January has historically been a tricky time for retailers, with shoppers tightening the purse strings after forking out through the vacation season.
In truth, in 2021, January noticed the second-lowest retail gross sales whole of any month—simply forward of February:
As a marketer, what are you able to do to keep away from beginning the yr with two months of ache?
In idea, it’s a easy answer: you simply must nail your messaging. Nonetheless, as everyone knows, that’s simpler mentioned than completed.
To make your life a little bit simpler, I dipped into the Drip archives to unearth 5 of the easiest 2023 New Yr’s advertising concepts from a few of our favourite manufacturers.
High 5 New Yr’s Advertising and marketing Concepts
1. Origins: Faucet Into Fashionable New Yr’s Resolutions
I’m going to begin with arguably the best of all New Yr advertising concepts: referencing your prospects’ New Yr’s resolutions.
A YouGov survey carried out in late 2022 revealed that 37 % of People deliberate to set a aim or decision for the next yr, whereas 17 % have been uncertain.
In different phrases, as much as 54 % of shoppers began 2023 with some form of private goal. That’s far too large a bit of your viewers to disregard.
Step one to leveraging resolutions in your New Yr advertising is to grasp the varieties of targets your prospects are setting.
Happily, there’s loads of analysis to assist us out. In response to Statista’s International Shopper Survey, well being is a typical focus, relating to every of the three hottest resolutions for People:
- Train extra (cited by 52 % of respondents)
- Eat more healthy (50 %)
- Drop a few pounds (40 %)
These resolutions show that well being touches on a number of shopper product classes. Need to train extra? Right here, purchase these trainers. Planning to eat a more healthy eating regimen? Take a look at this cookbook. Wanting to drop extra pounds? You’ll want a brand new water bottle for all these health club classes.
And, as cosmetics model Origins demonstrates, there’s additionally a transparent hyperlink between well being and skincare merchandise.
In my first New Yr advertising instance, Origins kicks issues off with a topic line that reads like a private mantra:
That’s principally a ready-made decision, so it’s a implausible inspiration for anybody who’s but to determine their targets for the yr forward.
Origins backs up this messaging within the physique copy, giving prospects a transparent instruction to be kinder to their pores and skin in 2023:
After all, this e mail isn’t nearly discussing good intentions; it has a tough industrial edge too.
Beneath the fold, Origins lists a few of its prime SPF skincare merchandise, every accompanied by a “Store Now” CTA:
By the way, that is the third in a sequence of resolution-themed emails from Origins. In case your merchandise are particularly goal-worthy, you could possibly run this form of marketing campaign all through the entire of January—and even verify in with prospects later within the yr to ask how their resolutions are going.
2. MYRO: Focus On Sustainability
Okay, positive; sustainability isn’t precisely a “new development”. However it’s turning into ever-more essential as an growing variety of shoppers be a part of the dots between the merchandise they buy and their very own internet influence on the world round them.
Our rising love for sustainable, eco-friendly merchandise has largely been pushed by youthful generations, with three in 4 Gen-Zers saying sustainability is extra essential than model identify when making buy selections.
The place Gen Z leads, older generations are starting to observe. Between 2019 and 2021, the will amongst Gen X shoppers to purchase from sustainable manufacturers rose by 24 %, whereas their willingness to spend extra on sustainable merchandise climbed by 42 %.
Immediately, two-thirds of all shoppers say they’re joyful to pay a sustainability premium when shopping for merchandise—but the identical proportion of retail executives imagine consumers aren’t ready to spend extra.
What do all these figures inform us?
That sustainability is a large deal to shoppers; much more so than most retailers imagine.
Sustainable manufacturers are ideally positioned to win new prospects and generate extra income—they only must shout about it. And what higher time than the New Yr, when many patrons are actively trying to change their behaviors?
Refillable bodycare model MYRO is properly conscious of this. Sustainability is on the coronary heart of its mission, with each product refill lowering waste from single-use plastic by no less than 50 %.
MYRO begins this New Yr e mail advertising instance with a powerful topic line that underlines its eco-friendly credentials and speaks to shoppers’ want to dwell extra sustainably:
The e-mail physique continues in the identical vein, urging consumers to make eco-conscious modifications by swapping to a refillable physique wash. The message is evident: “It is a fast and easy approach to assist the planet.”
You may suppose that’s already a sufficiently persuasive argument, however MYRO goes one step additional by providing a 15 % low cost code simply above the decision to motion:
So prospects get to learn the atmosphere and get monetary savings? That’s a fairly compelling hook.
3. Frank & Oak: Drive Motion With a Competitors
I don’t need to be all doom and gloom, however I’ve acquired some extra dangerous information about advertising within the New Yr.
Seems January isn’t only a dangerous time for retail gross sales; it’s additionally awful for e mail entrepreneurs. January is within the backside quartile for common e mail open charges by month, at 19.83 %—virtually 11 % lower than the very best month. And it additionally has the joint-highest e mail unsubscribe fee.
When you’re going to buck these tendencies, it’s good to incentivize your viewers to have interaction together with your messaging.
