Now that Halloween has passed, most retailers and e-commerce brands are already starting to gear up for the holiday season, which means figuring out what types of email marketing messages they will be sending out this year. While it can be hard to stand out in the crowd of other holiday marketing campaigns that are currently flooding the digital marketplace, it’s not impossible. The key to creating successful holiday marketing emails is delivering content that makes a connection with your audience while providing them with something they find valuable. Below are just a few excellent examples of holiday email marketing campaigns that can provide a little inspiration for your upcoming campaigns.
Black Friday Sales
Though Black Friday is certainly one of the most important shopping days of the year for retailers and e-commerce companies, it can still be difficult to stand out in the crowd of holiday email marketing campaigns for Black Friday. Take a note from these companies that worked to make their holiday emails stand out.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #1 – Chan Luu
There’s a lot of excitement with exclusive Black Friday sales, and Chan Luu takes advantage of this by providing a limited promotion in their Black Friday email:
The subject line reads, “First 50 get a FREE Necklace.” This entices the consumer to open the email to see how they can take advantage of this exclusive offer. The email design is simple yet elegant, reminiscent of the company’s fine products. The “Shop Now” button is prominently displayed in the same color as the border, which draws the reader’s attention to where they must click to convert.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #2 – Target
This Black Friday email from Target encourages consumers to start their holiday shopping early:
The subject line reads, “Why Wait?” helping to take advantage of the Black Friday shopping excitement while also creating a sense of urgency. The email design has a simple black background and bright colored arrows and buttons that draw attention to the company’s products. Product images help guide consumers to the right area of the site right from the body of the email.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #3 – Maurices
This Black Friday marketing email from Maurices has a little fun while telling customers about their Black Friday sale:
The simple black background allows the email design to draw attention to the product images and sales details. The phrase, “BOGO is the New Black” is a clever way to play on the idea of Black Friday while announcing their special sales details. The text includes the important details of the sale while also containing links directly to BOGO items as well as other items on the site.
Cyber Monday Deals
Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving, is an extremely important day for retailers and other companies, especially e-commerce brands. According to Experian, Cyber Monday is also the top day of the year for email volume and transactions. This means that you’ll have to make sure that your e-commerce holiday email marketing campaign can stand out in the crowd of other marketing emails promoting Cyber Monday deals.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #4 – J. Crew
This email copy from J. Crew is fun and festive, providing all of the important details that Cyber Monday shoppers care about most:
This email copy uses a fun play on words to promote J. Crew’s Cyber Monday sale. The background color is a bright festive red with simple black text. The text lays out the sale’s details quickly, using bolded font to draw attention to enticing offers like free shipping and 40% of sales items. The copy makes it easy for users to convert by clicking on the “Get Shopping” button. For those who aren’t as inclined to buy online, the email design also includes a map to the user’s closest physical store location.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #5 – Ray-Ban
Here’s another great example of a Cyber Monday promotional email from Ray-Ban:
The simple design with muted background colors draws attention to the brand’s red logo and the white text that lays out their Cyber Monday gift voucher promotion. The text tells the reader how to take advantage of the deal and how long they have to use the voucher. The red “Shop Now” button makes it easy for consumers to convert.
Special Holiday Promotions
Holiday promotions is probably one of the first things that comes to your mind when you start to develop ideas for holiday email marketing campaigns. But what sets an exceptional holiday promotional email apart from the rest? Check out these examples of companies that are standing out and encouraging customers to open their message first.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #6 – Dormify
Dormify helps set themselves apart from other holiday promotions by asking the question, “Are you sick of sales yet?” Check out this email sent just one week after Cyber Monday:
This email speaks to Dormify’s millennial audience with its tagline, “THAT SALE THOUGH…” This coupled with engaging images of the company’s products can help keep consumers interested in sales long after Black Friday and Cyber Monday has passed.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #7 – SitterCity
Retailers aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of the holiday excitement as gift giving isn’t the only thing on consumers’ minds. This holiday email marketing campaign from SitterCity, a childcare service platform, shows that even service-oriented businesses can provide special holiday promotions:
The festive background is attractive and engaging with a design that is developed to look like a holiday event invitation. Using simple language and design, the content gets across the message that individuals can RSVP yes to every event by finding a sitter for the holiday season. Then, SitterCity makes it easy for consumers to convert by clicking on the “First month free” button.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #8 – William Roam
This free shipping email offer from e-commerce company, William Roam is simple, yet effective:
By offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more, William Roam entices customers to spend some of their holiday shopping money with this retailer. The email design includes attractive images of the company’s products with simple instructions on how they can shop.
Last Minute Shoppers
Though many retailers e-commerce brands start thinking about their holiday marketing campaigns well before September, it’s important to consider that not every holiday shopper starts to prepare that early. There are plenty of consumers that are still shopping in the days and hours leading up to Christmas. This makes it important for brands to continue their holiday email communication up until the final hours.
Holiday Email Marketing Example #9 – Guess
This holiday marketing email from Guess was sent out on December 23rd, just about the time that last minute holiday shoppers start panicking:
The subject line says it all – “Still Need Gifts? We’re Here for You.” Guess has taken advantage of the fact that some consumers wait until the last minute to find the right holiday gifts. Since Guess has physical store locations around the country, they are making it as easy as possible for last minute shoppers to find their local Guess store with a Store Locator button.
Great Holiday Email Marketing Example #10 – SpaFinder Wellness 360
This last-minute holiday marketing email from SpaFinder Wellness 360 was also sent on December 23, just in time to entice any last minute holiday shoppers:
The subject line engages last minute shoppers by inviting them to skip the line with instant gift card delivery, plus a free bonus for their efforts. The simple, yet festive email design supports the creative and fun tagline – “May they… never know you forgot.” This draws attention to the fact that a gift card that’s instantly delivered is the perfect last minute gift that will arrive in time for the holidays.
These creative and engaging examples of effective holiday email marketing campaigns should provide you with enough inspiration to get started on your own. If you need a little help gearing up for the biggest season of the year for marketers, the talented team of email marketing experts at Seven Atoms is just a phone call away. To find out how we can help you take your holiday marketing emails to the next level, contact us today for a free digital marketing consultation.
