The leaves are turning, the days are shortening, and your incoming emails are increasing faster than California's gas prices.
 
So what does this mean, exactly?
 
Rest assured this isn't the apocalyptic end the Mayans predicted, but rather (and fortunately), the indication that we are entering the holiday season at full steam ahead.
 
As we settle into November, you may notice that many companies throughout the world have already launched their holiday email campaigns. Be it large corporations or local shops, many B2C businesses are making strong efforts to reach their consumers just in time for holiday shopping.
 
While you may be witnessing an upsurge in holiday promotions, possibly even from similar competitors within your market, just know that it's not too late to develop and launch a holiday campaign yourself, and most importantly, to communicate with your customers.
 
Whether a holiday campaign is an annual tradition for you, or this is your first attempt, be mindful that email marketing starts with a first step: compiling a database of email addresses, also known as a mailing list. Without a mailing list, an email marketing campaign is as useful as an Ikea store map.
 
Once you have developed a mailing list for your business, the next step is to choose an email marketing service to store and manage those contacts. Many popular email marketing services provide a free trial period (with limited capabilities); companies like Constant Contact and iContact provide powerful, user-friendly tools for mass emailing (which gmail, yahoo and other email programs are NOT designed for) and for tracking the success of a campaign.
 
Once you have built a mailing list and have chosen a mailing service you are ready to develop a strategic holiday email marketing campaign.
 
This time of year, many people find their email account inundated with promotional messages; email volume is at its highest, so when creating your campaign it's a good idea to take into consideration what you would most likely respond to. Emails that most people read or look forward to receiving are those that are engaging, straight to the point, and provide value to the subscriber.
 
Why is this important for your business? Imagine your company is invited to a holiday party as a guest. The host? The consumer. The day of the event you arrive to the location and notice that the other invited guests, your business competitors, come bearing gifts, such as homemade pie, warm apple cider, and vintage wines; and you? You show up with plastic sporks.  Not only is your contribution to the party inferior in comparison to the other guests, but you've now made a bad impression on the host. For this reason, the host may just decide to skip your invite to next year's holiday party.
 
The same goes for email subscribers and your holiday campaigns. If your promotions offer little of interest and value to your email subscribers, they may not only ignore your promotion, but also opt out of your mailing list. For this reason, be sure your email and its contents compare more to a nice bottle of vintage wine, and less to a spork.
 
To fine tune your seasonal promotions, review and consider the list of email marketing tips below. Check it once, and if needed, check it twice, just to ensure your holiday campaign makes it on to your subscriber's 'nice' list.

• Keep the message simple and to the point
  Your email's content, whether it's a discount, special offer, or special event, should encompass about 80% of the message. Don't dilute your email with too many promotions, as you want your reader to focus on what you're offering. Many companies are fearful that sending multiple emails will seem "spamish," but in reality, a reader is more likely to respond positively to multiple concise and easy to read emails, than to one long, overly impacted one. This is a situation where quality reigns over quantity.
  
• Get with the times
  Be mindful of your consumer. Consider the demographic and evaluate when this email would serve your target audience best. You wouldn't want to send an email to a 16 year old girl on a Monday afternoon when she's in school. It would be more effective to reach her when she's most likely online, which would be between 7 and 9pm on a weekday, or on weekends in the morning. The date and time of your email delivery has a tremendous impact on consumer response, so careful planning and research is necessary.
  
• Prepare for a hands-on experience
  We all know that the online experience is no longer limited to a desk. As a result, people have the capability of viewing their emails on-the-go with smart phones and tablets. For this reason, make sure your emails are optimized for these devices. Avoid using small fonts, light colors, and flash. You want to make the process of reading your email as easy and enjoyable as possible.
• Subject to excite and entice
  As mentioned, inboxes are overwhelmed with messages (and promotions) during the holiday season. Unlike a personal or professional email where the subject line most often references the details of the message, with email marketing you must consider a different approach. Tempt the consumer to open your email by using enticing and ambiguous subject lines. If you're giving your subscribers 40% off, don't identify that in the subject line. Why? You're allowing the consumer to assess your promotion before they open it. In addition, steer clear of spam words like "Now", "Buy", "Open" and all caps and exclamation points, as this can direct your email right into your subscriber's junk mail folder.
  Example of a GOOD subject line: Deal of the day. Inside is our gift to you...
  
• Revisit the past
  Compare your communication plan and campaign from last year. What worked? What didn't work? If possible, don't just use last year, but use many of your previous years' campaign analytics. Was it the design enhancement that improved the open rate? Was it the verbiage or copy? Time of day? Asking yourself and your customers these questions will help increase your campaign's success. It's important to keep a close eye on your email campaign analytics. This will show you statistics on opt-outs, opens, clicks, and other valuable data. This type of data is readily available when using programs like Constant Contact. If this is your first year sending these types of emails, make sure to save this information in order to optimize future campaigns.
  
• Give Thanks
  Yes, the holidays may be your company's biggest time of year to increase sales, however, consumers love to spend money on brands they love. While holiday deals and specials are great ways to show your appreciation to your customers, it's also valuable to send an email that doesn't include a promotion, and simply and directly thank your subscriber for remaining connected to your business. These kinds of actions from companies reflect a personal touch that may convert a consumer from someone who likes your brand into someone who loves it.
  

While it's not too late now to start a holiday email marketing campaign, make certain that you don't reach a point where it is too late. You should start your holiday campaign before or around  Black Friday (11.23) and Cyber Monday (11.26). After those dates holiday spending is in full swing, so get started today and make the most of this valuable opportunity to enjoy the power of email marketing this holiday season.