The most effective methods to do this is by working a giveaway, like sustainable trend model Frank & Oak did in my subsequent New Yr advertising instance.
Properly conscious that customers are much less prone to open emails at this difficult time of yr, Frank & Oak led with an e mail topic line that features a single, clear instruction:
With out saying so in as many phrases, this topic line means that there’s one thing in it for the shopper. It’s actionable sufficient to catch the attention and sufficiently intriguing to win the press.
Subsequent, Frank & Oak will get to the meat and potatoes of its marketing campaign: the chance to win a $1,000 present card.
After all, a contest like this isn’t an computerized assure of success.
Simplicity is vital relating to working an efficient giveaway. Until the prize is really spectacular, most shoppers aren’t ready to leap by way of a bunch of hoops, so attempt to make the specified “motion” as low-touch as potential.
On this case, Frank & Oak merely requested shoppers to observe its Instagram account:
That’s proper—no “like”, share, or remark. Only a tiny little observe in return for a possible $1,000 payday. Looks like Frank & Oak is getting the tough finish of the deal right here.
However in actuality, there’s loads of profit to constructing your Instagram following. One research discovered that 72 % of Instagram customers have made trend, magnificence or style-related purchases after seeing a product on the social media platform, with the most-purchased classes named as:
- Clothes
- Make-up
- Footwear
- Jewellery
Plus, keep in mind, Frank & Oak isn’t asking any previous individual for a observe. It’s particularly concentrating on individuals who subscribe to its advertising emails.
Presumably, this viewers is already fairly engaged with the model, which means there’s a very good probability they’ll maintain following the Instagram account after the competitors has completed.
One last level: Analysis from Shopify discovered that, on common, multichannel advertising will increase income by 38 %, 120 %, and 190 % for every extra channel a buyer engages with. So it’s clearly in your pursuits to level e mail subscribers towards your different advertising channels.
4. Flamingo Candles: Add Buyer Testimonials
I feel I’ve made it fairly clear that it’s good to work fairly laborious to prise open your prospects’ purse strings within the New Yr. In truth, 39 % of People mentioned their New Yr’s decision for 2023 is to avoid wasting extra money.
Primarily, it’s your job to persuade them that saving cash is nice—however shopping for your product is best.
Doing that requires extra than simply some snappy copywriting and jazzy product imagery.
Seems shoppers are literally much more prone to hearken to fellow prospects than model entrepreneurs. Certainly, 72 % discover buyer opinions and testimonials extra credible than the issues manufacturers say about themselves, in response to analysis from Tint.
In my subsequent instance, Flamingo Candles leads with some easy New Yr-themed messaging, urging subscribers to take a look at its vary of slogan keytags:
That’s a stable if unspectacular opening gambit—not sturdy sufficient for me to incorporate in a roundup of inspirational New Yr advertising concepts.
What elevates this e mail is the below-the-fold part, the place Flamingo Candles features a bunch of real-world buyer testimonials:
Better of all, these aren’t simply generic opinions about how a lot individuals love Flamingo; they’re particularly tailor-made to the product class within the e mail.
5. Paperchase: Increase AOV With Product Bundling
We all know shoppers are much less inclined to open advertising emails in January than in most different months.
It stands to motive, due to this fact, that you simply’re additionally prone to generate fewer e mail click-throughs to your web site.
This locations a higher-than-average premium on these prospects who do open—and click on by way of from—your emails, with messaging geared towards driving the highest-possible common order worth (AOV).
Product bundling is one answer.
In response to McKinsey, 35 % of purchases on Amazon stem from the retail large’s product suggestion algorithms. And quite a lot of these suggestions contain some type of bundling.
Happily, product bundling doesn’t simply apply to the large megacorporations. Manufacturers of any measurement can use this technique to drive conversions and enhance AOV.
Stationery retailer Paperchase positioned bundling entrance and heart on this New Yr advertising instance:
It is a tactic referred to as blended bundling, through which the bundled merchandise may be purchased individually.
Sometimes, prospects can construct their very own mix-and-match bundles from a wide selection of merchandise, giving them better management over the merchandise they select. It’s primarily the alternative of pure bundling, whereby the merchandise in a bundle can’t be bought individually.
Combined bundling seems to be extra enticing to shoppers than pure bundling, with researchers at Harvard Enterprise College and Carnegie Mellon College revealing {that a} swap from blended to pure bundling might scale back gross sales by over 20 %.
Evidently, consumers desire the pliability of a blended bundle, making it an efficient technique for maximizing income in your New Yr advertising.
New Yr, New Electronic mail Advertising and marketing: Strive Drip
The New Yr is the right time to attempt one thing new.
So why not take the chance to test-drive our revenue-driving e mail advertising instruments?
Drip provides you the facility to face out amid a crowded inbox by serving to you craft dynamically customized messaging.
Need to provide prospects a particular low cost on their birthday? Give focused product suggestions primarily based on earlier shopping exercise? Attain out to cart abandoners with reminder emails? Do all of it—and far more apart from—with Drip.
See for your self by signing up to your 14-day free trial.
