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You don't have to be an email marketer to know that the holidays are fast approaching. Many retailers have had their Christmas decorations out in full-force since before Halloween. Those of you who know my love of Halloween can guess how I react to that, but I do understand the desire to get as much out of your marketing efforts as possible this time of year.

Every year, I see email volume and frequency start increasing earlier and earlier. Competition to get your offers into the hands of your subscribers while they're planning their holiday purchases is fierce. While you may touch recipients once a month or weekly, you may decide that, during the next 6 weeks, doubling or tripling your current rate will help keep your product/service/cause on people's minds during the holiday rush. If so, I have one piece of advice: set the right expectations.

I'm always a big proponent of setting expectations at the time of opt-in. With that said, it's possible that expectations either weren't set or have changed since they signed up. So what can you do if you want to increase your frequency without killing the golden goose?

Alert your subscribers of the coming increase. Zappos is one retailer who recently sent out a mailing to their subscribers letting them know that their offers would be coming more often through the holidays. This gave their readers a heads-up for what to expect in terms of frequency (when the increase would start and how often offers would be sent), along with the well-worded explanation of why they're doing it (along with some of the additional benefits that are part of this special program). Putting this information in subscribers' hands can help reduce the number of complaints generated by inbox overload.

Allow your subscribers to opt-up or down for the additional emails. Providing your recipients the ability to set their own preferences for offers they want helps to make sure you're putting your offers into the hands of those most receptive to them. Allowing recipients the ability to opt-out of the additional holiday offers but continue to receive the emails at the frequency they're accustomed to can go a long way toward reducing list fatigue and making your readers feel engaged and less like they're "just a number" to you.

If you are looking to ramp up your marketing efforts through the holidays, and are looking for some help, give us a call. We're glad to help.

Kris Dougherty | Director of Operations