Top 4 Email tips for 2011 holidays

Okay, jolly old St. Nick may be more accustomed to delivering toys at Christmas time than ad campaigns, but for email marketers, channeling the Man in Red could be a good way to get more attention from the holiday shopping rush. The key? Don't go too North Pole.

by Kristina Knight

1) Don't over-decorate. Santa and his elves may like red-and-green plaid, colorful balls and tinsel covering every square inch of their space. Email recipients will see all that color and scream SPAM! Yes, you can add a holiday motif to emails this season but choose your décor wisely - and sparingly - advises ReturnPath.

2) Be considerate. BirkenstockCentral.com says re-stocking emails are pushing more of their sales. To combat the 'out of stock' notices many online retailers have going, they created a new base in which consumers signed up to be notified once an item was re-stocked. Those emails have a 36% open rate, 35% read rate, 26% click-thru rate and a 25% conversion rate. While re-stocking emails may not help presents arrive on-time, they are a considerate way to let your customers know you're thinking of them. Tip: only use this option if you believe the item will be re-stocked before December 20th so that deliveries can potentially be made before the holiday.

3) Be mobile friendly. This year more than ever, email messages need to be optimized for mobile screens. Test different message layouts and look at how the messages display on different screen sizes before you mail.

4) Be flexible. Integrate social and email campaigns so that your messages can engage consumers through email or social environments. Added benefit: adding social capabilities allows your consumer base to easily share messages about upcoming sales, product launches and deals of the day.

Tags: Birkenstock Central, email design, email marketing, email messages, ReturnPath