Cartier 2010 holiday email
As the holiday season approaches and themed campaigns get underway, it is important for retailers to acknowledge that a majority of affluent consumers will be opening branded emails on their smartphones and to optimize accordingly.
Email marketing is a good way for luxury brands to highlight holiday specials and store hours and locations. However, marketers need to take into account the increasing number of consumers who will be reading the emails on mobile devices and plan their campaigns accordingly.
“As smartphone penetration continues to skyrocket and email is one of the most widely used application on smartphones, marketers have to be cognizant that a huge percentage of their audience will be opening emails via a mobile device,” said Deb Hall, managing director at web2mobile, Toronto.
“By failing to provide an optimized mobile experience, marketers will not only diminish the reach of their campaign but also risk losing brand favorability by providing a frustrating user experience to consumers accessing emails via mobile,” she said.
Honing in for holidays
Mobile has quickly become one of the most effective forms of advertising, at times beating out more traditional platforms such as print, television and the Internet to gain attention from consumers.
Approximately 50 percent of smartphone users are saying that they will spend more than most owners this holiday season, according to data from an InsightExpress study (see story).
Furthermore, approximately 60 percent of smartphone users said that they plan to make more gift purchases in-store rather than on the Internet.
Given the emotional experience connected with shopping for luxury gifts, emails that drive consumers to a store instead of to a mobile application or Web site are likely to be more successful.
In fact, apps and mobile commerce sites are not expected to be largely successful in this year’s holiday sales, according to an executive at Ogilvy (see story).
Therefore, it is important that marketers optimize holiday email blasts to ensure that they are effective at grabbing consumer attention as well as driving them in-store.
“For ongoing engagement, brands must also be aware that they can use different content in their mobile version, targeting users on-the-go looking for store locators, VIP invites and other mobile opportunities like an optimized look-book,” Ms. Hall said.
Waterford 2010 Christmas email
Spreading the cheer
Since mobile email is geared up to be a huge marketing platform for luxury brands this holiday season, Ms. Hall has offered some best practice tips for marketers to keep in mind.
To optimize email marketing campaigns, a luxury brand should create two different emails — one that is optimized for opening on a desktop computer and one suited for mobile devices.
Additionally, having a clear and visible call-to-action, such a store locator or in-store incentive such as free gift wrapping, will be important to differentiate a brand from its competitors.
Brands should also be creative with the mobile version and make the content specific for smartphones to surprise and delight the users.
Luxury marketers also need to keep in mind that they should optimize for a wide range of devices including iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys, Windows phones and tablets or they risk alienating consumers.
“Early morning [emails] can change the decision-making of the busy shopper, so it is best to cut through the clutter with a clean mobile-optimized message that is easy to share with friends,” Ms. Hall said.
Overall, mobile is not something that can be ignored this holiday season. Mobile-optimized emails and sites are the first step to engaging busy, time-pressed consumers.
“By making it easy and intuitive for a consumer to reach the mobile-optimized page, brands can stand out from the competition that is failing to engage users when they are arguably most impressionable while on-the-go,” Ms. Hall said.
“Brands can also take it to the next step by making a mobile version of the newsletter that drives to the mobile holiday flyer with mobile-optimized door crashers and other incentives,” she said.
Final Take
Kayla Hutzler, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York