Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Boxing Day, ... some tips for your end-of-year emails

The period from November to January is traditionally a very busy time for commerce, for promotions and... for clogging up our mailboxes! But is it really effective? Many companies, under the pretext of generating a significant proportion of their sales, indulge in every kind of abuse to earn a few extra euros. But couldn't we do better? Here are a few tips for successful email delivery of the year.

To answer the question, we launched a call on LinkedIn to collect opinions, tips and ideas in a collaborative article. If you still wish to contribute to this article, please do not hesitate to contact us to submit your contribution.

Live: Our tips for successful year-end email delivery

We've put together a livestream on email strategy and black Friday. We discuss best practices in segmentation, sales pressure, email relaunch, content and deliverability. Click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQGlUE02N94 or here:

Use alternative channels to email! - Julie HamonMarketing Manager, Digitaleo

Email is good but it is also a channel that is seen and seen again and again and that makes our inboxes overflow. You can differentiate yourself by using other communication channels such as SMS, social networks, RCS or answering machine messages.

• SMS marketing: with a 90% read rate within 10 minutes of receipt, it is the channel of instantaneousness but also of reactivity with click rates of 20% on average. You can add a landing page that includes the elements you would have put in an email! For example, for the end of the year celebrations, you can use it for a contest with a participation form.
• Social networks: a must-have but sometimes neglected, especially by retail outlets. However, it is a great tool to create a link with your communities. Why not propose to your teams to organize a Christmas sweater contest in store? You highlight your teams, Internet users like to interact with this kind of content and you make them want to come to your stores.
• The RCS (for Rich Communication Services) is a technology developed by Google that gives SMS the same functionality as Whatsapp or Messenger. Use it to create a conversation with your customers. You can use it to create a link and interaction during peak times when communications are (often) underrated. For example, for Sales, RCS can allow you to redirect your customers to the product categories that interest them.
• The last channel worth testing is the voice message. This is a message that is left directly on your customers' mailbox without making their phone ring. It works for your best customers and is a real loyalty tool. For the end of the year celebrations, it can be an original way to wish a happy new year!

And no matter which channel you choose, don't neglect the message, it's also and above all that which will make you stand out from the crowd!

Black Friday is coming soon, I'm preparing my campaign... or not! - Julie MandryData Tickler

Talking at the same time as the others, with the same intonation and to say the same thing, doesn't bring anything and it's the best way not to be heard!

It's the same principle in email marketing. Send a campaign to your entire audience on black friday with the subject " BLACK FRIDAY: up to -50% on selected items!!! " (found in my box, ?), is to take the risk of being drowned in the flow of emails of the same kind, alongside e-commerce behemoths against whom you will have difficulty to make the weight.

We've tried emoji? to be more visible in the inbox, but this good idea is already overused and won't help you stand out today.

So how do I do it, you ask? Well, I don't have the miracle solution... sorry!

But my advice is to be creative ! To begin with, ask yourself which chestnuts are essential for your brand and which are not.

Why not create your own highlights, depending on the seasonality of your products and the reaction of your targets, for example?

If you need visibility during black friday, sales or any other busy period, try to put forward other arguments than your "SUPER PROMO": your universe, your commitments, your values, what differentiates you from other e-tailers.

And for advertisers who are positioned mainly on an attractive price and/or who have no values (I judge you!!?), it can be interesting to contact on that day only the targets who usually react to your communications, those for whom you have your chances to reach the inbox, those who are waiting for you.

And to go after inactive people during periods when the marketing pressure is less strong.

And last little advice for the road, avoid SHOUTING at your contacts so that they open your emails filled with SUPER PROMO, it's a tip that works all year round but even more so on days of heavy marketing pressure, in addition to not being very respectful to your contacts (personally I don't like it when someone shouts at me) it's often not very appreciated by anti-spam filters. And if you have any doubt, check your spam box, you'll have a pretty complete overview of what not to do 😉

Is it a must? What if we just let it go? - Jonathan LoriauxCEO, Badsender

Okayy! Now that we've got all these good tips. Last thought, is it mandatory for you to talk about Blackfriday, Christmas, sales, ... when in fact, you are not really concerned. Because if you don't have margins that allow you to make real promotions, if your products and services are not offered (or very little), if you don't have stocks to sell, ... maybe you should skip it.

It's a bit like sorting through your closet at home. You think "what if I had some use for this"... when in fact, you haven't used the item in two years.

First reflex, look at what happened last year. Was your Black Friday email more effective than the one from the week before, which did not use this argument? If the answer is no, you have a clue.

If you're more ambitious, you could make a nice AB test.

• Segment A, 50% random, will receive emails in which you will use the "seasonal" arguments.
• Segment B, 50% random (the others 😉 ), will receive campaigns, which talk about products, usage, storytelling, ...

After the holidays and the sales, you take stock. For each of the groups, what were the click volumes and what was the turnover. You will give me the results 😉

When it comes to deliverability, how do you deliver your emails during Black Friday and the end-of-year period?

Ever wonder why it's harder to deliver emails during Black Friday? You're probably not alone. Visit email deliverability has become a challenge during the end-of-year period.

We could summarize the reasons in a few points:

• Because email providers are becoming more aggressive in limiting throughput to handle the exponential increase in email volumes. They don't want their infrastructures to explode.
• Because their tolerance thresholds on deliverability signals (complaints, bouncesengagement levels) are also more aggressive. They don't want their users to be flooded with unwanted messages.
• Because the deliverability incidents will be more complicated to resolve during the end-of-year period. ISP/webmail teams will be less available.
• Because this is a time for abuse. Some people will go to any length to earn a few extra euros.

To maximize your chances of delivering your emails to inboxes during the Black Friday period, there are still a few tips we can give you:

• Start to prepare your reputation as a sender well in advance (ideally several months in advance). Good practices can't be put in place in 15 days.
• Avoid major changes to your mailing infrastructure just before or during this period (especially if everything is going well overall).
• Segment your lists to target the most engaged subscribers first (and don't do the list bottom).
• Reinforce your deliverability monitoring and adjust your strategy if necessary (if you're really big, a deliverability CoPil every morning in the 2 weeks before Black Friday isn't crazy).
• If it's really necessary, increase your volumes and frequency (gradually) several weeks in advance, so as not to create too great a volume peak (but don't do so at the expense of engagement and therefore your reputation).
• Don't target addresses that have been unused for a long time during this period.
• Avoid scheduling your campaigns on the hour, as this will reduce the chances of rejection. Routers and messaging operators continue to see significant traffic peaks in the first 10/15 minutes of each hour.
  

That's right! If possible, make sure you send messages that interest your target audience! It's always more effective in generating engagement.

And remember, deliverability is a marathon, not a sprint. Good preparation throughout the year is the key to success during the more intense periods.