How long until your Christmas campaigns kick in?

Hands up all those who have started marketing for the upcoming festive season. Yes, I know it's early, but apparently some retailers have already acknowledged the upcoming holiday season in their email communications with customers.

by Helen Leggatt

That's right, according to the Retail Email Blog, which monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers, 7% have already referenced Christmas or the 2010 holidays in emails to their customers.

Last year at this point, just 5% had done so.

Sears and Kmart have recently begun offering Christmas Club cards. The programs let consumers put away money for holiday spending and the retailer will add an extra few percent toward the total amount, up to $100, by November 15.

If you're reading this and thinking some marketers are just a little balmy starting their Christmas campaigns in the midst of heatwaves, think again. Even if you're not actively sending out communications to customers regarding Christmas you should at least be preparing marketing tactics for the period.