Holiday Prep: E-Mail Marketing

With numerous surveys showing that cost-conscious online shoppers will be searching the Web for the best deals possible this holiday shopping season, the challenge for retailers is to engage their core audience with the right products and the right tactics.

At the recent eTail East conference in Baltimore, merchants discussed how they plan to reach out to their online customers during the holidays this year. The most-discussed topic: how to effectively manage e-mail-marketing campaigns.

Spencer Gifts, which operates more than 600 stores, is reevaluating its e-mail marketing campaign for the holiday period. The company’s busy season, however, begins at Halloween.

“We plan to send shoppers a post-transaction e-mail to thank them for their business, but we will also use it as a platform to bring them back to our site,” Jay Greenberg, director of e-commerce for Spencer Gifts, Egg Harbor Township, N.J., said during a presentation at the conference.

The chain will also focus its energy on segmenting its best customers with frequent messaging.

“If we target shoppers that never open e-mail or click through back to the site, it’s a waste of our time and their time,” Greenberg explained. “Instead, we want to go after those that respond well to e-mail and send that group relevant messaging.”

Many retailers, including Vintage Tub and Bath, are still trying to figure out the right strategy for their e-mail marketing campaigns. The Mountaintop, Pa.-based bathroom-accessories company has been in business since 1993 but didn’t start to market itself close to the holidays until last year.

“At first we didn’t think a high-tank toilet would tout well for a Christmas gift, but our customers felt otherwise,” said Mike Deckman, Internet marketing manager, Vintage Tub and Bath.

The company evaluated its product offering and then launched an e-mail campaign to give customers seasonal gift ideas. As a result, Vintage Tub and Bath experienced the most profitable fourth quarter in its history.

This year, however, the company aims to improve its e-blast initiatives by testing frequency.

“We will start out slowly by sending e-blasts a few times a month, and then grow from that,” Deckman said. “We don’t know our customers well enough yet to know what they will put up with or how they will respond to frequent messaging.”

Vintage Tub and Bath also plans to experiment with targeting customers via e-mail with product recommendations.

“If someone purchases A, we will recommend B or C to go with it,” Deckman said.

Lauren Freedman, president of Chicago-based E-tailing group, said such product recommendations are a dynamic upselling tool many retailers should consider for the season.

“Another effective strategy is to show customers what others bought after purchasing item A,” Freedman said. “Providing this information could influence their decision to buy more.”

Freedman also suggested retailers use e-mail to draw attention to its top-selling products.

“Send an e-mail that highlights the site’s hottest items,” Freedman said, “and don’t be afraid to take advantage of celebrity endorsements. Whether a product is on Oprah’s Favorite Things list or is an item that’s been spotted on the First Lady, don’t be shy to brag to your customers.”

Many retailers will also be testing marketing this season on social media platforms such as Twitter.

Igor Gorin, CEO of San Francisco-based e-commerce solutions provider SysIQ, recommends retailers explore this low-cost, low-risk channel to get the word out about exclusive deals.

“Twitter is a great way for merchants to get their messages out while cutting down on e-blast frequency and inbox clutter,” Gorin said. “Retailers can send short messages directly to a niche audience that cares what they have to say. So don’t be afraid to get creative on Twitter this year; the results could be quite powerful.”