FEBRUARY 2017 - iContact · FEBRUARY 2017. FEBRUARY2017 MON 28 6 13 ... Groundhog Day President’s...
Transcript of FEBRUARY 2017 - iContact · FEBRUARY 2017. FEBRUARY2017 MON 28 6 13 ... Groundhog Day President’s...
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Important Dates to Remember
Groundhog Day
President’s Day
Rosa Parks Day
Margarita Day
Superbowl
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Valentine’s Day
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There’s no rest for the weary marketer because February presents many opportunities to communicate with subscribers. Take this month to flip through this calendar to get a 2017 marketing plan in place.
BEGINNERSBegin to play around with segmentation – how can you group your contacts? Location? Purchase history? Age? Gender? Start with small segments, and you’ll see a big difference.
PROSLook at your results from your holiday campaigns. What actions are your new contacts taking? Are they buying, or just browsing? It’s important to keep recently acquired prospects engaged.
TIPSè Plan your content calendar (use this one as a starting point!)
so you know what you want to promote and accomplish each month.
è Make sure your emails don’t just ask for money. Here are ten ideas to give subscribers what they really want.
è Great emails don’t just push sales, they add value. Here are ten ideas to give subscribers what they really want.
COMMON THEMESBlack History Month | American Heart Month | Love
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PLANNING DATES | FEBRUARY
Design Superbowl email
Send Valentines promo email
Plan March email campaigns
Design Valentines email
Send monthly newsletter
Analyze February email results
MARCH2017MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
Important Dates to Remember
Employee Appreciation Day
St. Patrick’s Day
International Women’s Day
Daylight Savings
National Goof Off Day
Pi Day
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March is light on official holidays, so use this month to have fun with emails to engage with your contacts. Send out emails for obscure or amusing holidays to add some spice to the inbox or add intrigue to your promotions.
BEGINNERSStart building a regular sending schedule so your subscribers can expect regular communications. Once a week is a great place to start.
PROSBegin to rest contacts who haven’t opened your emails in a year. Don’t send them emails for six months and then work a re-engagement campaign into your plan just before holiday sending amps up again.
TIPSè Use March to clean and organize your list. Rest contacts, re-
engage, and implement new segments.
è Send out a preferences email if you need help from contacts about what they want from you. Give them a chance to tell you how many emails a week they want from you or types of content in your emails.
è Implement a monthly newsletter to keep subscribers abreast of goings-on and upcoming items of interest.
COMMON THEMESSpring Cleaning | Women’s History Month | Luck
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Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
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PLANNING DATES | MARCH
Send preferences email
Send a one-day-only promo
to “lucky” subscribers
Analyze March email results
Send monthly newsletter
Plan April email campaigns
APRIL2017
Important Dates to Remember
April Fool’s Day
Easter
National Beer Day
Volunteer Recognition Day
National Sibling Day
Earth Day
Moment of Laughter Day
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April is a hardworking month for businesses and organizations alike. Few people are checked out on vacation and most are in work mode. Use this month to push sales, close deals, garner donations, and promote your brand.
BEGINNERSCheck that you have your social accounts linked to your emails, so that email subscribers stay in touch on social media as well.
PROSPersonalize more than just the first name to make emails feel more personal just by tracking actions of subscribers and targeting messages.
TIPSè Think of new ways to grow your list – partner with another
organization, attend a new event, or create a social campaign that spreads your brand name.
è Work to create a new piece of content that has real value to your subscribers.
è Once you create a new piece of content, plan how you’re going to get it out there so it works for you – making revenue and earning new followers.
COMMON THEMESNature | Fresh Start
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Arbor Day
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PLANNING DATES | APRIL
Easter promotional email
Send Easter last minute email
Plan May email campaigns
Send monthly newsletter
Send donation request email (nonprofits)
Analyze April email results
MAY2017MON
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Important Dates to Remember
Star Wars Day
National Wine Day
Cinco de Mayo
Ramadan Begins
National Teacher’s Day
Memorial Day
Mother’s Day
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May is all about appreciation; so let that theme shine through to customers, donors, or employees. Run exclusive promotions to make people feel especially appreciated. This is an important month to get people engaged before the summer vacation months.
