[October 27, 2014]

StreamSend: 5 Ways Email Can Make the 2014 Holidays a Gift to Marketers

StreamSend, the email marketing service provider and creator of Franchise Market Automation, shares five steps that agencies and marketers can take to create holiday email marketing campaigns that pull in shoppers and create customer relationships that last into the new year and beyond.

"About 40% of consumers begin their holiday shopping before Halloween, so the race has begun," said Dan Forootan, president of StreamSend Email Marketing. "Meanwhile, consumers who shop in November spend 14% more than the average shopper in December. For email marketers, the real battle is the fight for attention in customers' inboxes during the holidays, Cyber Monday (News - Alert) and Black Friday. Here are some proven tips we share with our customers to help them win the holiday battle for the inbox:

1. Get Personal with Data
If there was ever a time to leverage your customer data and send messages that show you know your customer, it's the holidays. On Cyber Monday alone, online shopping hit $2.29 billion in sales and is up 16 percent year-over-year. For a payoff like that, marketers should use every scrap of behavioral and interested data that they've collected to reach individual customers with messages they want, when they want them - and that includes not overdoing it during the holiday frenzy. Help make their holiday shopping easier, respect their needs and wishes, and the conversions will come.

2. Get Sentimental with Video
The holidays are a sentimental time as families and friends exchange gifts ad well wishes. What better way to capture those emotions than with an entertaining video that can be shared? Send a video that contains a call-to-action; email it out into the share-o-sphere, attracting attention while generating leads. And given the popularity of video with mobile users, create immediate engagement with customers and prospects on the go, whether those viewers follow a URL to a landing page or complete a form right on the video to opt in to your mailing list.

3. Holidays on the Go
Already accounting for over half of all email opened, mobile devices offer marketers a way to reach customers wherever and whenever they want during the holiday rush. But there's stiff competition for their attention during the holiday hustle and bustle. Remember these points:

• Drive readers somewhere mobile-friendly.
• Beautiful imagery is even more important in mobile.
• Put a call-to-action on the image - there's one chance to catch the viewer.
• Invoke emotion with the subject line, image and call to action.
• Take advantage of ready-to-go, customizable templates that do the job for you

4. The Holidays are a Social Time for Sharing
Nothing works as well as email marketing and nothing leverages that power like sharing it out to the social world. Share to Facebook, Linked-In, Google+, Pinterest and Twitter (News - Alert) from one central location, then convert social posts into emails with shareboards. Whether responding to comments, offering a video or asking people to take action, visit a store or read a newsletter, social offers a huge opportunity to connect with customers during the holidays by posting on a regular basis. Then multiply the value of social contacts by moving them to the email marketing list.

5. Make the Holidays Special with an Offer
Look for opportunities to send a special holiday offer to customers you value. Here is your chance to thank your best customers. Some subscribers open everything you send, every time, sometimes more than once. Maybe they've even made some purchases after clicking through your campaigns. Why not reward them with something special for the holidays? You could send them a special discount, early access to a sale, or a simple note to thank them for their support. Recognize and rewarding creates strong relationships.

Find out more about how email can make the holidays a special time for your business with custom emails templates for Cyber Monday, Black Friday and throughout the holidays, visit the StreamSend Holiday Center at http://www.streamsend.com/PRHolidays. And as a holiday gift from StreamSend, sign up here for a free Holiday email campaign trial.

StreamSend
StreamSend offers an easy-to-use, affordable and reliable email marketing service designed to help businesses maximize the reach of their marketing budget when sending an email newsletter or using Social Media. StreamSend offers a number of industry-leading standard pricing plans, private-label and affiliate programs and hands-on personal client service. Started in 1998, StreamSend is a leader in Email Marketing.

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