It’s time to face the facts! Summer is over, and we’ve kicked off the 2015 holiday season! Are you ready?
By now, many retailers will have already finalized most of their holiday planning. There are, after all, lots of decisions to make, teams to coordinate, products to stock, promos to choose … it can be overwhelming.
Whether you are feeling fully prepared for the blizzard of the holiday season or you are still trying to figure out what the heck you are going to do, take the time to visit Bronto’s 2015 Holiday Resource Center and give yourself a progress report.
The 2015 Holiday Planning Guide gives you a month-by-month checklist of planning must-haves to tackle before the season is in full swing.
Here are a few tasks you and your team should work on this month:
Clean Lists and Engage Inactive Subscribers
Carrying dead weight on your subscriber list during the holidays can skew your performance metrics. Take the time now to build a segment of subscribers who have consistently not opened or clicked your messages. Be sure they are not actively engaged in other channels before considering them totally dormant. Then, analyze the segment to see if there are any similar demographics that have become unresponsive or acquisition sources that aren’t providing a return. Send a targeted campaign to re-engage these subscribers before the rush of the major holidays. As the season progresses, you can choose whether to include this group in certain mailings.
Update Subscriber Profiles
Subscriber profile data helps you better understand your shoppers and target them more effectively with your messaging. If you recently created new subscription options or profile data points, such as product category preferences, favorite brands or preferred store location, build a segment of subscribers who lack these essential data points and send an email asking them to update their profile. Test an incentive if response is underwhelming.
Optimize Transactional Messages
Be honest. When is the last time you updated your transactional messages? They are probably due for a refresh. While you dust off these messages to update them to match the look and feel of your current site and promotional emails, build a holiday-themed template that speaks directly to seasonal shoppers. Promote features that will encourage repeat purchases, such as loyalty programs, nearby store location and hours, ongoing holiday offers or links to gift guides. If you do this, set a calendar reminder to switch the template back after the holidays are over.
For more holiday planning tips and inspiration, visit Bronto’s 2015 Holiday Resource Center.
The post Progress Report: Are You Ready for the Holidays? appeared first on Commerce Marketing.
