A personalized marketing approach is not a big revelation. You already know that tailoring your marketing strategy to your customers’ preferences leads to better results. It’s practically Marketing 101 at this point. Nothing changes for the brands whose effective holiday campaign centers around emails.
When marketers do make time for personalized email campaigns, customers tend to be very receptive.
The proof? This Mailchimp report.
- 87% of customers are more likely to click on personalized emails.
- 71% are more likely to buy from a brand that sends tailored emails.
- 73% feel more valued when they receive personalized emails.
What better time than the holiday season to take advantage of these facts?
Shoppers are in a holiday shopping frenzy. Carts are filling up, and wish lists are growing. It’s the perfect moment to swoop in with emails that offer 1:1 experiences. That eases their pain points and makes shopping easier.
So, how do you cut through the inboxes cluttered with holiday promotions? By delivering emails so personal that they feel like a gift in themselves.
Here are 6 advanced personalization tactics that work like magic for holiday email marketing campaigns, helping them sparkle, engage, and sell like never before.
6 Ideas For Personalization in Holiday Email Campaigns
1. Advanced Segmentation
So much is happening in your subscriber’s inbox during the holiday season. Only emails based on their interests and behavior will keep you at the top of your mind.
And advanced segmentation is the key email marketing strategy for this holiday season to meet those expectations.
Go straight to the data feed you already have and get creative with it. Previous purchases, browsing behavior, email engagement, email polls, and engagement history are your best pals for slicing and dicing your target audience into meaningful segments.
Some examples:
- Create email campaigns targeting specific age groups, locations, or income brackets.
- Tailor offers to high-ticket customers.
- Reengage with lapsed customers with enticing offers based on past purchases or personalized incentives.
- Reward loyal buyers with exclusive early access to deals or premium content.
Relevance is the keyword here. “Subscribers want products and content they care about,” says Jasper van Laethem, Sr. Email Marketing Strategist. “Use behavioral data to segment your audience and personalize emails so they engage—and, ultimately, spend.”
But personalization doesn’t have to be complex. While some parts of your email—such as the subject line, offer, etc. can be customized, the rest of the email should stay simple to avoid being creepy.
2. Countdown Timers
Nothing says “Act now!” like a countdown timer in your email. Simple yet powerful in building anticipation and inspiring immediate action from those on the fence.
Some countdown timer examples for real-time personalization of your holiday email campaigns:
- Place a countdown timer in your email header and show the time left on a big sale or exclusive deal.
- Include additional timers lower in the email to display when upcoming promotions or offers will unlock.
- Automate your timers so that they update when the recipient opens the email.
3. Personalized Images
Use your CRM data to create images that are personalized and more meaningful. For holiday campaigns, this means:
- Featuring the recipient’s name inside the hero image instead of “Hello, %%first_name%%,”
- Tailoring imagery to reflect the subscriber’s region. Say snowy themes for colder regions or sunny backdrops for warmer ones.
- Highlight special occasions like birthdays with personalized festive graphics.
Image Source: Litmus
1. Loyalty Programs
If loyalty programs are part of your brand’s customer retention strategy, then congrats! You are ahead of the game this holiday season.
Image Source: Dynamic Yield
All you have to do is turn customers’ loyalty points into dynamic elements and create unique, 1:1, personalized email experiences for holiday shoppers. Here’s how:
- Show customer’s current loyalty points in real-time based on their recent purchases. It creates an urgency to redeem rewards during holiday sales.
- Offer tier-specific recommendations. Include a widget showcasing products or offers exclusive to the subscriber’s loyalty tier. Say, premium-tier members see high-value items.
- Highlight limited-time bonuses. For instance, double points on holiday purchases or exclusive rewards for early shopping.
1. Live Polls
Is there a tool that gives subscribers a voice while offering you invaluable insights in real-time?
Live poll it is.
Embed this dynamic element in your holiday emails to encourage your audience to share preferences without leaving the email. Such as what gifts they’re eyeing or what their favorite seasonal deals are.
Image Source: Litmus
Live polls spark instant engagement by displaying results in real-time, creating an interactive experience. Plus, every vote lifts your click-through rate. Subscribers may reopen your email just to check updated poll results, which will skyrocket your engagement.
Lastly, you have valuable data points after the polls. Use them to better personalize your follow-up emails. Let’s say a majority vote for “Holiday Bundles” and tailor your next email to highlight those products.
1. Interest Signals
Peer pressure is real, not just in middle school but in holiday shopping, too.
Seeing others already buying something while you haven’t even looked can spark serious FOMO in shoppers.
A smart way to leverage it in your holiday email campaign is Interest signals.
The name says it all.
Interest signals display subscribers the live number of people who’ve clicked on or “loved” a product.
Image Source: Litmus
The more clicks a product has, the more desirable it is, creating urgency for those who haven’t browsed or bought yet.
So, do encourage interaction by asking subscribers to vote for their favorite holiday item. Because every click counts, open rates increase by up to 25% and revenue by 26%.
One last tip:
However, look at this strategy less as showcasing popularity and more as helping to make purchasing decisions.
Think of this strategy less as flaunting popularity and more as easing customers to make informed shopping choices. This way, subscribers get validation for their choices, and your emails shift from feeling promotional to becoming a trusted holiday shopping guide.
Final Words
Real-time personalization is a must for brands aspiring to cut through the holiday inbox chaos.
Use advanced segmentation as your launching pad, set up holiday-specific behavioral triggers, and top it off with dynamic content.
From basic personalized images, countdown timers, and interest signals to live polls. Mix and match the strategies to create an effective concoction of email campaigns that boost your holiday revenue like never before. Don’t be afraid to test, tweak, and refine.
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free responsive HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
Email marketing stock image by fizkes/Shutterstock