The early bird catches the worm – and for marketers, it’s never too soon to start thinking about Christmas. A recent study of Apple users in the US found that the majority spend only three seconds viewing an email at the best of times, and consumers aren’t any less time-crunched on this side of the pond. Competition for a share of the customer’s wallet is only set to get fiercer as we approach the gifting season, so how can brands break through 2016’s peak inbox clutter?

Combatting email exhaustion 

Overall email volume increases by 25% during the festive season, making it tougher than ever to achieve consumer cut-through against your competitors. In a highly saturated market, then, content needs to be creative and engaging enough to draw the reader in.

Packing emails with smart content will not only help brands to stand out from the crowd. Shifting away from the expected, heavily promotional approach to a more inspirational, content-led alternative will also help brands to develop a more genuine relationship with customers. And don’t be afraid to show them the true personality behind your business, as the better they feel they know you, the more loyal they are likely to be.

First impressions count

You only get one chance to make a first impression and, in the world of email marketing, subject lines are everything. According to research by the Convince and Convert blog, one in three recipients decide to open an email based on subject line alone. So make it sharp and snappy to draw in the biggest crowds.

And don’t hide your engaging content behind a boring format. Get creative with your presentation, using tools like animation and interactivity to tempt the click-throughs that will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.

Making the most of mobile  

This past Christmas, more than 40% of ecommerce sales were made on mobile – and as our dependency on smartphones increases, this number is only set to rise.

Also crucial to your Christmas campaign, then, is creating device-responsive marketing to accommodate customers who are shopping on-the-go. Marketers must make sure their offers are as appealing on mobile as they are on desktop, whether that’s through channel-optimised creative, tailored offers or punchier editorial.

Design wise, brands should also tailor navigation for the thumb-user. This could include using sticky banners to help reinforce a message to consumers, which stay put as the recipient swipes up and down; introducing swipe to like; or adding the “hamburger” button to view collapsible content.

Last Christmas…

Marketers will also benefit from using feedback from their 2015 campaign to help inform this year’s strategy. Creating an aggregated report of past activity – including best and worst drivers for opens, click-throughs and conversions – will ensure businesses learn from their mistakes and successes alike.

Any marketer worth their salt knows the key to a successful campaign involves fastidious planning. And at retail’s busiest time of the year, the stakes at Christmas are higher than ever. But testing opportunities in the months ahead will help push creative and technical executions. This creative pre-planning, including factoring in potential teething problems, will make sure all kinks are ironed out well before emails hit inboxes.

Zeta will be hosting a webinar for UK marketers on Wednesday 31^st August – register here for more tips, helpful how tos and best practice examples to make the most of your Christmas campaigns. 

Jill is the senior director of Strategy and Analytics at Zeta Interactive. She has extensive knowledge of data driven communications and customer journey planning across direct, digital, social and offline. Jill is a seasoned CRM professional with over 20 years of experience working in digital marketing.

It may feel like summer has only just arrived – we’ve barely had a chance to use the BBQ – yet with almost half a million searches for ‘Christmas’ on eBay.co.uk during August last year, marketers need to be ready for keen shoppers setting their sights on the festive season.

At eBay, thanks to the wealth of behavioural data observed from our 19 million monthly users, we have a unique insight into how the UK really shops. And when it comes to Christmas, there are some golden rules that every marketer should take into consideration.

Know your audience

When planning Christmas campaigns, it’s easy to rely heavily upon stereotypes, for example assuming that women have everything bought and wrapped months in advance, whilst men spend Christmas Eve madly dashing out to track down a bottle of that ‘favourite perfume’.

But with so many brands competing for consumers’ attention, it’s never been more important for marketers to really know the wants and needs of their audience. Stereotyping is at best a waste of ad expenditure, but at worst insulting and can quickly alienate potential customers just as much a poorly developed creative.

By using observed data into shoppers’ previous buying habits, marketers can look out for the relevant signals from their customers and react to them at the right time, rather than trying to second guess their next move. Smart marketers can use these insights to identify and target the early shoppers, who will then act as strong brand advocates for those shopping later in the season.

Remember one size does not fit all

Not only is it important to know who your audience is, it’s also crucial to know when they are shopping. Our data shows that whilst searches for Christmas-related items steadily increase from August onwards, the peak windows of opportunity come for different categories at different times.

According to our Christmas Tracker, clothing is often the first thing on shoppers’ minds, with ‘Christmas’ searches in the Clothes, Shoes and Accessories category peaking in early October, providing the earliest and longest window of interest. This is followed by the Toys and Games; Home, Furniture & DIY and Baby categories, all of which see a significant uplift from the start of November through to the middle of December. The peak window for home entertainment brands tends to come much later, with a competitive four-week period in the final run-up as shoppers search for last minute stocking fillers and easy entertainment.

