Tinsel, fairy lights, and Christmas trees are everywhere to be seen — it’s the festive season!

Stores are blasting Christmas carols, alongside advertising, to everyone that comes to shop. But what about customers that shop online? How are you targeting them?

One of the best ways to reach your target market is through holiday emails! We use Klaviyo to get the most from our email strategy; they also inspired this article.

Creating Holiday Emails That Consumers Love

As the year comes to a close, everyone somehow seems busier; there are deadlines to meet, gifts to buy, and events to attend. It can become overwhelming which is why you want to make things easier for your customers — you want to take the guesswork out of the holidays for them.

Of course, you could be feeling overwhelmed as you prepare a holiday email campaign, or you could be looking for some inspiration. We’ve created this list of email marketing tips just for you! These simple strategies can take your email marketing campaign to the next level.

1. Create Gift Guides

Make the holiday season easier for your customers by providing them with gift ideas. A carefully curated gift guide can be just what they need to make a purchase.

An easy-to-browse list of products can be sufficient already. Add images of each item and link them to your website. If you have many products, offer the gift guide as a downloadable item, and only add glimpses of what’s inside within the body of the email.

Alternatively, provide different categories of gifts that go to the relevant place on your website when readers click on them.

Some gift guide topics could be:

• - For him, her, children, grandparents
• - For animal lovers, adventure seekers, DIY
• - For tech junkies, beauty enthusiasts, hobbies

Make the gift guide unique to your business and what you know customers purchase frequently.

2. Educate Customers

Add joy to the holiday season by educating your customers about your products and services. More specifically, teach them how your offerings can be useful during the holiday season.

Do you sell food? Share festive recipes using your products.

Are you in the healthcare industry? Explain how customers can boost their immunity over the holiday season.

Offering gift-wrapping services? Tell customers about it.

The aim of educational material is to show customers how your business and its offerings can add value to their lives. It’s as simple as that!

Most importantly, remember to link relevant products and services in your emails so that customers can find what you are talking about easily.

3. Keep It Simple

Your audience gets many emails daily so stand out from the crowd by creating holiday emails that are easy to read. In this case, less really is more.

Use simple designs, plain language, and clear images. Together, these elements should convey exactly what your deals are about and entice customers to make a purchase.

If you are displaying product images or talking about services in the email, ensure they link directly to the relevant items on your website. This will save customers time by making the product selecting and buying process simpler.

4. Share Uplifting News

Who doesn’t love a feel-good story? We sure do!

The holiday season is about happiness and making memories, so doing just that for your customers is always a good idea. A positive message uplifts a reader’s spirit and inspires them to do good too.

Use this knowledge to create an email that shares good news in some way instead of advertising your products or services directly.

For example:

• - Tell readers about your holiday party.
• - Share more information about new or existing brand partnerships.
• - Talk about charitable events.
• - Share images of your staff and their interests (pets are always a great idea)

A holiday email sharing good news will be well-received. It creates connections with customers and makes them curious about what else your company does.

5. Emphasise Shipping Information

The last thing a customer wants is to place an order only to find out it won’t be delivered before a holiday gathering. Encourage customers to beat the holiday rush by offering enticing deals and explicitly stating shipping deadlines.

Remember, many customers don’t check every detail of an email so the delivery cut-off time needs to draw attention. Add it as a banner, a flashing image, or even in the subject line of the email.

Bonus Tip: Season’s Greetings

Delighting your customers is what you want to do — it’s also the reason we are adding a bonus tip — so end off your holiday campaign with more than just a push to increase sales.

Send your customers an email to thank them for their support throughout the year and wish them a happy holiday season.