This time of year I often see companies adding a holiday-themed email to their marketing calendar. Let me challenge you here and ask the obvious; Does a holiday email belong in your marketing strategy? What purpose does it serve? Are you doing it because you feel like you need to?
I want you to really think about what outcome you would like to see from your holiday email. If your answer does not align with your email marketing goals, then the answer is obvious and it's a nay.
Now let's say you respond with something like 'it's nice to do' or 'our customers will appreciate it' or 'everyone does it'. Is that really a good reason?
You are just part of the noise. There is nothing really special about your email vs. everyone else's your customers or prospects are going to receive.
So I haven't convinced you not to do it so let's think about how to you can send a holiday-themed email in a way that supports your goals as a business and aligns with your email marketing strategy.
First let's think about segmentation and who we want to send this to. Then let's align our message accordingly. Here are a couple of examples,
Customers
Recap of 2022 features released - we shipped a lot of new features this year, here is a recap.
Goal - increased adoption!
Upsell - is there something you can offer at as add-on to get 2023 off to a great start?
Goal - upsells!
Opportunities
EOY discounts - can you offer any incentives?
Goal - close deals!
2023 feature preview - adding fuel to the fire to build a stronger business case for prospects
Goal - close deals!
Everyone Else
2023 goals survey - what is on your agenda for 2023?
Get more info for the sales team!
If you are going to insert the holiday email into your outreach calendar, make it intentional.
TIP: Aire on the side of caution with holiday-themes. You need to consider the cultural make-up of your audience and 'happy holidays' is implying the person is celebrating a holiday when in fact they may not be. Focus on end of year.