September 18, 2020

4 Best Practices for Successful Holiday Sending

By Brianna Valleskey

If you haven’t started thinking of a holiday campaign yet, don’t panic.

Sending during this season can be critical for hitting your Q4 pipeline, revenue, and retention goals—but you don’t want to wait until halfway through the quarter to start thinking about what to send.

That’s why Sendoso Manager of Project Management Lexie Schultz sat down with Sendoso Director of Customer Lifecycle Marketing Zack Alspaugh to share some best practices for holiday sending success.

The project management team here at Sendoso helps bring your sends to life, helping with creative brainstorming, sourcing, and ordering so your items are ready to be sent from our warehouse. Our customer lifecycle management function runs our Sendoso for Sendoso program and are power users of the solution.

Check out the video below or keep reading to hear their insights.

Hot Tips for Holiday Sending

Tip #1: Start Planning Your Sends Early

The holidays are a busy season for everyone, especially merchants and shipping carriers. We recommend that all items being shipped in December are sourced by the end of October and packaged and shipped by the end of November.

Didn’t make that deadline? Have no fear! We have a ton of Direct and eGift options that have shorter processing times and are still on theme for the Holidays. You could also opt for non-branded options for physical sends that have a quicker timeline at 1-2 weeks.

Tip #2: But Don’t Limit Sending to December

Holiday sending works year-round but If you or your recipients are in the United States, Canada, or the UK, the most prominent holiday period is from October to January. There are many official and unofficial holidays that make for great sending campaigns from October through January.

You can even celebrate unofficial holidays like Boss’s Day (October 16), National Take a Hike Day (November 17), National Sock Day (December 4), and World Nerd Day (January 9). Check out our 2020 Sendoso calendar for 12 months of holiday send ideas here!

Tip #3: Create an Integrated Campaign

Make sure your campaign is fully integrated, hitting both online and offline channels. Partner with your field teams to align on your goals and audience. Be sure to provide plenty of supporting materials to make their outreach as streamlined and simple as possible.

Reiterate the messaging and value prop from your send across your other digital channels. Leverage multiple touch points to drive engagement and bridge those offline and online worlds. You want the experience to be consistent for your customers, drive home that message everywhere they look.

Tip #4: Consider the “Unboxing” Experience

You should also consider the unboxing experience for your recipients. Your send should feel like a gift. We always recommend putting your best foot forward to elevate the unboxing experience for your recipient. Items like branded boxes, customer packaging tape, crinkle paper, and even branded tissue paper can really add a lot of value and brand recognition. (If you’d like some inspiration, hope on over to our customer stories page!)

Still looking for some help with your holiday campaigns? Grab a copy of our holiday gift ideas eBook or request a demo to learn how Sendoso can propel you to Q4 success.