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How to leverage marketing automation over the festive period

How to leverage marketing automation over the festive period

It’s a busy time of year for many marketers and whilst we rapidly approach the day when it is socially acceptable to wear a Christmas jumper, it also becomes a time when some types of e-mail become less socially acceptable.

 Have you got automations that normally trigger on a Tuesday? Should they be going out on Tuesday 25th December?

Will contacts who fill in a form really get a call back from your sales team in that twilight zone between Boxing Day and New Years Day.

 Before you head off for the holidays, think about if there are any campaigns that should be paused, but also think about other campaigns that could work their own magic over Christmas...

 Let’s dive into some ideas for campaigns that could keep your contacts happy through the holidays:

1. A warm welcome

It's imperative for your welcome email to be a shining example of your communications at all times of the year.              

No doubt whilst the holiday season is commencing you will be offering fabulous discounts to lure prospects in – a superb location to place these discounts is your sign up form on your website.

Therefore, this hikes up the significance of updating your automated welcome series to include said discount to encourage subscribers to convert. If you are in full Christmas swing, take it one step further and update the imagery of your welcome campaign to have a festive theme. 

2. Purchase confirmation 
Over the Christmas period there will be a lot of worrying about whether purchases will arrive on time, this message aims to reassure and confirm to your audience that their purchase has been confirmed, processed and is en route.

Lack of confirmation emails can be frustrating, make sure you have a workflow set up to keep your customer updated through the different stages of their purchasing journey. As shown in the purchase workflow below, the point of dispatch is an excellent chance to use SMS marketing.

e-shot automation flow

Apart from being a purely transactional email you can use this chance to:

  •         Cross-sell related products

  •        Showcase content which will help the user get more from the product

3. Product recommendations 

A lot of people will be spraying and praying in December…bombarding innocent inboxes with a mass of irrelevant and impersonalised offers. But you are not ‘a lot of people’, oh no, you will be sending hyper-relevant and targeted offers.. am I right?!

 By using past purchase and behavioural data (such as what people have been looking at on your website) you can deliver true value to your customers.

Present your audience with offers which are relevant for them, saving them time and showing your customer-centric approach. A fun way to do this could be a festive gift guide, segment your audience by their product preferences and use dynamic content to serve up unique offers. 

4. Product/ service reviews 

Whether it’s finding a new piece of software for your company, or where to eat later that night with your amigos, the power of reviews cannot be denied.. around 95% of shoppers will read an online review before making a purchase.

rating email

A productive way to encourage clients to leave reviews is to automate a follow up email a few weeks after purchase. Similarly automating a Net Promoted Score campaign is an awesome way to find out which clients are at the ambassador stage and would be willing to leave you a review or even better in the B2B world - a case study.

5. Abandon online baskets 

For the e-commerce companies out there, this is possibly one of the most important sequences to have nailed. A Barclay’s survey revealed that British consumers abandoned baskets amount up to £18bn in lost sales every year!!

Crazy, right?!

Sending a reminder follow-up email is one of the most effective ways to tempt shoppers to complete their purchase.

So, a few key pointers to remember:

  •  We are a forgetful species – include images of the items which have been left behind.

  •  Upsell where you can – include complementary products or services.

  •  Take me home – make it easy to navigate back to your website from the email.

  •  Let’s get social - you don’t want too many call-to-actions, but if it works, add a follow us CTA, your customer may not be ready to part with their cash but if they follow you on social it is another platform to highlight your products on.

Abandon basket email

To sum up: 

These 5 automated email campaigns can be used across various industries. By setting up a series of automations which are fundamental to your businesses processes,  it will allow you to be able to take a step back and breathe during this busy time. Having your campaigns scheduled will give you some time to start planning for 2019!

Our final tip: Don’t forget about your automations. Check in on them from time to time and look at the reports so you can keep optimising your strategy for what works best for you and your business.

If you need any help getting your ducks lined up for the Christmas period, don’t hesitate to get in contact with your account manager who will guide you along the process.

Do you find Marketing Automation a bit of a complicated subject? One you would rather avoid than get to grips with? Why not join us for our Marketing Automation Accelerator Seminar.

 

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