How to Personalize Emails For The Weather

Snow EvergreenDo the seasons change where you live?

If you live in a climate where the seasons change, you know all about how the weather can affect buying habits. As the seasons change, people start to purchase different clothes, different foods, and different recreational items.

While a pair of sandals, a bowl of fresh watermelon, and a set of golf clubs might be the consumer goods of choice in the summertime, it’s an entirely different set of items that will work in the wintertime. As the weather turns cold, people start looking for warm jackets, a cup of hot cocoa, and perhaps a pair of skis.

When it comes to your email marketing program, you can take advantage of the seasons. As the weather changes, people adjust their buying habits. Smart marketers adjust as well to stay relevant for their customers.

How to Personalize Your Email Marketing for the Weather

Here in the US, the temperature is cooling. In the Midwest, temperatures have been near freezing each morning for the past couple weeks. It has been a major shift for everyone. Folks are getting out their warm-weather clothes. Jeans, sweaters, and jackets are being taken out of the closets and shorts are being put away.

Smart email marketers recognize this change in consumer behavior and adjust their marketing efforts accordingly.

Here is an email sent out by Football Fanatics in the US recently:

Football Fanatics

Football Fanatics Cold Weather Email

Cold Weather Emails Are Very Personalized

ThermometerFootball Fanatics did a great job with this email. If you noticed, they have featured a specific team. The company does a great job at segmenting their customers depending on location and what they have purchased in the past. The company is aware that this email is for Green Bay Packer fans. They also realize that it’s pretty cold in Green Bay right now.

The dipping temperature means people are looking to update their cold weather apparel. As the temperature has dipped over the last few weeks, people have been in local stores looking for new jackets, sweatshirts, and other cold weather gear. By sending an email featuring new cold weather jackets, gloves, and shirts, Football Fanatics is setting themselves up for email success.

There are a few things the email marketing folks at Football Fanatics are doing right:

  1. Timing – The timing is perfect for this email. People in the US are preparing for autumn and winter. They’re looking at the latest products and services companies have to offer. Weather change is something that triggers emotion. Believe it or not, the weather causes emotional change that triggers purchasing decisions. Football Fanatics sent this email out on a really cold morning. The temperature was just about freezing. Most folks that see this email probably got out of bed and were feeling chilly. They looked for their slippers and probably put on a sweatshirt. If that person is a Green Bay Packer fan it would have been a very appealing proposition to see this email when they checked their inbox in the morning.
  2. Personalized – This email is personalized from the standpoint of the weather change, but also from the standpoint of the team. This email is for Green Bay Packer fans. Football Fanatics is one of the best email marketers when it comes to personalization. If your customers have different merchandise tastes you can personalize your emails to fit the items they’ve purchased on the past. You can increase response by being more relevant. Put personalized information in the subject lines, headings, and in the top and left navigation. Your customers will appreciate the extra effort to make the email personalized just for them.
  3. Promotional Offer – If you will notice, the Football Fanatics email has a free shipping offer. For customers that purchase items valued at more than $50 they will receive free, three-day shipping. That is a solid offer for customers, but it’s also a calculated win for Football Fanatics. After looking at some of the items on Football Fanatics, it appears a sweatshirt can cost around the $40-$50. If a person were to make the decision to buy a new sweatshirt they might be under the $50 requirement for free shipping. To get above the threshold it would be worth it to add some gloves to the order. This kind of promotional offer is great for getting customers to increase their order value. Look at your average order and see if you can get customers to order more by putting a monetary threshold just above the average order.

Football Fanatics did a great job with this email. They are a growing company in a very competitive industry. The company is doing a lot of things right with their email program so it’s easy to see why they’re winning.

Summary

Snow ShovelWhen it comes to email personalization, don’t forget about the weather. You can use changes in the temperature to your advantage. When the temps start to dip lower be sure to personalize your emails for cold weather merchandise. If there is nasty weather such as a blizzard, it can be relevant to send out an email featuring an item like a snow blower or winter jacket.

People are affected by changes in the weather. It’s an emotional change and when people get emotional they make buying decisions. Position your company to take advantage of these emotional changes.

Take advantage of changes in the weather to increase your email sales this season.

Snow Evergreen image courtesy of Andi Licious

Thermometer image courtesy of OliBac

Snow Shovel image courtesy of InAweofGod’sCreation

Tagged in: ,


Post a Comment

What is Fluttermail?

Fluttermail is Email Marketing for small businesses. We are the fastest and easiest way to send beautiful emails and profit from the results.

Create a $1 Trial Account