Cover Story: 5 Email Strategies to Boost Holiday Sales

It might be hard to think about Christmas when you need SPF 1,000 to survive being outside right now, but now is the time to start building your email list and nurturing subscribers to get ready for the holiday shopping season. Here are five tips for using email marketing to make sure your business is on your customers’ "nice list," enabling you to sell more product this holiday season:

1. Keep growing your list. Around 30 percent of the average email list churns each year. Make sure your list is always growing by attracting new subscribers from all the places you interact with consumers. Put a sign-up form front and center on your website, give shoppers a chance to sign up in-store and regularly post an email sign-up link on your social channels. Be sure to explain what's in it for subscribers to join your list.

2. Set up an automated welcome email. The moment someone signs up for your email program is when he or she is most interested in hearing from you, so it's important to give them a warm welcome. Include a link to your product or some great content to get them acquainted with your brand. Chances are they'll read it. Welcome emails see four times the open rate and five times the clickthrough rate of other bulk mailings. In addition, studies show that 33 percent of subscribers who receive a welcome note show more long-term engagement with a brand.

3. Consolidate your customer data. If possible, integrate your email service provider with your CRM or online shopping cart provider so you can view all of your customer data in one place. This makes it much easier to segment messaging (e.g., by purchase history) to inspire new, tailored communications. It also helps you track purchase activity that comes from your email program so you can easily measure return on investment and adjust your strategy as needed.

4. Include a call to action in every email. Always give an option to buy. Even though you can make some assumptions about how close a prospect is to making a buying decision based on how they learned about your business, people can surprise you. Include a strong call to action in every email so you never leave an opportunity on the table.

5. Be sure to say thank you. Practice good manners and set up an automated thank-you email for anyone who makes a purchase. Thank-you emails are also a great way to reward your most loyal customers. For example, if someone makes a purchase, trigger a heartfelt thank-you email that includes a coupon or discount for a future purchase.

Christopher Lester is the vice president of sales at Emma, Inc., a web-based service that lets you create, send and track email campaigns. Christopher can be reached at christopher.lester@myemma.com.