Checklist for Your Perfect Holiday Newsletter Campaign

Let us show you how to plan and implement your holiday email marketing campaign.
Pumpkin Spice everything has just hit the markets, but we already whistle “Jingle Bells” – and so should you! Because the earlier you start planning your Christmas newsletter campaign, the less stressful it will be for you in those last turbulent weeks of the year.
Year after year there is an increase in sales over the weeks before Christmas. 2017 had the best holiday season for retailers since 2011, with online retail shopping increasing 18.1% compared to the previous year. Christmas always means a win for businesses, and given the growth in e-commerce, it pays to invest in a clever marketing strategy. Our checklist for your own Christmas email campaign can help you prepare for the holiday season:
Step 1: Concept and evaluation
Define your timeline: The early bird catches the worm! Google registers an increase in search queries for Christmas gifts at the beginning of October. That’s why you should plan your newsletters in time! Involve the Sundays in Advent in your campaign plan, and make sure to communicate the latest date for orders for a timely delivery before Christmas. Also, check your warehouses to ensure that much sought-after articles are in stock.
Not only can online shops profit from a newsletter schedule; service providers and non-profit organizations can also plan their emails to save a lot of stress in December.
Evaluate the previous year: Look back to the previous year; when where the critical stages before Christmas that you can include in your plan? Which content generated the most openings, clicks and conversions? Which products where especially popular? Learn from the past to make the best of your current Christmas campaign!
Set communication goals: Which goals do you want to achieve with your campaign: Increase customer retention, more leads or more sales? And what messages do you want to communicate to realize your goals? Also, make sure that your call-to-action buttons lead your customers into the desired direction.
Whatever you want to promote with your newsletters: Offer a variety of content! Sure, discount codes always work in email marketing, but the same message over and over can become dull pretty quickly. Throw some freebies, recipes or other interesting add-ons into the mix to offer your readers festive inspiration.
Step 2: Create and send your Christmas newsletters
Make your template match the content: It’s the most wonderful time… for your emails! Does Santa visit your mailings, or do you rather keep it simple and elegant? Choose the right template to match your campaign, but also your corporate identity – your customers must be able to recognize you as the sender of the email.
Festive Offers: Put products and content in the limelight. For example, you could offer special Christmas bundles at a discount price. Provide your readers with gift ideas or give away special services for free. Postcards and gift tags as free download templates are also very popular. Get creative!
Personal greetings: Festive newsletters with matching content are good. Personal information with the recipient’s name on it is even better! Set the salutation to personal, so that each recipient is addressed individually. Use different segments to separate your recipients into different groups – for example, you can divide all contacts into men and women, or send different emails to people in various regions. This way, you can target your recipients even better and improve your opening- and click rates.
Decorate your homepage: Include your homepage in your Christmas preparations: Festive banners can welcome new customers. You could even implement a separate Advent calendar, where customers can find discounts and content behind each door when they sign up for your newsletter. Hello, new leads!
Silent night or holy night? Make use of an A/B test to find out which newsletter really hit the spot with your customers. Different subject lines or even discounts can be tested here – or you could try out different times of the day to send your emails.
Less stress with automation: Use THEA, the easy email automation by CleverReach for your Christmas campaign! You need to install the workflow and content only once. After that, new customers will automatically receive your campaign emails at the appointed time.
When you begin early with your automated Christmas email marketing, you hit two birds with one stone: on the one hand, your business can be the first one on the radar of prospective customers. On the other hand, a clever timeline and content plan take the stress off those last days before Christmas – simply hit the “send” button and let the automation do the rest.
Check your holiday to-do’s off your list!
With our checklist you can keep an overview of your email campaign during the hectic time before Christmas. You can prepare your newsletters in advance, too, to make the most of the holiday season!