Easter is probably the most chocoholic holiday.
A reported 80 million Easter eggs are sold annually in the UK alone and apparently 65 percent of people automatically think of chocolate when even hearing the word ‘Easter’. Leaving aside the map to the company Easter Egg Hunt for a minute, I wanted to share some points that will help make your emails eggquisite.
What makes Easter appealing to retailers? In 2016, US customers were expected to spend an estimated $17.3 billion, reportedly the highest the figure had been in 13 years. In the UK, around £775 million were spent on Easter-related products. Considering that themed emails are already hopping in our inboxes here are a few points to think about.
You need a plan to make sure it will be eggcelent!
During holidays, inboxes get flooded with emails. This isn’t a bad thing! In our Ultimate Guide to Holiday Email, we found that less is not more during Christmas and it’s also true with regards to Easter. As consumers, we have now come to expect our favourite brands to let us know of their most recent themed products or special offers during festive periods. This means that competition will be fierce so it’s important to have a plan of attack. Be clear on your goals and balance timing, quantity and quality. Your previous Easter campaigns and your most successful overall campaigns should point out what works and what doesn’t for your audience.
For example, last year Russell Hobbs used Easter to start a re-engagement and segmentation process. Based on customer reactions to its Easter inspired email, it managed to segment the audience into regular subscribers, contacts who had only opened the email and people that were completely disengaged. The brand went beyond simply offering a discount and had a clear strategy of what they wanted to achieve.
Filtering data in such an ingenious way helped them cut cost by about 40 percent.
Try eggstra hard to stay true to your brand and always remember timing!
Your brand identity is perhaps one of the, if not the most, significant aspects to consider! As it encompasses your core values and reflects your customers’ perceptions, it helps create strong associations. So be careful not to damage it with radical creative approaches. While Easter may be a creative playground of puns (yes, I couldn’t help myself either) and themed imagery, strategically you must ensure that you don’t change your tone and overall feel entirely. Your audience may find this distracting and lose sight of the main message.
One of the brands that manage to do this extremely well is Fortnum & Mason. There is always a balance between its ingenious creative concept and its unique brand identity, making emails easily recognisable.
Last year Fortnum & Mason used puns and great copy to showcase their products and we were all cracking up. This year they created a series of emails under the ‘Easter Feaster’ tagline.
It is a simple play on words that will definitely stick to memory. They’ve also used an animated GIF (highlighted at the top) and a chick emoji in their subject line to ensure that their campaigns pop out. The feel-good vibe truly gets you in a festive mood.
Timing played a big role too. This particular email was sent six weeks ahead of Easter and it introduces the product range. By counting down the top 10 picks, Fortnum’s didn’t go for the hard sell but presented it as a collection of ideas. Past studies have shown that people react better, and are more likely to buy, if they are not pressured into making a decision. It is all about peaking the customers’ interest while keeping them informed.
We’re all egg-static about a good deal!
Let’s face it we all love a good bargain, even more so around the holidays!
Whittard’s Easter email used good copy and a funny promo code to introduce its Easter campaign ahead of the holiday season. The subject line ‘Free next day delivery – Get a hop on!’ linked to the promo code offered: ‘HOPON’ without being over the top too early.
With our Ultimate Guide to Holiday Email we found that a way to boost sales is to group your products by price. This is something that Whittard have taken into consideration, as it makes it easier for customers to browse if they already have a budget in mind.
Key takeaways:
- Plan in accordance with your overall marketing goals.
- Timing and frequency are essential.
- Puns are fun, but remember to stay true to your brand identity.
- Build on the relationship you have with your customers and don’t hesitate to offer discounts