter, and fall has arrived. These signs are an indication that the 2022 holiday season is approaching fast. And now is an excellent time to start planning your holiday marketing strategy, which needs to include holiday email marketing.

Is Email Marketing Still Effective 2022?

Absolutely! It is more relevant now than ever before. Research shows us that email is still the best channel to reach people on, ahead of other channels, even with the increase in popularity of social media and other messaging platforms. Email users are anticipated to continue growing.

64% of small businesses rely on email marketing to reach their audience.

Campaign Monitor

Why Email Makes the Best Holiday Marketing Tool

Holidays—no matter what time of the year—provide an excellent opportunity to reach out to not only current subscribers but to help generate even more leads by promoting the need to “share” the value you offer to your subscriber’s family and friends.

Email campaigns are 40% more likely to convert than social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

CaptainWords

Emails Work for Mobile-First Consumers

Your subscribers rely on their smartphones and tablets for all kinds of information. Research shows that a growing number of consumers are doing their holiday shopping on mobile devices. According to a report by Castor, purchases made on mobile devices jumped from 3.4% to 36.7% in the past four years. According to Movable Ink, 76% of Black Friday emails and 63% of Cyber Monday emails reached consumers on a mobile device.

Emails Offer Instant Purchasing Options

Research shows that 41% of retailers will use “Buy Now” buttons in their email marketing, making it extremely simple for subscribers to make a purchase. Use a CTA button to highlight a gift, a special offer, or even an event that a subscriber can buy in a couple of clicks. Remember that your customers are just as busy as you are during this time. Anything that can speed up their holiday shopping will benefit them and your business.

Global marketing communications surged over Cyber Week with 40 billion messages sent, increasing 34 percent YoY.

Salesforce

Email Marketing Supports All of Your Campaigns

Businesses can use email to promote sales, invite subscribers to holiday events, showcase unique gift ideas, or even gift guides—the list is endless. It allows business owners to reach out to customers regularly and stimulate sales throughout the season. Email can also support other marketing initiatives, such as social media sales, contests, and reward programs.

Getting Your Campaign Noticed

Holiday email marketing effectively stays in touch with existing customers and engages with consumers looking for your product or service. But during the busy holiday season, it is easy for people to miss email messages.

Emails with personalized subject lines can increase open rates by 26%. 

Campaign Monitor

However, holidays also provide some great opportunities for creating holiday email marketing messages that will get noticed. Here are some creative email ideas for your holiday email marketing. Maybe not all of them will apply to your specific business, but there should be more than enough to get you through the holiday season.

30 Creative Email Ideas for Your Holiday Email Marketing

You are not the only one sending out promotional and marketing emails during the upcoming holidays. For your holiday email marketing to be effective, it needs to stand out. Instead of announcing your big sale, extended holiday hours, or butchering The 12 Days of Christmas for your marketing message, why not try something different?

Holiday Email Marketing Strategies

Of course, you can and should send out messages announcing sales, special offers, free shipping, and shipping deadlines! But many other topics engage consumers and promote your brand simultaneously. Here are some strategies you should try:

• Treat your rewards members
• Have a relevant post-Christmas sale
• Feature a collection of products in an email gift guide
• Send “white space” email campaigns
• Create a gift card campaign for pre- and post-Christmas
• Help customers succeed
• Say “thank you”
• Start early with sending your Christmas email campaigns

Some Extra Holiday Email Marketing Tips

Be Early

Timing is everything when it comes to Christmas emails. Don’t be afraid to start early; consumers expect to see Christmas marketing messages as early as the first weeks of November to promote those early December sales. As we get closer to the holiday, you’ll want to tweak the content of your messages, ditching the early-bird sales in favor of promoting things like fast shipping.

Be Helpful

Let your customers know about affordable or local gift ideas, or perhaps offer a joint promotion with another business in your area. Think about combining several of your items into gift packages and promoting those. Include holiday gift guides or special holiday coupons. Tell consumers about any particular Black Friday or Cyber Monday offers.

And if you are shipping items for your customers, inform them of shipping deadlines well in advance! Here is a complete list of 2022 Christmas shipping deadlines from USPS, UPS, and FedEx.

Be Nice

It is the holidays, after all, a great time to thank your customers for their support all year. You can invite them to a special holiday event. Or encourage them to contribute to a fundraising campaign by matching their donation or donating a percentage of your holiday sales to the same cause.

Be Social

The holidays are a great way to connect with new customers on social media. Be sure to update and optimize your social media profiles first, however! Then tie your social media strategy into your holiday email marketing by running a photo contest. The worst holiday sweater and dressed-up pets are perennial favorites!

Other ideas for social media contests include the best holiday food or cocktail recipe, indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations, and the goofiest holiday video. Be sure to use a social media marketing tool to streamline your efforts during the busy time of year.

Be Creative

Regarding holiday sales, you might consider slapping a 20% off sticker on your entire store and call it a day. But getting a little more creative with your promotions can make you more memorable and increase your sales. Push your customers toward products they may not have considered purchasing independently.

Be Different

If you are a small business, chances are you are unique in one way or another. So why not make that part of your holiday email marketing? Share a story, celebrate your success, and look ahead to the New Year. Offer discounts to people who come dressed for the holidays. Dress yourself up, maybe in a vintage or ethnic holiday costume.

Starting Your Holiday Email Marketing

Now that you have some ideas for your holiday email marketing campaign, it is time to get started. The first step will be to decide on your email frequency and then plan your topics ahead of time. That way, you can create your email message’s content and still be flexible enough to take advantage of sudden opportunities.

Once you have your email strategy figured out and started on your actual message content, it is time to think about your message’s timing and delivery. Yes, you can send individual or bulk email messages yourself, but we don’t recommend that. For the best holiday email marketing results, we recommend MailChimp or Constant Contact. Both offer plenty of free or cost-effective resources to small businesses.

Is Your Website or Online Store Ready for Holiday Shoppers?

Your holiday email marketing success depends on how well you prepare your store or business for the holidays. And in 2022, more than ever, that includes your online presence. Demanding consumers expect an exceptional user experience, or they will shop elsewhere.

Here at PixoLabo, we offer a full range of e-commerce website consulting and WordPress web design services, including website design and development, e-commerce solutions, search engine optimization, and WordPress optimization. 

If you are not sure how to prepare your online store or website let’s talk! Our team will listen to your concerns, audit your online presence for any shortcomings, and provide cost-effective options to prepare your online presence for the holiday season.

Did You Start Your Holiday Email Marketing?

Have you tried our holiday marketing ideas for your business or product brand? How has that worked out for you? Do you have anything to add to our holiday email marketing ideas?

Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit and grab our feed, so you don’t miss our next post! And help your audience with their holiday marketing by sharing our post with them!

Thank you! We appreciate your help ending bad business websites, one pixel at a time!

By PixoLabo
Not Your Average Web Design Agency
@PixoLabo