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Hi there friend,

We have officially begun the ‘berrrrr months! The end of the year feels like a runaway train—once it picks up speed, there's no slowing it down. One minute you're enjoying the calm of early fall, and the next, the holidays are barreling toward you, leaving barely enough time to catch your breath.

Which is why we are starting our holiday marketing planning now! Last week, we discussed the importance of planning early and you got a copy of the Holiday Marketing Checklist for Small Business Owners.

For the next two weeks, we will be highlighting a few aspects of the checklist, providing you with valuable resources to get you from start to finish for the holidays. This week is focused on sections 1 and 2 of the checklist.

So, put your marketing hats on and buckle up. Let’s get ready for the holidays! 💪

September: Look back to leap forward 🕰️

To kick off your holiday marketing planning, review your email marketing key performance indicators (KPIs): open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates from last year. Identify successful elements, whether it was a catchy subject line, the topic, the timing, or the discounts.

You can easily track these KPIs in AWeber and gain insights to refine your future campaigns for even better results. Learn more about email marketing KPIs in this blog post.

Once you’ve spent quality time with your data, move on to setting goals for your holiday marketing, using the SMART framework to ensure you have a clear and actionable plan. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This means your goals should be well-defined and target a specific outcome. 

For example, instead of vaguely aiming to "increase sales," a SMART goal would be "increase sales by 20% from November to January." This goal is precise, can be tracked, is realistically attainable, aligns with your business objectives, and has a clear deadline.

October: Content creation time! 🎨

This month will feel like a lot. From copy to creative, you will have a lot to get done. Which is why I wanted to show you a few ways you can make your life a little easier:

Holiday Email Templates: Quickly create festive and engaging emails with ready-made holiday templates. ➡️ Learn more 

Landing Page Templates: Customize one of our beautiful, high converting landing page templates and drive sales, sign ups, or downloads. ➡️ Learn more 

Holiday Email Automation Templates: Automation can seem daunting at first, but our pre-built templates, like our BFCM template, make it easy to get up and running. ➡️ Learn more 

Writing Assistant and Subject Line Assistant: Get unblocked with AI-powered writing tools so you can quickly craft compelling content and attention-grabbing subject lines ➡️ Learn more 

Design in Canva: Create stunning holiday email visuals with Canva without leaving AWeber ➡️ Learn more 

With content created, the next step is to create a comprehensive marketing calendar. This calendar will guide your promotional efforts and keep you organized throughout the holiday season. Need a calendar? We’ve got you covered! Get your very own content calendar here!

November: Make your lists and check them twice! 📋

One of the main ways you will see real results with your holiday marketing efforts this year is to personalize, personalize, personalize!

Here are some essential reads for you to learn how to properly segment your email list(s):

• What is a list?
• How do I create a new list?
• Understanding tagging and segmentation
• Behavioral segmentation

And here are some resources that will serve as a sort of personalization 101 for beginner marketers or a really good refresh for more experienced marketers: 

• What is personalization?
• How do I personalize my messages?
• What can I personalize in my messages?
• Using dynamic content to personalize emails

Phew! That was a lot of info! Be sure to mark this email as important so you can reference it later on, and don’t worry—we’ll be with you every step of the way! 

Always remember that we have a dedicated support team ready to help you succeed. Reach out via phone, email or chat!

Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll dive into sections 3 and 4 of the checklist.

This Week’s Challenge

Start checking off items in section 1 of the checklist. Dive into your data and swim around until you feel confident you have gleaned usable insights to inform this year’s holiday marketing strategy. Then set your goals and get ready to sleigh! 😉

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Merry Marketing!  

- Chelsea H. and the rest of the AWeber team