Holidays In August: A Holiday Email Marketing Schedule [Infographic]

A smart marketer once said to me, “People love to buy, but they hate to be sold to.” There is a lot of wisdom in that sentence, and if you think about it, it explains why people have such polar opposite opinions when it comes to online marketing. If a retailer handles online marketing in a way that appeals to consumers, it is a very valuable tool, especially over the holidays. Below you’ll find an effective holiday email marketing schedule for your upcoming campaign.

This infographic called The Email Marketing Holiday Calendar (by ExactTarget) is a retailer’s guide to holiday email marketing. Email marketing is the most effective form of online marketing, but it’s also very tricky. If you don’t send enough emails that are timed just right, your campaign won’t be successful. If you send too many emails and annoy your loyal customers, you run the risk of them unsubscribing from your list and never coming back. It’s a balancing act that can be hard to master.

According to this infographic, 10% of online retailers will send an email in July mentioning the holidays. It’s seems kind of crazy to me that we would think about the holidays in July. But then again, when you start creating your marketing schedule, it might make sense. Even though most people don’t purchase gifts for the holidays until closer to December, they start thinking about it much sooner. When they start thinking about the gifts they’ll buy, you’ll want them to think of you, and what you have to offer. As your setting up your email marketing schedule, keep in mind that once Halloween hits on October 31st, your frequency should increase.

I’m on the ThinkGeek email list, and I like how they handle their holiday email marketing. I remember last year they sent an email to their ‘year round’ customers giving them the option to opt out from December emails only. I did that, so I avoided the almost daily emails they sent during that month, but then I was back on schedule with their emails beginning again in January. This infographic is one of the most helpful ones on this topic that I’ve seen, and I hope it helps you as you get ready for the holidays!