Counting Down the 12 Days of Christmas Email Marketing

“On the 12th day of Christmas my campaign gave to me: Plenty of urgency!”

‘Tis the season for last-minute shoppers, shipping deadlines and urgent sales. The last 12 days of Christmas mean crunch time for your subscribers and your email campaign. So how should you prepare your final countdown?

Here are some ideas to focus on in the final days of your Christmas email marketing campaign:

December 13th

The countdown begins! Although most of your customers probably started shopping weeks ago, at least 4% of consumers put off their gift shopping until the final two weeks of December. You can segment your subscribers to catch these last-minute stragglers.

You can see who’s purchased from you and who hasn’t by enabling sales tracking in your AWeber account. Sales tracking makes it easy to search for subscribers who spent – or didn’t spend – a certain amount so you can target them with your best holiday discounts before Christmas.

December 14th

Customers who finished their holiday shopping in July still look for deals in December. Online Marketing Trends reports that roughly 60% of consumers plan to take advantage of holiday sales in December to purchase something special for themselves.

Remind your subscribers to reward themselves with a special purchase this season.

December 15th

The Hubze blog reports that a third of last year’s consumers did their holiday shopping in the last 10 days before Christmas. Use these procrastinator statistics to your advantage this year with specially targeted promotions over the next 10 days.

Shipping Deadlines Today: USPS Parcel Post

December 16th

It’s Free Shipping Day! Major retailers offer free shipping to their customers today. Are you joining in?

You might want to one-up other online retailers by extending your own free shipping deals to the days before and after Free Shipping Day.

December 17th

November has Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season. December has Super Saturday to cap it off.

Super Saturday usually lands on the final Saturday before Christmas, but it shares the day with Christmas Eve this year. Most retailers will move their Super Saturday sales to the 17th to give their customers enough time to take advantage of the sale.

December 18th

Christmas Day is exactly one week away! Stores like Sam’s Club used subject lines to build urgency at the one-week mark last year:

Build your own urgent subject lines to remind your customers that time is running out!

December 19th

It might be a Monday, but think ahead to the holiday parties planned for this weekend. Give your customers inexpensive gifts exchange ideas this week, whether they’re buying for co-workers or looking for the perfect hostess gift.

December 20th

Only 5 days left till Christmas! Your subject lines and message content should build urgency for customers who haven’t bought their gifts yet. Like JC Penney’s subject line on December 20th last year:

Shipping Deadlines Today: USPS First Class Mail

December 21st

It’s Shipping Deadline Day. Remind your customers to place their orders in time! Especially for delivery by Christmas.

Shipping Deadlines Today:
USPS Priority Mail
UPS 2nd Day Air
FedEx Express Saver

December 22nd

The closer it gets to Christmas Eve, the more likely your customers are to shop in your store instead of online. Remind them about your in-store deals as Christmas Eve approaches and shipping deadlines close in.

Anthropologie gave late shoppers an extra push on the 22nd last year with some simple gift ideas and an urgent shipping reminder in their message:

Shipping Deadlines Today:
USPS Express Mail
FedEx 2Day
UPS Next Day Air

December 23rd

If you’re sending email holiday greetings to your subscribers, have them written and scheduled to send to give yourself some time to relax on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On the day before Christmas Eve last year, JC Penney reminded customers about their great in-store deals:

Shipping Deadlines Today:
FedEx Overnight, which is the fastest possible shipping option for Christmas delivery. This is your customers’ last chance to ship their gifts on time!

December 24th

It might be Christmas Eve, but there’s still time for one more last-minute gift.

Did your subscribers forget someone? Downloadable online gift cards make great down-to-the-wire offerings. Egift cards get sent instantly to the recipient’s email address – no shipping or mad dashes to the store required! Check out Barnes and Noble’s egift card page for examples.

What’s Your Plan?

How will you approach the last 12 days before Christmas this year? Do you have your own magic holiday strategy?

Tell us what worked for you last year and share your plans for this year!

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2 Comments

  1. Paula Kemp

    Thank you for the ideas for Christmas marketing. Will definitely put them to use!

    12/8/2011 12:46 pm
  2. Andrew Holder

    Thank you for the great idea of starting the Holiday Season for the Christmas Marketing. will definitely put them to use from now through New Years Day.

    12/8/2011 6:10 pm

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