Jingle All the Way to Inboxes
Ah, the holiday season—mince pies, carols, and your inbox containing the latest hits inboxes bursting at the seams with cheesy messages. For everyone in services, it's a chance to dust off the snowflake animation and wish their clients well. However, it's very easy to crash and burn with a well-intentioned e-Card. Use my five techical tips below, to make sure it's not you.
1. Ditch the “Sell, Sell, Sell” Mentality
The run-up to Christmas is dominated by e-commerce (thanks, Aamazon). Instead of trying to compete on their level, it's worth considering the quieter section of the holidays - the 12 Days of Christmas. Once the 25th is out fo the way, the present blizzard is lifted and people starting thinking about New Year - which is where you come in.
🎄 Pro Tip: Use this downtime to build relationships and plan for 2025. No one’s expecting a coaching session under the mistletoe, but they'll want to hear from you in January, when they have their goals lined up.
2. Make sure they can read your message
A beautiful holiday graphic is great—if it doesn’t end up blocked, broken, or banished to spam land.
🎅 Wrong Way: Sending a 5MB attachment with a note saying, “Merry Christmas!” (Nobody opens those.)
🤶 Right Way: Use mobile-friendly design! Insert your festive graphic as the header, match the email’s background color to the image to write the text and always, always add ALT text for when images don’t load.
Bonus: Create your design in tools like Canva and import it directly into Mailchimp for a seamless look.
3. Videos v GIFs
Everyone loves a good holiday video… until they try playing it in an email and their inbox says, “Nope.”🎥
Workaround: Use a thumbnail with a play button and link to the full video on your website or YouTube channel.
🎁 For GIF Lovers: Keep it short (six seconds max) and lightweight so it doesn’t take ages to load. If you ahve a friendly designer, you can go one step further. Edit that GIF, so if the frame freezes, the message is still crystal clear.
4. Repeat Without Being Annoying
There's no such thing as a 90% open rate with a large audience. You can expect between 30-50% of them to skip over your message because they are away from the computer. It's worth resending to non-openers with a different subject line or wait until the New Year to wish them well.
📤 Save time: Share the same graphics and tweaked message on social media for extra visibility.
5. Call to Action (CTA): The Star on Top
Everyone loves to click - especially if you have something humourous or entertaining behind the scenes. Link to your booking calendar with a Die-Hard meme or offer a free resource for the New Year. The best gift you can give your clients is a moment to chuckle, away from the madness, and some optimism for 2025.
Final Thoughts
Holiday emails aren’t just about spreading seasonal cheer: they are made to connect. With a little creativity and the right technical know-how, you can craft messages that stand out, warm hearts, and set the stage for a brilliant 2025.🎄
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