Findings include:

- There was a 4.4% increase in average order values
- Email volume rose by 19% (as we predicted)
- Unique open rates remained quite positive for most verticals (which may be a result of more marketers optimizing subject lines).
- As in 2010, 26% of subject lines featured an offer this Holiday Season. 
- Dollar ($) offers were the most popular this season (seen in 29% of subject lines), sneaking past last year’s leader of percent (%) off campaigns (seen in 28% of subject lines). 
- Personalization in subject lines increased (31% overall), particularly in the last half of the season. 

Happy mailing in 2012!

Experian CheetahMail tracks the holiday mailing activity of 385 brands that also mailed in the 2010 Holiday Season. All metrics are based on results 3 days from send.

Lunchtime and afternoon hours present good opportunities to remind customers of deadlines and key offers.  Looking at the performance of mailings with ‘urgency’ in their subject lines (including the words ‘limited’, ‘last’, ‘ends’, final’, ‘hours’, ‘left’, ‘today only’, ‘hurry’, or ‘urgent’), a recent Experian CheetahMail analysis finds that that campaigns sent between noon and 4:00pm make up 11% of the volume, but generate 15% of the revenue.  A similar result is seen for campaigns sent between 4:00 and 8:00pm, which have 6% of the volume and 9% of the revenue.

What time are you sending? 

What time are you sending?  Consider running time-of-day testing, it’s not too late!  Who knows what new revenue opportunity you may be able to find.

Experian CheetahMail tracks the holiday mailing activity of 385 brands that also mailed in the 2010 Holiday Season. All metrics are based on results 3 days from send.

To highlight some of the learnings, our very own Erin Geoghegan interviews Justin Foster – Co-Founder & Vice President of Market Development, Liveclicker, on the topic:

Erin: Why should marketers be using video in email this holiday season?

Justin: Video helps marketers stand out from the crowd. Right now, most B2C/e-commerce merchants are executing a ramped email sending schedule to better compete for limited consumer shopping dollars. Video offers a way for these email marketers to grab the attention of shoppers, show their products in a new light, and differentiate from the competition – all right in the inbox.

Erin: I would think we might be too deep into holiday crunch time to implement this tactic, is this not the case?

Justin: If a marketer has ready access to video content that’s ‘on message’ for a planned campaign, then it’s probably not too late. If the content isn’t there, or if there’s not a natural alignment with the current holiday calendar, then it’s probably too late at this point. If the content is there, and the marketer has never before launched a video email campaign, then I’d advise devoting at least an additional four hours of planning to the video email campaign launch.

Erin: If you could give me, as an email marketer, a three-step process for implementation, what would it be?

Justin: At risk of oversimplifying, the three steps are:

1. Get the video
2. Use the right technique to add the video to the email
3. Send the email as normal

Each of these three steps has sub-step components that will vary based on a marketer’s goals and needs. Companies that have built processes around shooting or acquiring video content will greatly simplify the job of the email marketer for part 1. Systems like Liveclicker will completely automate the “use the right technique” part, although there are still creative considerations involved. When the right techniques are used, video can be added to email today just like images, so the last step is really old hat for email marketers. I always would advocate email marketers to seek education prior to embarking on any new initiative, including video email. It pays to spend the time up front to do the research by attending webinars like the one CheetahMail hosted this week. These sessions can be an excellent source of information for even experienced email marketers.

Click here to download the webinar.

The study finds that consumers print the most digital coupons on Wednesday and Thursday

The study finds that consumers print the most digital coupons on Wednesday and Thursday, which suggests consumers access online discounts mid-to-late week to redeem them during the weekend. Conversion rates constantly exceed 60% between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (key work hours), and conversions peak between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., as well as noon and 5 p.m.

So what can email marketers do to capitalize on the e-coupon-obsessed this holiday season?  Here are a few tips from Experian CheetahMail:

• Use testing to keep response high and costs low: Often times, emails providing coupons to high-value or existing buyers do not have to be as aggressive or frequent as those sent to new customers.
• Create a sense of urgency and exclusivity: Despite the ease of use/redemption that many online coupons offer today, customers can take a long time to buy. Use words such as “exclusive” or “limited time only” in your subject lines.
• Use coupons to drive word of mouth: Ensure that you prominently display “Share with your network” or “Forward-to-a-friend” buttons in emails containing shareable coupons. The impact can be huge!

RevTrax ran statistical analysis between December 2008 and August 2011 to determine the best time to present coupon offers. The data represents millions of views and prints broken down and analyzed by volume per day and hour, conversion rate, percentage of coupons viewed and printed, per day and hour. It also tallied the odds or likelihood that a consumer will print a coupon based on any given day and hour.

As featured in a new white paper: The Happy Holiday Inbox: Last minute tips for spreading the cheer with email this year, the biggest trends include:

• Mobile and social galore: Links to social networks and mobile viewing are amplifying email marketing promotions. Fifteen percent of email openers read emails on a mobile phone, and that number is growing.   Additionally, forty percent of online consumers who use social networking sites plan to use Facebook for feedback from family/friends to help make a decision about a product, according to a survey by PriceGrabber.com.

• Touting and shouting shipping deadlines: Including deadlines to provide urgency, and directions that encourage customers to act fast, is more prevalent than ever.  An analysis of last season’s campaigns confirms that on average, shipping deadlines improve email transaction performance by 22 percent.

• Creativity shines: The 2011 holiday season is showcasing some of the trendiest and most appealing looks email has ever sported.   And it’s no wonder – compared to email campaigns without animated gifs, ninety percent have significantly higher transaction rates (60 percent) and 118 percent more revenue per email than the campaigns without the animation.

To learn more, download the white paper today.