Archived 2022 edition: this guide, its sending calendar and its holiday dates are for the 2022 season and are kept for reference. For current dates and tips, see our Holiday Email Marketing Guide for 2026.
2022
Holiday Email Marketing Guide
Complete Holiday Sending Calendar
Plus Holiday Email Acquisition & Engagement Tips
Table of Contents
Key Holidays & Scheduling Tips
Why Email Marketing?
Email Acquisition Tips – Getting New Emails
Custom Holiday Templates
The Ultimate Sending Calendar
Key Holidays & Scheduling Tips
Holiday Campaign Overview – What Can Be
The holiday season is the most profitable time of the year for email marketers. Deciding which holiday(s) you want to market around is up to you – no one knows your brand and company culture better – but it’s important that you start strategizing and sending emails now. Choose to promote holidays that complement your company’s goals, products, and services. If you try to advertise a holiday unrelated to your business, like a luxury jewelry company offering deals on National Taco Day, you won’t see a return.
Your series of emails before the selected holiday(s) should either promote sales of your product or service, or help you stay in front of your audience by showcasing your brand. Every business is unique, so it’s up to you to choose the most effective type, voice, and design for your emails.
National American Beer Day
October 27th
National Internet Day
October 29th
Halloween
October 31st
Dia de los Muertos
October 31st – November 2nd
Sandwich Day
November 3rd
National Candy Day
November 4th
Veterans Day
November 11th
National Entrepreneurs Day
November 15th
Thanksgiving
November 24th
Black Friday
November 25th
Small Business Saturday
November 26th
Cyber Monday
November 28th
Hanukkah
December 18th – 26th
National Cookie Day
December 4th
Super Saturday
December 17st
Christmas Eve
December 24th
Christmas Day
December 25th
National Bacon Day
December 30th
New Years Eve & Day
December 31st &
January 1st
Sending Schedule for Halloween
Monday, October 31st, 2022
Sending Schedule for Dia de los Muertos
Monday, October 31st – November 2nd, 2022
Sending Schedule for Veterans Day
Friday, November 11th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 24th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Friday, November 25th and Monday, November 28th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Small Business Saturday
Saturday, November 26th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Hanukkah
Sunday, December 18nd – 26th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Super Saturday
Saturday, December 17th, 2022
Sending Schedule for Christmas Eve & Day
Saturday and Sunday, December 24th and 25th, 2022
Sending Schedule for New Years Day
Sunday, January 1st, 2022
So, Why Email Marketing?
People often ask us “why should I send my clients an email campaign for the holidays?” The answer is simple – email marketing is cheap, fast, and effective. Our monthly subscriptions for email marketing start at just $5/month and we offer complete control over what messages you send out. Sounds great, doesn’t it? It gets better. On average, stores who send email campaigns see 25.1% of their purchases originating from an email campaign during the holidays. If you break it down, let’s evaluate an account with 200 subscribers:
= $7,200 or 144,300% ROI
With Black Friday emails alone, you have the potential to generate $7,225+ minus $5 for the month of email marketing = $7,200 OR a 144,300% ROI.
So, why email marketing? It is a cheap, fast, and an effective marketing channel during the holidays and throughout the year. Not sure where to start, or need help optimizing your holiday email campaigns? Connect with our email marketing specialists, today.
Acquisition Tips – Getting New Emails
New Customers Data vs. Old Customers Data
In general, it costs 4 to 10x more in marketing dollars to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a loyal one. Yikes! When we talk about acquiring new emails, it doesn’t mean you have to track down new customers. In fact, we encourage our clients to focus on monetizing their existing database. Do you have a list of email addresses from previous client sales? Emails linked to online orders or subscription accounts? Have you checked and downloaded your customer list from your POS system? Ecommerce sales processing system? Use these emails to connect with your clients in a non-intrusive way. Once you upload them to your FireDrum account, send them a welcome email that invites them to purchase more of your products. Let them know what you’re planning to send over time and give them an option to unsubscribe.
If you’re a new business or are starting fresh with no email addresses, we recommend setting up your POS system and/or eCommerce software to display a subscribe button during customer checkout. If you use a system that does not support email subscriptions, we suggest adding a simple pen & paper sign up sheet near checkout. These methods will save you money and protect filter out those who are truly interested in your business
New Ways to ‘Stay in the Loop
Use other marketing channels (like Facebook and Twitter) to advertise your newsletter. Advocates of your business and want to stay connected with you every way possible. Show them a preview of your newsletter and offer a special holiday discount when they sign up for emails.
Irresistible Incentives
We normally discourage our clients from offering sign-up incentives (unsubscribe rate increases after clients receive the incentive), but offering a deal throughout the holidays is worthwhile. Put up signs around your store and CTAs throughout your website offering free shipping or a–% off for new sign-ups. These sign-ups will boost sales throughout the holiday season IF executed and optimized correctly. To nurture these new incentive-sign-ups, make sure to include the following
Acquisition Tips Continued
Do NOT Purchase Email Lists
Purchasing email lists can prove not only costly to your business, but you’ll be flagged for spam. Always
always always make sure people that are signing up know who and what they’re signing up for.
