With Christmas just around the corner, many businesses will be getting ready to send out their festive email campaigns to customers. While most businesses will be focused on sales and promotions this month, for B2B companies, holiday marketing is slightly different. To help you get started, we've put together a useful guide of dos and don'ts for business to business holiday emails.
Don't send your emails last minute
Remember that most offices will be closing over the holiday period to allow their staff some well deserved down time. If you send your emails out on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, it's highly likely that they won't be read. Make sure to send your emails in the week prior to Christmas (at the latest) to ensure they will be seen before the big day.
Do keep things professional
Although it may be tempting to get into the Christmas spirit and adopt a more informal tone, as many B2C companies do, it's important that B2B companies remain consistent all year round. This means if you have always kept a professional tone with clients, you should continue to do so. This doesn't mean your email has to be boring. Mail Designer 365 has hundreds of font and design options which you can integrate into your email to keep things interesting:
Utilise Mail Designer 365's wide selection of business fonts for a professional holiday design.
Don't feel obliged to sell
The holiday season is hugely commercialised and businesses try everything they can to boost sales during December. For a B2C company, this is usually an effective strategy, as consumers are looking out for the best gifts and special offers. As a B2B company, it is often much more effective and professional to send out a simple email thanking your clients and wishing them all the best for the holidays.
Do include useful information
Including information which your clients and customers will find useful is another highly effective email strategy for B2B companies. Let clients know your opening hours over the holiday season, or remind them about last delivery dates before Christmas. This is something they are bound to appreciate you going the extra mile for.
This email by Zenmed is a nice way to inform customers about using their express shipping service over the holiday season:
Provide your clients with useful information they may need to be aware of over the holiday season.
Don't just send to all
There is never an occasion where we would recommend you send one email to your entire mailing list. Not only is this a large risk, it can also be counter productive when sending unnecessary emails to the wrong target group. Instead, make the effort to segment your list based on who would find a holiday themed email appropriate or beneficial. It is useful to consider aspects like culture and geographic region when doing this.
Do include an incentive
Gifting is a common tradition during the holiday season and it can also be used effectively in a B2B email, where business relationships are especially important. Show your clients you appreciate their custom by offering them a gift or incentive which they can use in the New Year. This is a great way to improve customer retention levels.
In true holiday spirit, this email by Trello gives clients a free license for a month to use for themselves and share with friends and family. This is an effective incentive to keep users using the service:
Give your subscribers a holiday gift to keep them coming back in the New Year.
Don't assume all customers celebrate Christmas
Last but not least, it is more important than ever with B2B companies to be aware that not all customers celebrate Christmas, and there are many other holiday taking place during this time of the year. For this reason, it's much more appropriate to use neutral terms like "Happy Holidays" to appeal to a wider audience.
We hope this quick guide has been useful for B2B companies looking to send out a holiday email campaign this month. Feel free to try out all of these tips in Mail Designer 365!
Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 Team
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