iContact > 3 More Months of Holidays — Are Your Email Marketing Campaigns Ready?
As the month of January comes to a close, many marketers will be putting the busy Q4 sales period and the holidays to the back of their minds. They might be thinking that now is a good time to take a vacation or scale back on their campaigns — but they would be very wrong. February, March and April deliver three more months of holidays that provide the perfect opportunity to put your email lists to the test and take your business toward the summer months when things might actually slow down.
Savvy marketers don't look on Valentine's Day (February 14), St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and Easter (April 21) as one-off marketing opportunities to fire off an ill-thought-out, themed campaign in the hope of shifting a few units or filling a few seats.
I always look on Valentine's Day as your first real opportunity to test the email marketing lists you built up over the festive period. Because email addresses have a limited lifespan (the average age of an email address is only 18 months), as marketers we should relish the opportunity to maximize their potential so soon after the festive period.
As well as being the most romantic day of the year, Valentine's Day is also a pretty lucrative one.
When you consider that US consumers will spend upwards of $19.6 billion on Valentine's Day alone (with 55 percent of the population celebrating, that's an average spend of $143.56 per person), you'll surely want to deliver a more strategic approach to your campaign activities.
At the very least, you'll want to attract those early bird shoppers, last-minute panic-buyers and everyone in between. If you're thinking about Valentine's Day marketing, you really should be thinking about sending your initial campaigns as soon as possible.
Although more associated as a party night (hint — if you own a bar, club or restaurant and you're not jumping on the St. Paddy's bandwagon, what are you thinking?), the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that consumers in the US spend upwards of $5.9 billion on St. Patrick's Day-related purchases.
From party decorations to fancy dress, to good old Guinness and Bushmills, you don't need to look too far for your marketing inspiration. And when you consider a staggering 39.6 million Americans claim Irish heritage, you're bound to have plenty of hot prospects for a little St. Patrick's Day fun in your lists.
This three month festival of holidays closes with Easter on April 20.
The prominence of Easter as a gift-buying holiday is on the increase — and it's not just chocolate eggs and candy for the kids.
The NRF is expecting US consumers to spend upwards of $18.2 billion over the holiday. Eighty-one percent of Americans will celebrate the holiday and spend an average of $150 each.
If you think the best part of the marketing calendar is behind you — or a long way in the future — think again. There are marketing peaks throughout the year that are ripe for engagement, and the time to start thinking about them is now.