We’re happy that email marketing is naturally green. On the other hand, almost 10,000 pieces of postal mail advertisements are printed, shipped, delivered and disposed of every 3 seconds just in the U.S. Email marketing is already a step in the right direction for helping our planet. This Earth Day, we wanted to go over [...]

“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 [...]

Do you have a mobile plan for the holiday season? MediaPost reports that almost half the US population has a smartphone now. Of those smartphone users, 87% of them use their phones for email and Internet access. And this holiday season, nearly half of all smartphone users plan to do their gift shopping from their [...]

Finished your Christmas shopping yet? Of course not, right? It’s not Christmas Eve; there’s still plenty of time for that. But time will soon run out for making sales on gifts that require shipping before the big day. Solution: switch modes and push gifts that don’t require time to ship: digital goods. Digital goods include [...]

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, families will be gathering with loved ones to remember what’s truly important in life. But the day after, for many, is all about shopping as the holiday retail season propels into high gear. Countless news reports have detailed the frenzy and hubbub on Black Friday, when shoppers lace up [...]

Now that it’s fall, it’s time to start thinking about what your holiday marketing plan is. You should start planning everything from when you’re going to start your holiday emails to what you’re going to send post-Christmas. To help you out with planning, we got in touch with Linda Bustos, the Director of Ecommerce Research [...]

Now that it’s fall, it’s time to start working on your holiday emails. Not only that, you’ll even want to start sending some of them out soon. The next few months will be busy for sure, and you want to be on your subscribers’ minds in the shopping months to come. While it may still [...]

Are birthday emails a good idea? There are a lot of good things about them: subscribers expect them, email marketers recommend sending them, and they’re pretty easy to set up. These things don’t mean they’re always a good idea though. Like most things in life, birthday emails can fall in a gray area. There are [...]

‘Tis the month before Christmas, and in every house
Not a person’s e-buying, not a click of their mouse
Email marketers are cobbling their holiday mails
While hoping for click throughs and opens and sales

Jolly carols play as they crouch in their dwellings
Stressing about making their emails compelling
When what to their pixel-glazed eyes should appear -
The Email Elf, with a plan, and he’s ready to share!

(Note: the Email Elf’s plan is taken directly from past AWeber posts on holiday marketing. We thought about citing the little imp for plagiarism, but he did link to us lavishly.)

The marketers gaze at this green-and-red sprite,
Merrily sparkling in the monitor light
Elfy grabs the keyboard and perks up his spiked ears,
“Let’s get going!” he says, “Lest your sales disappear!

“Beware Cyber Monday, just after Black Friday
That’s flood-the-inboxes and get marked as spam day.
Don’t worry, we’ll get to the part where you’re selling:
With these tips your sales figures will be excelling!”

Excited, the marketers think about how
Lots of shoppers are looking to buy gifts right now.
“It’s a good time,” says Elfy, “to ask for subscribes,
“The holidays can help build your email tribe!

“Now e-stores, now marketers, affiliates and bloggers!
Set your marketing goals while you drink your eggnoggers!
Merrify your web forms; craft emails that enthrall
With these templates, and templates and templates for all!”

So they clicked and they clacked and they hummed Jingle Bells,
They chomped candy canes and tweaked HTML
“Hold on!” the elf warned, “Watch those holiday greetings.
The value you’re sending there is pretty fleeting.

“Cheap tinsel won’t make your subscribers start buying;
Send gold like these brands – your readers’ll be sighing
With happiness when they find just what they’re seeking.
Then segment and you’ll find their interest is peaking!

“Now my time here is over”, the Email Elf claimed,
“I’ve much work to do still on Santa’s campaign.
Just call on AWeber if you’re e’er in a plight.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

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Snowflakes, mistletoe, menorahs, kinaras…the whirl of another holiday season is almost upon us. Now is the time to send those holiday promotions.

But what to send? Last year’s offers are as stale as Aunt Holly’s fruitcake. The blizzard of competing ads keeps getting thicker, and consumers are more skittish than ever before.

Fear not, email marketers! We bring you good tidings of great inspiration. Two major retailers have just unveiled strategies that can take your campaign from monotonous to merry.

Buy Now, Gift Later

Desperate dashes to the mall, premium prices for lackluster presents, gift wrapping at 2 a.m….every year, many of us make the desperate vow to shop earlier next time.

But who’s thinking of holiday shopping in October?

Well, Neiman Marcus‘ subscribers are. The retailer promised readers to delay shipping on gifts until the holidays. Then they added free gift wrap and free delivery – the ultimate hassle-free gift-giving.

To create your own “buy now, gift later” program, arrange to postpone shipping on gifts purchases. Then tell subscribers about their new, convenient option.

Holiday shoppers can start buying earlier and you can get everything packed up to go. By the big day, you’ll be relaxing by the fire with the eggnog.

A New Kind of Christmas List

Snapfish has dozens of products perfect for gift-giving. So they created the Merry Deal Reveal, a deal-a-day email series.

Now, plenty of retailers offer daily deals. But Snapfish knows some people may resent too many emails. So they invited those who requested the Reveal to a new list.

Now while those holly jolly spirits get their daily deals, the rest of the grinches – er, subscribers – are left in peace.

To set up your own holiday promotion list, invite subscribers to sign up to a new list specific to those emails. Without risking unsubscribes from your main list, you can make daily offers in the busiest buying season of the year.

How Happy Is Your Holiday Marketing?

Snapfish and Neiman Marcus have created offers that are, in themselves, little gifts to subscribers.

How do you market during the holidays? Have you found ways to give a little something to your readers?