February is an fascinating month for e mail entrepreneurs.
On one hand, it traditionally sees the lowest retail gross sales of any month. That’s not preferrred.
However that doesn’t inform the total story. Knowledge from GetResponse reveals that February enjoys higher-than-usual e mail open charges—at 20.66 p.c vs. a full-year common of 19.66 p.c—and click-to-open charges which might be 27.5 p.c larger than the typical month.
So shoppers usually tend to open your emails in February—and, once they do, there’s additionally a a lot higher likelihood they’ll click on via to your web site.
This tells me two issues:
- Gross sales are at a premium early within the 12 months, with many shoppers actively striving to save cash…
- …however there’s an actual alternative for e mail entrepreneurs to drive opens, clicks, and gross sales in the event that they get their messaging proper.
To make half #2 just a little simpler, I’ve rounded up seven of the most effective February e-newsletter concepts from Drip’s exhaustive e mail advertising and marketing archive.
Prime 7 February Publication Concepts
Bean Field: Share Valentine’s Day Reward Inspiration
Valentine’s Day is an enormous deal for retailers—particularly on-line ones.
Figures from the Nationwide Retail Federation present 53 p.c of US shoppers have a good time the event. Deliberate Valentine’s Day spending climbed to $23.9 billion in 2022, with the typical American dropping over $175 on items.
The most effective information for ecommerce manufacturers? On-line is the highest purchasing vacation spot for Valentine’s Day purchases, with 41 p.c of shoppers shopping for on-line—in comparison with 32 p.c who shopped at department shops, 28 p.c at low cost shops, 18 p.c at native small companies, and 17 p.c at florists.
My colleague Seray has beforehand rounded up a bunch of high-quality Valentine’s Day e mail examples, so I’d suggest checking them out if you need a deeper dive into V-Day advertising and marketing.
However final time I checked, the celebration of affection occurs on February 14th, inserting it squarely inside this text’s jurisdiction, so I’ve included a few Valentine’s Day examples right here too.
First up is espresso subscription service and items model Bean Field, which reached out to its viewers with a V-Day purchaser’s information. It opened with a persuasive e mail topic line promising inspirational concepts for Valentine’s consumers:
It is a sensible play, as a result of it seems a whole lot of us really feel fairly anxious about shopping for Valentine’s Day presents. A survey from eMediHealth revealed that 28.5 p.c of shoppers fear about being judged primarily based on their selection of reward, whereas 24.5 p.c admit V-Day purchasing is a supply of economic stress.
Bean Field’s e mail comprises a bunch of coffee-themed Valentine’s items, every accompanied by product imagery, a brief description, and a “Purchase Now” CTA:
And should you don’t like what you see, there’s additionally an above-the-fold name to motion prompting prospects to browse Bean Field’s full reward choice:
Greetabl: Ship a Valentine’s Day Reminder E mail
Sticking with the Valentine’s Day theme, it’s price remembering that whereas all of us method reward shopping for with good intentions, life generally will get in the best way.
Positive, we’d all love to purchase and wrap the right current for our important different weeks prematurely. However subsequent factor we all know, it’s early February, and we’re determined to search out one thing—something—that can arrive on time.
Google Developments information reveals that search exercise round Valentine’s Day climbs steadily all through January earlier than accelerating sharply because the day approaches:
That means there are a whole lot of last-minute V-Day consumers on the market.
For that cause, your viewers will positively recognize a reminder or two as the large day approaches. Particularly one which warns them of the deadline for on-line deliveries.
As a personalised presents retailer, Greetabl is properly conscious that consumers are determined for his or her Valentine’s Day purchases to reach on time.
Forward of V-Day 2022, it shared an e mail urging subscribers to purchase now to keep away from their items turning up late.
The topic line grabbed consideration with actionable messaging that harassed the urgency of ordering straightaway:
As you’ll be able to see, all of it additionally featured an emoji—a tactic that has been proven to seize consideration in a crowded inbox.
The theme of urgency continued within the e mail physique, with Greetabl including a countdown timer exhibiting how a lot—or, fairly, how little—time prospects needed to place an order for assured Valentine’s Day delivery:
Clearly, you shouldn’t add countdown timers to each e mail you ship—they’ll lose their influence. However used sparingly, they’re a extremely efficient approach to drive motion, with information from Sale Cycle revealing that countdown timers in emails and on-site messages end in:
- 30.49 p.c larger click-through charges
- 200 p.c larger conversion charges
These figures sound too good to be true. A 200 p.c upturn in conversions, simply from including a countdown timer to your emails? Absolutely not.
Nevertheless, we found one thing comparable in our evaluation of 20+ million on-site popups. Our analysis revealed that popups with countdown timers see a 113 p.c larger conversion price than these with out timers, in order that they’re clearly a potent software for prompting prospects to take motion.
The Physique Store: Supply a Free Reward With Buy
As you’ll recall from the introduction of this very article, February is historically a sluggish month for retail gross sales.
When shoppers aren’t within the shopping for temper, the very last thing you want is a excessive quantity of returns consuming into your backside line.
Happily, there’s an answer: providing a free reward with buy.
Analysis revealed within the journal Psychology & Advertising and marketing revealed that it’s higher for retailers to place a promotion as a “free reward” fairly than a “bundle”.