BEGINNERSFamiliarize yourself with calls-to-actions and buttons to maximize conversions from emails.
PROSStart testing in emails – using .gifs, emojis in the subject line, time of day or day of week you send. This could make a big difference in conversion and learning more about your base.
TIPSè In July, the Canada Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) law takes
its next step. Everyone must re-opt into your emails – even if you’re a US-based company. Plan email reconfirmation into your sending schedule over the next 2 months.
è Create urgency by offering extra special savings if subscribers buy by the end of the month.
è If you’re a nonprofit, try to earn donations by promoting messages of love and appreciation.
COMMON THEMESOutdoors | Weddings | Memorial Day
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PLANNING DATES | MAY
Send Mother’s Day promotional email
Send monthly newsletter
Plan June email campaigns
Analyze May email results
Send Mother’s Day last minute email
Send Memorial Day sneak peek
promotional email
Send Memorial Day promotional email
JUNE2017MON
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Important Dates to Remember
National Doughnut Day
Father’s Day
D-Day
National Selfie Day
Best Friend’s Day
Take Your Dog to Work Day
Hug Holiday
Flag Day
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June can be a slow month for business, so it’s essential to keep your brand in the inbox and in front of subscribers, even if they may be on the road.
BEGINNERSTry a new email design or template as your yearly halfway point to mix things up and keep readers visually interested.
PROSAnalyze the performance of your personalization or sending tactics. Did any result in an uptick in sales or conversions?
TIPSè Use June to run contests or giveaways to keep customers
and contacts involved with your brand.
è Summer messaging is light and fun, so stay with that theme in your messaging.
è June might also be a slow time for other businesses, so you can also market products or ideas to keep consumers busy in the slow months
COMMON THEMESSummer | Vacation | Graduation
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PLANNING DATES | JUNE
Send Father’s Day promotional email
Send monthly newsletter
Send CASL reconfirmation email 2
Send Father’s Day last minute email
Send CASL reconfirmation email 1
Plan July email campaigns
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Send Fourth of July sneak peek email
Analyze June email results
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JULY2017SAT
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Important Dates to Remember
Canada Day
Hammock Day
Independence Day (USA)
International Day of Friendship
Fried Chicken Day
Hug Your Kids Day
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July brings feelings of patriotism across several countries. Use this to your advantage whether you’re B2B, B2C, or nonprofit. For US-based companies, the Fourth of July is a major promotional holiday. There is fine line between trying to sell and being respectful, so make an effort not to push too hard with sales.
BEGINNERSMake sure you have a welcome email set up in iContact. Just like a handshake, this is how you first introduce your brand to new subscribers.
PROSDo you have landing pages to collect subscribers or conversions? Here are 5 tips to get you started.
TIPSè If July is your slow season, try building out these budget-
friendly marketing ideas. è Use free time to brainstorm winning marketing emails that
matter.
è Work on creating content that is helpful and meaningful to your base.
COMMON THEMESHeat | Patriotism | Travel
PLANNING DATES | JULY
Send Independence Day
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Plan August email campaigns
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Send monthly newsletter
Analyze July email results
AUGUST2017MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
Important Dates to Remember
Ice Cream Sandwich Day
Senior Citizen Day
Friendship Day
Women’s Equality Day
Middle Child Day
Eat Outside Day
Left Hand Day
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August is a great month for email marketing – from back-to-school deals to prepping for Labor Day promos, there’s a lot to talk about. Plus, with many people returning from vacation, your regular audience will be refreshed, relaxed, and ready to listen.
BEGINNERSTest out some sending tactics before the holidays approach. Try new subject lines, personalization with names, or day of the week you send emails.
PROSTry out marketing automation software now if you want to implement in time for the holidays. Try iContact Pro free for 30 days.
TIPSè For education organizations, August is the busiest month of
the year. Are you ready?
è End of summer is a great time to get into podcasting as another medium to spread your content and brand.
è Are you measuring the right data on your content marketing?
è By this point in the year, you should’ve sent a newsletter on every day of the week. Which day had the best results?
COMMON THEMESBack to School
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