How to Increase Email Engagement During The Slow Months
January is typically a slow month in the email industry.
Across the board January is pretty slow for consumer businesses. Consumers have done their shopping in the previous quarter and January gives them a little reprieve to save their money.
It can be a frustrating time for email marketers. People aren’t interacting with emails quite as much as they were in the past. Even sales don’t work as well as they did just a month prior.
So what can you do to increase opens and clicks during this time?
Let’s look at few examples and see how the best in the business are handling the slow time of the email season.
Crazy for Clearance
January is time for clearance.
January is clearance season. Retailers like JCP are looking to get rid of old inventory and consumers are looking for deals. It’s a match made in retail heaven.
Check with your inventory specialist or with your merchandise. Figure out where you are long and discount those items through email. The deep discounts will really appeal to your subscribers and you’ll be able to sell the remaining inventory for cheaper than selling it for dirt cheap on the secondary discount market.
Consumers know that this is the time of year for discounts. It’s something they’ve been trained to expect and if you realize this you could see strong email engagement by making the right offers.
Everybody Gets In Shape
People love to get in shape during the New Year.
The New Year is a time for everyone to make resolutions.
It seems like everyone is eager to get into shape for the New Year. It often doesn’t last more than a month or two, but there are people out there that really get into it and make lifelong changes to their health.
Gap understands the fitness trend. They used this recent email to get engagement for their email program.
You can tap into this tendency by offering fitness-related products during this time of year. Consumers will still spend their money after the holidays, but they’ll be spending it only on a few things. Those things are likely for themselves and fitness is one of the areas where people seem to spend money in January.
You don’t have to sell fitness clothing. People use all kinds of products for their fitness routines. Some other products include: shoes, MP3s, gym bags, calendars, smartphone apps and much more.
Fitness is one thing people do during this time of year. Find other things people focus on during this time of year and cater to those niche interests. The more specific you get the better conversion you will see.
Sconnie Nation: New Year! New Gear!
Sconnie offers new products to get engagement in the New Year.
This is a small time retailer in the USA, but they have a unique way of getting engagement with their email program during the slow January timeframe.
The New Year is a great time to offer new products. It’s something your customers look forward to each year.
The car industry is a great example. New car commercials play throughout the previous months and by January the products are available for purchase.
If you have new products coming this time of year promote them. Next year you can start promoting then in the fall months and once January hits your subscribers will be eager to make their purchase.
It gives you a little bounce back in January when sales typically slump.
Bonus: Social and Feedback
Finally, you can do some things not related to sales during this time. Ask for customer support by getting more followers for your social channels like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Encourage your best customers to find you on those locations. When new people see that you have tons of followers it’s a sign that many people trust you plus a good social presence is good for SEO.
Also ask for feedback from customers. Send out a survey to get some feedback. Also ask for reviews on the items you sold during the busy holiday season.
Customers might not be ready to buy, but you can still get interaction with your email program during the first quarter.
Conclusion
These are ways companies are finding ways to increase email engagement in the New Year. January is typically a slow month for retailers so finding unique ways to increase sales is important.
Are there any additional strategies you can think of for this time of year?
Share your advice in the comments.