Why? As a result of free items enhance the perceived loss felt by prospects excited about returning a purchase order, thereby decreasing return charges.
Apparently, this technique is particularly efficient when the free reward with buy is obtainable by a well-known model. Which makes it an ideal tactic to leverage in your February e mail advertising and marketing campaigns.
That’s precisely what The Physique Store did in my subsequent instance:
Positive, the free reward—a sheet masks—isn’t a big-money buy in its personal proper. As you’ll be able to see from the e-mail copy, the promotion solely saves prospects as much as $6. However it seems that, from a psychological perspective, we simply love items.
Whereas I’ve included this instance as one in every of my February e-newsletter concepts, you’ll be able to clearly use it at any time of 12 months to drive down these pesky returns.
Oribe Hair Care: Share Your Finest Product Critiques
Decreasing returns is all properly and good. However what are you able to do to enhance gross salesat a time of 12 months when shoppers simply aren’t seeking to spend their hard-earned money?
One tried-and-trusted tactic is to share buyer evaluations of your hottest merchandise.
Mix a top-selling product with a convincing, persuasive, user-generated evaluate and also you’ve primarily created a license to print cash.
Truth is, even should you’re the world’s greatest copywriter, you’ll by no means write something as convincing as a testimonial from a real buyer.
In response to Tint’s State of Person-Generated Content material 2022 report, 72 p.c of shoppers really feel customer-submitted evaluations and testimonials are extra credible than branded content material. What’s extra, a staggering 93 p.c of entrepreneurs agree that customers belief user-generated content material (UGC) greater than content material created by manufacturers.
Oribe Hair Care is one model utilizing UGC to its benefit. On this instance, it showcases no fewer than 5 real-world buyer testimonials to advertise its anti-humidity spray (together with the one within the screenshot):
And, after all, it wraps the entire thing up with a name to motion encouraging prospects to purchase now.
For an much more actionable technique, take into account selling a limited-time low cost code, free delivery, or gift-with-purchase provide alongside your product evaluations to present your viewers an added incentive to purchase.
Chubbies: Promote Summer season Trip Merchandise
February isn’t precisely famed for wonderful climate (not less than, not within the northern hemisphere).
Even sun-drenched California might be grey, gloomy, and moist.
So it won’t sound like the neatest time of 12 months to advertise summer time vacation-related merchandise, like Chubbies did in my subsequent February e-newsletter instance:
Belief me, there’s methodology to the insanity.
Google Developments information reveals us that mid-to-late February is definitely a peak interval for vacation-related searches, with spikes in exercise round phrases like:
- All-inclusive trip packages
- Finest trip packages
- Hawaii trip
When you concentrate on it, all of it provides up. Shoppers are sick of staring out the window and seeing drab, dreary skies, so they begin day-dreaming about sun-kissed seashores and cocktails across the lodge pool.
Subsequent factor they know, they’re frantically Googling flight data and lodge offers.
So it is smart for manufacturers promoting vacation-centric merchandise—from attire to equipment to skincare—to achieve out when prospects have journey on their thoughts.
Mavi Denims: Showcase Your Spring Assortment
Talking of sunnier occasions, February can be the right month to elevate the lid in your spring assortment.
Our trusty companion, Google Developments, suggests there’s a reasonably small window by which shoppers are fascinated with spring purchasing traits, with a peak in search exercise stretching from late February to early April:
In different phrases, if you need most consideration in your spring product vary, it is best to begin selling it by the top of February on the newest.
It appears Mavi Denims received the memo. This e mail, despatched in late February 2022, gives subscribers a glimpse at its just lately launched spring assortment, with loads of product imagery and persuasive copywriting that highlights key promoting factors:
Then there are two calls to motion pointing readers within the path of its “for him” and “for her” collections.
Mavi Denims makes this e mail much more persuasive by including a 15 p.c low cost code for patrons who join its SMS advertising and marketing record:
It is a sensible play, with Shopify analysis revealing that multichannel advertising and marketing can enhance income by 38 p.c, 120 p.c, and 190 p.c for every further channel a buyer engages with.
Fabletics: Honor Black Historical past Month
February is US Black Historical past Month—a possibility to acknowledge the struggles and successes of African Individuals all through the nation’s historical past.
This represents a dilemma for entrepreneurs.
On one hand, you wish to reveal your assist for African American communities. Particularly on condition that four-fifths of shoppers desire a model’s values to align with their very own, in accordance with analysis from Google.
However on the opposite, no model needs to be accused of leaping on the Black historical past bandwagon in a cynical try and drive gross sales. Certainly, Google’s analysis additionally revealed that three-quarters of shoppers have “damaged up” with a model attributable to a battle in values.
Fabletics received issues proper in 2022:
Not solely did it be part of forces with two Black creatives, but it surely additionally pledged to donate 100% of internet proceeds to grassroots organizations concentrating on that assist Black communities.
For those who’re going to become involved in Black Historical past Month, keep in mind: it’s not all about you.
Make sure you’re centring Black voices. Don’t fall silent the second Black Historical past Month ends. And don’t use the occasion as an try to spice up your income.
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It takes a bunch of time, effort, and information evaluation to come back up high-performing e-newsletter concepts.
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