Christmas is a time for family, wine and… email marketing?
The festive period sees most companies create special Christmas email marketing campaigns to boost sales and increase engagement throughout the busy month of December, so having an email campaign that stands out from the crowd is crucial!
Whether you’re targeting your past, present or future guests, there are certain elements that every successful Christmas email needs.
Here are just a few tips to help yours shine:
Give it an incredible design
It goes without saying that a Christmas email has to be full of… well, Christmas stuff. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be on brand!
By using your brand colours and editing your illustrations and logo with a Christmas theme, you can strengthen your brand while still helping to create that festive feeling.
Personalisation is everything
Giving that warm friendly festive message is one thing, but creating an email that is personal and relative to the reader is another.
Putting the reader’s name in the email subject and body copy is a great place to start. And using the power of For-Sight you can also segment your contacts so you send a reward to those who stayed at your hotel in 2021 and a different message to those who have a booking with you in 2022.
For example:
- We loved having you in August this year, same time next year?
- We can’t wait to see you in March 2022, fancy treating yourself to an upgrade?
Advertise a special offer or contest
Everyone wants to feel like they’re getting a good deal, so providing a special offer or discount will increase the engagement of your email campaign.
Christmas is a time for fun and games and contests/competitions are a great way of incorporating that within your email.
Make sure you set a deadline and add a fun visual countdown timer to create a sense of urgency and occasion.
Have fun with wordplay
Your email subject and heading are two of the first things that readers will notice, so having fun with wordplay and Christmas puns can have a huge impact when encouraging people to open your email.
For example:
- We’re social Christmassing,
- Oh Deer, Christmas is here!
- We’ve got a tree-mendous idea
Create a relevant CTA
Whether you’ve got a competition or a special festive offer, your CTA is one of the most important aspects of your email. Before you create the CTA, it’s important to ascertain what your goals for the campaign are and how you want to convert people’s attention into engagement.
For example:
Do you want people to book their 2022 stay? To buy a gift card for their families and friends? Or to upgrade their future booking?
By using attractive design, the right placement and key verbs in the CTA button you will help increase the click-rate of your email and therefore, the sales!
What about post-Christmas emails?
Your Christmas email campaign doesn’t just have to be for Christmas, what happens after Christmas?
Creating a post-Christmas marketing email to go out once the festivities have quieted down can give your campaign that extra boost. Intertwine the two campaigns by extending the original offer in the pre-Christmas email or simply create a new message to encourage people to engage with your email while they’re still finishing off their chocolates.
For example:
- We’ve extended the offer until New Year’s Eve!
- Last chance to save on next year’s hotel stays
- New year, new… memories? Book next year’s memories, today!
Christmas emails are not only used to increase sales and bookings for next year, they’re also an opportunity to promote your hotel, strengthen your brand and enhance your relationship with your guests so that they feel valued and return year after year.
Want to supercharge your marketing efforts & boost guest engagement in 2022? Download our essential Hotel Email Marketing Guide here!
