January has historically been a troublesome time for retailers, with shoppers tightening the purse strings after forking out in the course of the vacation season.
In actual fact, 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 12 months with two months of ache?
In concept, it’s a easy resolution: you simply have to nail your messaging. Nevertheless, as everyone knows, that’s simpler mentioned than achieved.
To make your life a 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 Concepts
1. Origins: Faucet Into Standard New Yr’s Resolutions
I’m going to start out with arguably the best of all New Yr advertising concepts: referencing your clients’ New Yr’s resolutions.
A YouGov survey performed in late 2022 revealed that 37 % of People deliberate to set a objective or decision for the next 12 months, whereas 17 % have been not sure.
In different phrases, as much as 54 % of shoppers began 2023 with some form of private goal. That’s far too huge a piece of your viewers to disregard.
Step one to leveraging resolutions in your New Yr advertising is to grasp the varieties of targets your clients are setting.
Thankfully, there’s loads of analysis to assist us out. In response to Statista’s International Client Survey, well being is a standard focus, relating to every of the three hottest resolutions for People:
- Train extra (cited by 52 % of respondents)
- Eat more healthy (50 %)
- Drop pounds (40 %)
These resolutions show that well being touches on a number of client product classes. Wish to train extra? Right here, purchase these trainers. Planning to eat a more healthy eating regimen? Take a look at this cookbook. Wanting to shed extra pounds? You’ll want a brand new water bottle for all these fitness center periods.
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 mainly a ready-made decision, so it’s a unbelievable inspiration for anybody who’s but to determine their targets for the 12 months forward.
Origins backs up this messaging within the physique copy, giving clients 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 business edge too.
Under 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 may run this form of marketing campaign all through the entire of January—and even test in with clients later within the 12 months to ask how their resolutions are going.
2. MYRO: Focus On Sustainability
Okay, positive; sustainability isn’t precisely a “new development”. Nevertheless it’s changing into ever-more vital as an rising variety of shoppers be a part of the dots between the merchandise they buy and their very own web affect 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 vital than model identify when making buy choices.
The place Gen Z leads, older generations are starting to comply with. 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 blissful to pay a sustainability premium when shopping for merchandise—but the identical proportion of retail executives imagine customers 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 clients and generate extra income—they simply have to shout about it. And what higher time than the New Yr, when many consumers are actively trying to change their behaviors?
Refillable bodycare model MYRO is effectively conscious of this. Sustainability is on the coronary heart of its mission, with each product refill lowering waste from single-use plastic by at the very least 50 %.
MYRO begins this New Yr e mail advertising instance with a robust 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 customers to make eco-conscious modifications by swapping to a refillable physique wash. The message is obvious: “It is a fast and easy approach to assist the planet.”
You would possibly 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 clients get to learn the setting 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 bought 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 best month. And it additionally has the joint-highest e mail unsubscribe fee.
In the event you’re going to buck these traits, it’s worthwhile to incentivize your viewers to interact along with your messaging.
Probably the greatest methods to do this is by operating a giveaway, like sustainable trend model Frank & Oak did in my subsequent New Yr advertising instance.
Nicely conscious that customers are much less prone to open emails at this difficult time of 12 months, 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 client. 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 automated assure of success.
Simplicity is essential in the case of operating an efficient giveaway. Except the prize is actually spectacular, most shoppers aren’t ready to leap via 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 comply with its Instagram account:
That’s proper—no “like”, share, or remark. Only a tiny little comply with in return for a possible $1,000 payday. Looks as if 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
- Sneakers
- Jewellery
Plus, bear in mind, Frank & Oak isn’t asking any outdated individual for a comply with. It’s particularly concentrating on individuals who subscribe to its advertising emails.
Presumably, this viewers is already fairly engaged with the model, that means there’s 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 further 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 worthwhile to work fairly arduous to prise open your clients’ purse strings within the New Yr. In actual fact, 39 % of People mentioned their New Yr’s decision for 2023 is to save lots of more cash.
Basically, it’s your job to persuade them that saving cash is nice—however shopping for your product is healthier.
Doing that requires extra than simply some snappy copywriting and jazzy product imagery.
Seems shoppers are literally way more prone to take heed to fellow clients than model entrepreneurs. Certainly, 72 % discover buyer critiques and testimonials extra credible than the issues manufacturers say about themselves, in line with 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 strong if unspectacular opening gambit—not robust 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 critiques about how a lot folks love Flamingo; they’re particularly tailor-made to the product class within the e mail.
5. Paperchase: Enhance 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 clients who do open—and click on via from—your emails, with messaging geared towards driving the highest-possible common order worth (AOV).
Product bundling is one resolution.
In response to McKinsey, 35 % of purchases on Amazon stem from the retail big’s product suggestion algorithms. And numerous these suggestions contain some type of bundling.
Thankfully, product bundling doesn’t simply apply to the big megacorporations. Manufacturers of any dimension can use this technique to drive conversions and increase AOV.
Stationery retailer Paperchase positioned bundling entrance and middle on this New Yr advertising instance:
It is a tactic referred to as combined bundling, through which the bundled merchandise could be purchased individually.
Sometimes, clients can construct their very own mix-and-match bundles from a big selection of merchandise, giving them higher 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.
Blended bundling seems to be extra engaging to shoppers than pure bundling, with researchers at Harvard Enterprise College and Carnegie Mellon College revealing {that a} swap from combined to pure bundling might cut back gross sales by over 20 %.
Evidently, customers choose the flexibleness of a combined bundle, making it an efficient technique for maximizing income in your New Yr advertising.
New Yr, New Electronic mail Advertising: Strive Drip
The New Yr is the right time to strive one thing new.
So why not take the chance to test-drive our revenue-driving e mail advertising instruments?
Drip provides you the ability to face out amid a crowded inbox by serving to you craft dynamically personalised messaging.
Wish to supply clients 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.
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