Do you want your business to make money this holiday season?

That’s what I thought you’d say. In that case, you need holiday email campaigns to engage and sell your customers from the comfort of their couch (or wherever they check their email). Emails that not only get you money but build strong customer relationships far past Christmas time.

But maybe you need a little inspiration for email campaigns that your subscribers will actually read. A lack of ideas happens to the best of us, so today, I have eight holiday email campaign ideas for you, from one email marketer to another.

Idea #1: Wishlist

Goal: Encourage shopping your products while gaining customer insight

If your website allows customers to create wishlists, ask them to make a Christmas list to share with family and friends. After the holidays, send a follow-up email reminding them about their wishlist and prompting them to purchase items they didn’t receive. You can even sweeten the deal with a discount or free shipping.

And if you can’t create create wishlists on your website? Ask them to create a cart and share it instead. (Which is also a great way to do idea number three.)

Idea #2: Gift Guide

Goal: Provide value by helping them with Christmas shopping

If you have a blog, gift guides are a great collaboration opportunity. Have your content writer create various gift guides, which you can share with the right email segment. Ideas include:

• Gifts for men

• Gifts for women

• Gifts for kids

• Gifts under $100

• Cheap gifts

• Stocking stuffers

If you don’t have a blog, do the same idea in an email, creating and sending gift lists based on your segments. This is a great opportunity to use GIFs, videos, and fun graphics.

Idea #3: Giveaway

Goal: Give back to subscribers and increase engagement

People love entering giveaways. Creating one for your email subscribers can increase click-throughs, engagement, and social shares. To enter, have your subscribers:

• Follow your social media

• Fill out a Rafflecopter form

• Answer a short survey

• Build a cart on your website

• Make a social media post

The entry method can align with other marketing goals your company has, like increasing your social media following. Just make sure the effort to enter matches how big a prize it is.

Idea #4: Inspiration

Goal: Provide value without selling

Inspiration emails are important, especially during Christmas. Everyone (including you) focuses heavily on selling during the holidays. But you also need to provide value for your customers, building their loyalty toward your brand through things like:

• Holiday party decoration ideas

• Your latest blog post

• Holiday outfit inspiration

• A free gift, no purchase required

• A holiday-themed downloadable resource

• A video on how your product can help them

Idea #5: Last Day to Ship

Goal: Help customers avoid last-minute shopping

Send your customers several emails alerting them about the last possible day to order items for Christmas, as well as if you have any expedited shipping options and the cut-off date for that. This prevents any nasty surprises for last-minute shoppers. You can also include this information in the header or footer of your regular emails.

It’s better to send more emails about this than too few. Try sending them:

• A month before

• The week before

• The day before

• The cut-off day

Idea #6: Physical Location

Goal: Encourage in-store shopping

No matter how many emails you send, some people will still miss the shipping cut-off date. So, if you have a physical location, remind them of that. Even if items are out of stock online or they can’t get them delivered on time, they can still shop your products in-store. Or if you stock your products in multiple retailers, help them find the closest one.

Idea #7: Gift Card

Goal: Ease last-minute panic and build rapport

If all else fails, offer them the option of giving a digital or physical gift card. Show sympathy in your email, reminding them we’ve all procrastinated too long on getting gifts before offering them a gift card for their last-minute needs. They’ll get the gift they need, and you’ll get more sales in the weeks close to Christmas.

Idea #8: Happy Holidays

Goal: Show customers appreciation

You’ve sold to them all season. Send them a heartfelt email wishing them a happy holiday Christmas week. Don’t sell anything; simply make it a note from one friend to another, reminding them to enjoy their holiday and thank them for being there.

Holiday campaigns are a great way to build your list, increase sales, and improve customer relationships. I hope these ideas inspired you to do just that.

Need last-minute help writing holiday emails for your e-commerce business? I still have availability! Click the button below to start getting email copy in as soon as two weeks.