Engagement Tips – Generate More Leads
Make It Personal
On average, companies experience a 10-14% increased click-through and conversion rate with
personalized email messages. By personalizing your subject line, email content, and products to fit each
subscriber segment, you can expect more sales throughout the holiday season. With the holidays
approaching, we recommend organizing your lists into these separate categories:
- Zip Code. By organizing lists per zip code or city, you’re giving subscribers the opportunity shop
products that ship quickly is available for same-day pickup. - Demographic (age and gender). Promote products that appeal to each age group and sex.
Holiday gift guide opportunity? - Engagement rate. Who has opened recently and who hasn’t? Active subscribers want to be the
first to know about upcoming sales and new products. Give them what they’re craving by
sending exclusive holiday deals and new product “peeks.” Inactive subscribers, on the other
hand, need to be won back or removed from your email list. - Past purchases. If you run an online store, optimize your past purchases categories and import
emails into separate segments. - Purchase amounts. Who’s spending less than $50, or more than $500 per visit? Email products
that fit into your subscriber’s comfort range and appeal to their holiday spending budget. Etsy, a
popular online handmade-boutique, does a great job of segmenting their subscribers into
purchase amounts
To further the personalization of your emails, take advantage of our merge tag features. With merge
tags, you will be able to address subscribers by name in the subject line and throughout the email
Multi-Platform Marketing
Keep your loyal customers and new subscribers engaged this season by publishing relevant and original content to all of your marketing platforms. If you’re not staying active on all pertinent channels, you will be lost in the crowd of emails, social posts, and paid ads. Don’t give your customers the opportunity to forget about you – help them feel connected by sharing company news, featured/new products, and exclusive discounts.
To help minimize your time spent on creating content, try our “auto-post to social media” tool. This tool automatically shares your campaign to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn once your email launches. You can update your social messages’ title and text directly in the FireDrum editor.
Engagement Tips Continued
Setup Auto Senders
With the influx of new subscribers, customers, and orders you’ll be processing this holiday season, it
would be wise to set up auto senders.
- Welcome emails. Engage your new subscribers immediately by configuring a welcome email campaign. These campaigns can feature your latest products and let your subscribers know why they should choose your products over other companies. Send one, two, or twenty welcome campaigns at separate intervals.
- Incentive signup email. If you gained new subscribers by advertising a special discount or incentive, don’t wait to send them their deal! With FireDrum, you can schedule emails to send automatically when new subscribers sign up for your newsletter or for a particular segment.
- Trigger emails. Trigger emails, or emails that are sent based on certain customer actions, are a great way to stay connected with “on-the-edge” buyers. Send personalized emails tailored to their taste with a few clicks in FireDrum. To capture those holiday price shoppers, we recommend creating emails with special deals based on products they clicked through to see.
Deals They Can’t Resist
The holidays are full of deals and discounts… are you offering the best one? Discounts don’t always mean you have to offer your products at 50% off. Shoppers around the holidays are typically looking for the best shipping deal and discounts on products that go together. We recommend offering free, two-day shipping on orders over $25 to $75, and exclusive subscriber discounts on gift sets.
Optimize for Mobile Devices
In a 2018 report, 20% of all holiday purchases originated from an email. Meaning, one out of every five subscribers will purchase something they see in your emails. If your campaigns aren’t mobile friendly, that 20% will dramatically decrease and your holiday sales won’t reach your projected numbers. With the FireDrum Email Studio, you don’t have to worry about your email being mobile friendly. Our drag and drop editor automatically makes your emails mobile responsive. To test the flow of your content, take advantage of our Inbox Preview Assistant tool.
Engagement Tips Continued
Subject Lines that Stand Out
You don’t want your email to be lost in the vortex of emails during the holiday season, and neither do we! Grab your reader’s attention from the first place possible – your subject line. Make your holiday subject lines merry, personal, and irresistible to open. When you’re creating your subject lines, try to keep these tips in mind:
- Try not to sound too serious or straightforward. Be cheerful for the holiday season! Puns are a fun way to bring humor to your email and attract subscribers to take a peek. Sleigh With Your New Holiday Hairstyle. 10% off all haircuts.
- Add our merge tags to make your subject lines more personal, addressing subscribers by their first name. Anna, we have the perfect gift for your little one.
- Let them know you care about them and not just their money by wishing them a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah. Have yourself a Merry Christmas, James. We have a gift for you!
- Hit the emotional, lovey-dovey side of your subscribers. The holiday season is all about family and friends – speak to that! It’s hard when the ones you love live far away. Don’t feel so far this
season with latest app AND Show them how much you care. - Win the inbox by offering gifts to each of your subscribers. The season isn’t just about giving – it’s a time to relax, spend time with friends and family, and to treat yourself. Eric, take a break from shopping with a free massage.
- Re-spark your customer’s holiday spirit by advertising quick & easy gift guides and shopping tips. Struggling to find the right gifts for your in-laws? Shop our holiday gift guide.
OpenBoost Technology
Did some of your subscribers miss your gift guide that you sent? Not open your latest deal? Stay ahead of your competitors and in-front of your subscribers this season by utilizing our OpenBoost Technology. This tool allows you to schedule the message to be re-sent to people who didn’t open them beforehand. You are able to change the subject line and preheader text during the scheduling process.
