• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 2 hours ago

Mother’s Day is almost here -- well, in 2½ months. Are your email campaign strategies in place?

If they’re not, here's a list of suggestions from Lea Menges, an SEO content manager at software company Brevo, that can help you balance helpful and promotional content, Menges promises.

Give readers gift ideas. People need help in choosing gifts for this special holiday. Offer your customers a gift guide of products. “The goal is to cut out the decision work and present gift ideas with a clear CTA,” Brevo writes. 

Focus on outcomes or benefits. It’s not easy to match a product with a person, so your email copy should focus on what benefits the product provides.

Engage customers with useful content and personalization. Focus on helping customers instead being promotional. Firms with a wide variety of products should not necessarily showcase everything as a gift idea.

Use humor in your Mother’s Day email. Good-natured, light-hearted humor can help. Making people smile is “one of the best ways to increase email engagement,” Brevo writes. 

Celebrate motherhood in all shape and sizes. Greet everyone, including grandmothers, godmothers, and mommas-to-be.

Build a sense of urgency in your Mother’s Day messages. One way is to have a countdown timer. And, encourage subscribers to preorder gifts and greeting carts, or run a limited-time promotion. (But be careful you don’t get accused of setting “fake” deadlines). 

Craft an enticing Mother’s Day email subject line. An effective subject line can address the reader’s pain points—like leaving Mother’s Day shopping to the last minute. Or personalize your subject lines with custom contact attributes. 

Save the day for latecomers (and the forgetful). Some customers will miss the data even if you remind them. So send a dedicated “It’s not too late” campaign on Mother’s Day itself or the morning after. 

Celebrate pet moms and furry friends. Dog moms and cat moms also need to be spoiled on Mother’s Day, even if they are not  biological mothers. Target the pet owners in your database. Sample subject line? “Treats for you (and Fido).”  

(Here’s one more tip: Be sensitive to bereaved customers who may be upset by Mother’s Day messages. Send an email asking if they want emails on this occasion.)

The full article can be found here.