From Last-Call Shipping to Last-Minute Gifting: 7 Texts to Send in December

Holiday spirits remain merry and bright—and the shopping season is far from over. If you’re just coming off another historic BFCM weekend, it’s more important than ever to keep the momentum going.

With that in mind, here are 7 texts you should plan to send in December.

BFCM sales totals are consistently higher year after year, but that doesn’t mean every consumer is crossing multiple people off their list in one fell swoop.

In fact, a Klarna survey of more than 4,000 consumers found that 79% of shoppers left their holiday shopping to the last minute. Furthermore, 55% said they will likely purchase gifts online—even if those items won’t be delivered by Christmas Day.

This is good news for merchants, as it creates an even more opportunity to steal sales from Santa.

Stay in touch with your subscribers and their holiday gifting needs throughout the month of December by sending campaigns to remind them of shipping deadlines.

These campaigns should cover any of your store’s relevant shipping dates. For example:

• Last chance for free standard shipping

• Last chance for two-day shipping (or other quick-ship options)

• Last chance for expedited shipping

The idea is to let them know they better ho-ho-hurry to get those gifts under the tree in time!

What’s the gift that no one ever needs to return? A gift card!

According to the National Retail Federation, gift cards remain a perennial gifting favorite, with sales expected to total $28.1 billion this year. Not only are physical gift cards lightweight and faster to ship, but super-procrastinators can also purchase email gift cards up until the morning of Christmas (or any holiday). That means your store can promote gift cards until the literal eleventh hour. Talk about a win-win!

Consider running a gift card promotion to get in on some of the late holiday shopping action. For every $100 spent on gift cards, include an additional $10 gift card. You could also provide gift cards to VIP customers in order to encourage additional holiday spending, similar to this campaign from Gemandi:

Or, offer gift-card buyers a promo code they can use on future purchases. (Here's how to set up gift cards using Postscript).

Most people like receiving gift cards. Plus, they’re a perfectly sized stocking stuffer and—when used strategically by merchants—a great way to encourage customers to come back and shop.

Everyone has that moment of panic when they receive a holiday gift from someone they did not remember to buy for. There’s a lot of awkward stalling when this happens. (“Oh my gosh! I left your gift at home! Silly me!”) There’s also an opportunity for brands to inject a little humor in their holiday promotions.

Have fun with your gift-giving campaigns and remind subscribers to stock up on gifts to avoid these cringey moments.

And be sure to remind them about the often-forgotten folks who deserve to be recognized during the holidays—the neighborhood postal worker, your favorite barista, your kids’ teachers, and that mom at the school drop-off who created a diversion while your child had a meltdown.

Use this opportunity to promote gift cards and other small items as shipping deadlines loom.

The holidays are a time for the merriest of memories, and you can use that sense of nostalgia to connect and engage with customers.

Send a campaign asking them to share their favorite holiday movies or traditions. Or, put out a call to submit their best holiday photos. You could even run a contest and offer a gift card for the subscriber who shares the best content—a photo of the brightest holiday house, for example.

Or perhaps your brand is a little more quirky. In that case, ask your audience for their funniest ugly sweater photos with a promise that the best snapshot will land a spot on your homepage.

Here are a few ideas:

What’s the best line from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? If you guess our favorite, we’ll send you a $25 gift card.

Anyone out there own a holiday sweater more frightful than this? We want to see it. Text us back your best snapshot, and if you can beat this photo, we’ll splash our favorite entry on our homepage Christmas morning!

Make this holiday jingle better: Deck the halls with ____ and ______, fa la la la la, la la la la! Our favorite response gets a free gift.

Choose a topic that subscribers will be excited to participate in, and watch the submissions roll in.

For many brands, giving back during the holiday season is a fundamental part of their mission. And it’s something customers care about. A report from Mintel reveals that a company’s charitable giving affects almost 75% of Americans’ purchase decisions.

If you’re running promotions during Cyber Weekend, schedule some time for charity-focused messages later in the month when customers are feeling particularly altruistic. Brands can choose to give back to local charities or to larger social causes. These acts of charity are especially memorable when they align closely with a brand's values, similar to this campaign sent by Earth Mama Organics:

Consumers will appreciate a personal charitable donation on orders, especially if it feels truly authentic.

With lots of people giving and receiving wares from your store, the holidays are the perfect time for consumers to show the brands they support a little bit of love.

Send a campaign right around Christmas and ask subscribers who have purchased in the last 30 days (details on how to create that segment here) to reply with a photo of them enjoying their gift. Let them know that every entry received will be eligible to win a gift card.

Or, simply send out a text asking customers who have recently purchased to share their photos on their favorite social channel. If you’re super savvy, try creating a custom hashtag. Or, simply promote your various social channels to encourage more followers and engagement.But remember: 64% of consumers want brands to connect back with them, so be sure to share those photos once you receive them to encourage even more social shares.

Every once in a while, it’s nice to just give subscribers all the feels. The holiday season is a great time to establish emotional connections with your customers and heck, even get a little mushy.

After all, if you can’t say it at Christmas, when can you? (And if you’re struggling with penning a heartfelt text, watch that scene immediately before writing your holiday message.)

These campaigns should be written in earnest—even if it’s a simple message letting customers know you’re thinking about them and wishing them a happy holiday season.Here’s an example Woolx sent out on Thanksgiving:

Again, this message should align closely with your brand, whether it’s thoughtful and sentimental, or hilariously witty.

Keep that momentum going, marketers. Let’s send some texts, drive some revenue, and get those gingerbread men in the oven (though not necessarily in that order)!