Memorial Day, previously known as Decoration Day, will be upon us in a few weeks. In addition to honoring our war dead, it is the start of the summer season.
It’s an important
day for marketers, and email is the most widely used selling channel during the three-day period, according to Len Shneyder, VP of industry relations, Twilio SendGrid. But it has its challenges
because consumers are usually occupied during the holiday — timing is critical.
Last year, Twilio SendGrid saw a 4% uptick in volume during the three-day Memorial Day
weekend compared to previous weekends. But that resulted in 8% fewer opens and 6.2% fewer clicks.
Why the downturn? In some cases, it was because brands sent emails at the wrong
time.
As Shneyder, puts it, you have to time your messaging to when people are engaging with their inboxes. For Memorial Day, brands should send out the messages prior to the weekend,
when people are heavily engaged with family.
Last year, most emails were opened in the morning at around 9 a.m. and peaked around 1 p.m. PT.
Do you want to interact with
consumers? Be sensitive to your recipients time zone and intra-day engagement windows, Shneyder states.
Shneyder also reports that 90% more email messages referenced “sales”
during the holiday compared to prior weekends. It is a challenge to stand out from the plethora of Memorial Day deals.
Marketers should send strong, well-targeted messages that are
appropriately timed, Shneyder advises.
Here’s one annoying finding — there was a 26% increase in the number of blocks during that weekend, compared to previous weekends. The
solution? Make sure your lists are cleaned and fine-tuned prior to the holiday, Shneyder says.