What’s more, Christmas shopping continues right up until the final minutes. Last year we registered 300,000 searches for ‘Christmas’ on eBay.co.uk in the final week of the countdown, showing that brands need to ring fence and defer some budget to see them to the very end of the season.

Target dependent on the mood

Finally, don’t overlook the influence of external factors, such as the weather. In spite of the date, if it’s cold and wintery outside consumers are much more likely to start thinking about Christmas than if it’s a warm, balmy evening.

Last August, with thunderstorms dominating the Bank Holiday weekend, searches for ‘Christmas’ shot up by 70 per cent from the previous month; and searches for ‘Christmas tree’ specifically leapt by an enormous 300 per cent.

So, for marketers looking to maximise their Christmas campaigns this year, remember to speak to the right people, at the right time, in the right place, whilst retaining a certain degree of flexibility to react to the unexpected.

Here at Forum Events, our vast experience of synchronising business has taught us that networking is a highly beneficial method for expanding your knowledge, to become inspired by the success of your peers and to discuss innovative product offerings to potential new clients.

That’s why we’ve decided to detail the 5 key assets of business networking to advance your chances of increasing business, as well as raising your industry profile and building valuable connections…

1. Endless opportunities

At networking and other business-related events, there is always an abundance of opportunities available for you to get involved with, such as becoming a seminar speaker and building partnerships with like-minded brands waiting to be fulfilled. However, it’s crucial to not forget the reasoning of why you are moving forward with a particular opportunity. Put your business needs first and examine whether the other party will hold their end of the bargain.

2. Sharing tips

Absorb as much advice from similar-thinking businesses. That way, you’ll easily be able to obtain tips on a number of topics related to your business; maybe even the constant struggle of maintaining a work-life balance.

3. Raising your profile

Throwing yourself, as well as your business, into the spotlight is pivotal to raising your profile. Make a special effort to regularly attend business and social events that will help you to meet key industry leaders; you will then be able to build your reputation as a supportive and knowledgeable professional with the right tools to optimising business. Furthermore, this will likely generate a substantial number of leads and referrals.

4. Boosting self-confidence

For some, the thought of approaching a complete stranger at a business networking event can seem somewhat petrifying. However, as a business owner or managing director, it’s really important to have the ability to become a regular industry networker and uphold the self-confidence to strike-up a conversation with anyone. The more you make yourself do this, the more self-confidence you will garner and the more your business connections database will grow.

5. Positive energy

The people you network with at industry events can remarkably influence who you are and how you handle business deals as a result. Therefore, it’s key to immerse yourself with uplifting and positive individuals that help you to grow and thrive as a business owner.

Global content marketing company, ScribbleLive, has confirmed the acquisition of the enterprise SEO platform, Linkdex; with the company branding the deal to be the first major organic search and content marketing software tie-up.

This acquisition will aim to eventually further expand ScribbleLive’s global presence and, as Linkdex has been receiving backing from the global technology investor, Amadeus Capital Partners, since 2009, the world’s leading SEO platform has also developed strong relationships with big-brand companies and agencies – making the company a powerful addition to ScribbleLive’s partner network.

ScribbleLive’s CEO, Vince Mifsud, commented: “A great content marketing strategy ensures you’re found throughout the consumer journey. Organic search plays a big part in the journey for most digital consumers. There’s never been a more complete product suite to manage the plan, create, engage, and measure cycle. This offers a huge opportunity to companies wanting a marketing advantage.”

With the application process for the fourth Marketing Academy Fellowship now open, The Marketing Academy has commenced its search in acquiring industry leaders to sign up to the unique agenda – created in partnership with McKinsey & Company – which promises to provide educate CMOs with the right tools and best practices in becoming future CEOs.

Sponsored by British Airways, ISBA and Adobe, the curriculum includes two four-day ‘residential events’ in Europe with masterclasses covering supply chain, organisational design and operational effectiveness. In addition, Fellows will also be given the opportunity to take of a mentorship scheme; spending one-on-one time with reputable marketing pioneers.

The nine-month month board-level accelerator programme is free for Fellows to partake; however, the process is described by the Academy as ‘highly selective’ and requires a time commitment of around 12 days during 2017.

Find out more about the Fellowship programme here

According to a new study conducted by the digital marketing company, Regalix, the concept of analytics is starting to become a key focus for B2B marketers, with many already investing and 67 per cent planning to do so in the next year.

The ‘State of B2B Marketing Metrics & Analytics 2016’ report, found that a majority of respondents agree that analytics is ‘very important’ to the success of a marketing strategy; with 86 per cent claiming to be able to track ROI of their invest analytics, and 83 per cent said they can effectively measure performance by leveraging analytics.

Download the full report here