Should your customers’ and prospects’ holidays spare you from sending email campaigns? Of course not! But you still need to think it over and apply specific rules to remain active and effective during the summer break!

Even on holiday, your clients will remain wired

Going on holiday is not (any more?) necessarily a proof that you’ll unplug from technology. More than a worker out of two will bring their laptop on holiday and let’s bet that any smartphone owner will take it too. People remain wired and are likely to read their emails, although they spend less time doing it than at the office.

Tablets are also massively spread and became the preferred device to surf the web from a sunbed or at the poolside. Unsurprisingly enough, tablets are the device that bring the highest conversion rate from an email at that period.

In short, your customers will remain wired on holiday and we recommend you continue sending campaigns. This way, you’ll be in their minds throughout the year.

No more excuses to forget the responsive format

During the summer, your prospects are likely to be very active and will probably use several devices at once. Your email should be easy to read and make it simple to recognize your brand whatever device you use. Whether you’re spending your holiday at the seaside, at the mountain, at the club… Resting does not necessarily mean turning off your phone, does it?

This highlights the obvious interest of making responsive a priority in the design of your emails. Quick reminder: the responsive design is the adaptability of your email to all types of screens.

How does it work? No need to talk about coding, media queries or CSS3… you just need to prepare your emails using a software that automatically and perfectly adapts your emails and makes them responsive. Mailify does!

Change approach

Vacationers stay wired and have access to their emails, but their attention is not on exact same topics and the time spent surfing is greatly reduced. That’s why you must stand out from the crowd!

But be careful! These are holidays! So find a balance between business, casualness and creativity so as to avoid being boring or intrusive. Your readers have more time for themselves, but they are also more critical of spammers and mailbox invaders. Here are some tips to differentiate yourself and create a pleasant email to read, even on holiday:

An eye-catching subject line

Get out of the batch of impersonal summer holiday discounts that your customers will receive extensively and find a subject that will remind them that they are on holiday and that they should make the most of it. Originality is key to push them to open your email.

Personalize your email campaigns

This is perhaps the most central point of all to prove your recipients that you care about them and not just about your business, especially during their holiday! Also remember to personalize the sender’s name: put a real first name rather than your company’s name. In short, you almost become a friend who comes to catch up in a very kind way. 1to1 is the cornerstone of your holiday email.

Beware of location

Some of you may have already used personalization based on the recipient’s location. But it’s not recommended for holiday campaigns, as your prospects may be moving a lot! It is better not to offer them an offer that is not valid in the area where they are located. Instead, choose an e-commerce offer or a more informative, corporate subject or give them advice for the summer, depending on the industry you operate in.

Prepare your email campaigns in advance

You too have the right to go on holiday! That’s why you need to prepare your campaigns in advance and schedule them, this way you can take a vacation with peace of mind. Mailify allows you to schedule campaigns to send them at the date and time you want.

Choose a design a little different from usual to break the routine

Keep it simple and short, spare and harmonious, choose nice pictures but don’t overload your recipients with too much information, this is not the time!

Do A/B tests

Getting to know when recipients are less receptive to commercial offers than usual is a good way to assess how appropriate such offer is. Understanding what topics are of interest during the holidays allows you to anticipate next ones and gain insight into your customers’ aspirations.
Also, don’t forget to take into account the rest of our advice on email campaigns which is applicable all year round!

Prepare for the start of the school year

Preparing for the start of the school year doesn’t mean you should remind your recipients of the temporary nature of their holidays. Don’t talk to them about it! This preparatory phase is yours. Analyze your campaign statistics during the holidays to draw relevant conclusions: who opened? Who are your most responsive customers? What offer worked best and should be extended so that «holidays go on» towards the beginning of the school year?

It’s time to do an in-depth analysis and determine your clients’ interests outside the working period, when the routine is far away. It is key for any company to know their customers and their expectations to adapt supply to demand. A holiday newsletter allows you to somehow test your customers’ loyalty and check that you are among the advertisers who get them interested!

In short, you should maintain the same standards as usual, while taking into account the fact that your recipients’ routine is not the same. Bring fun and creativity to your communications, be inbox, and keep a long-term strategy in mind. Don’t forget to free your mind if you can! Happy holiday to all!