Don't go overboard with holiday themes

When it comes to holiday advertising, a little bit of a theme goes a long way. That, according to data from Yes Lifecycle Marketing; they looked at holiday-themed email campaigns and found that engagement rates dropped dramatically for campaigns that were heavily holiday themed.

by Kristina Knight

During the holiday season, brands are sending about 14% more emails than usual, and it may be tempting to go all-out with holiday theming in this year's email campaigns, but resist. Looking at recent holiday data, Yes Lifecycle Marketing found that more than half (55%) of marketers sent holiday themed email campaigns, but the conversion rates on those emails were 43% lower than average.

Not only are holiday themed emails converting lower, they have overall lower open rates (14.6%) than BAU emails. Researchers also found that holiday themed emails without offers in the subject line saw 16% higher open rates than all other holiday campaigns.

So, what's a marketer to do, knowing that the holiday season is what keeps many merchants and brands in the black?

Make sure email campaigns are relevant and personalized to the user - put all the data you've accumulated this year to work, and make ordering simple by offering clickable links, simplified checkouts, and additional payment options.

Tags: advertising, advertising content, email content, email marketing, email trends, Yes Lifecycle Marketing