CATEGORY: email-marketing

Campaign optimisation on B**** F*****

One of the busiest days in email marketing is just a week away and inboxes are already getting more crowded than usual as many retailers try to get in there before the rest. Hopefully, you've already done most of your preparation as per our previous post. 

The big email campaigns that you send in the next week are a key aspect to ensuring your business enjoys a Black Friday bonanza. Here’s our five tips for making sure your Black Friday email campaigns are a success:

Tip 1 – Cadence

Your emails have a reputation with the likes of Gmail, Microsoft and Yahoo - the services most consumers use for email. It is hopefully already a good one, but part of that reputation will be related to how many emails you usually send. Spam filtration and cyber security systems do not like surprises, so do not suddenly send many more emails in one go than you normally do. Either ramp up your sending in the days leading up to Black Friday or if that is difficult, then consider rate controlling your campaign to send in batches per hour.

Tip 2 – Split Test

Black Friday is not a normal day in email marketing and many of your contacts are likely to be actively seeking out offers. That is not to say they will read everything though, so test different subject lines to optimise your response.

Nothing affects the performance of an email as much as the subject line and there is plenty of mixed advice on the best tactics to maximise your campaign performance. e-consultancy published a piece that claimed you should avoid using "Black Friday" in the subject line, but this is the sort of thing that is:

a - not conclusive

b - potentially self-defeating*

*What if everyone heeds this advice and nobody uses "Black Friday" in their subject lines?

The reality is nobody really knows the best tactics as there is a huge interdependency with what everyone else does. You've got 40% off. Your competitor has 50% off. The best thing you can do is to be creative and then test those creative options with split testing.

Tip 3 – Segmentation

The long-established method to improve campaign performance is to use personalisation. You cannot be all things to all people and you may have several amazing deals, but which one is the right one for your audience? If you can segment and target sections of your audience then lead with a specific deal that matches their interests or previous buying behaviour.

Tip 4 – Optimise for clicks

You may have one great deal, you may have many. Either way, it is important to get your audience out of their email inbox and onto your website, so make sure your buttons or links are clear and prominent. For emails with a singular offer, optimise your links to a "T" format:

The "T" format is particular suited for mobile whereby your button or link is placed in a convenient position for mobile users to use their thumb to click it.

For emails with multiple links and offers, optimise to an "F" format:

Tip 5 - Send again

The majority of email marketing does not get read, so don't worry about hitting your audience with the same offer again if it is good enough and it is relevant to them. Nobody will remember that email they didn't look at in the morning when you send it again in the afternoon. If this makes you nervous, then limit your resends to those who usually engage.

Checking it twice

Good luck! I hope your Black Friday efforts make all of your Christmases come early. If you are an e-shot customer, remember that our Customer Success team will proactively run a Healthcheck on your campaign before Black Friday to identify issues and recommend optimisations.