While making sure your holiday marketing plans are in tip-top shape this season, attention should also be paid to things to avoid in your plans. We’ve put together a few things to avoid this year to make sure your holiday communications go off without a hitch!

1. Avoid batch and blast. Nothing is worse than getting a poorly targeted email. Make sure you send the appropriate content to your users based on their behavior and history with your brand.

2. Quality over quantity. While you want to be sure to be present in your subscriber’s inbox, sending too many emails can decrease the likelihood of conversion. Not only should you be smart and strategic about the content of your emails, but also be smart about your timing and frequency as well.

3. Don’t use the same strategy for each channel. This may go without saying but cater each experience with your brand to the channel you are targeting. For instance, putting a QR code in an email, when it should be on an in-store display ad. Think of each campaign for email, mobile, social, in-store, etc. as separate identities with separate campaigns.

4. Avoid recycling past holiday campaigns. What worked for you last year, may not work for you this year. Buyer behaviors can shift quite rapidly (think of the transition to shopping on mobile) so make sure your holiday marketing campaigns take into account your successes from last year but also put a fresh take on how you distribute and create your content.

5. Be wary of spam trap words in subject lines. As each brand is competing with one another to grab the attention of the subscriber within the inbox, subject line best practices can often be thrown to the wayside. Be aware that common spam trap words like “free” (i.e. Free Shipping) or the use of emoticons can affect deliverability or deter opens. Try to think of alternative subject lines, or the very least do a deliverability and spam test of your holiday campaigns.

Being relevant and respecting the inbox this holiday season is key to a successful holiday marketing plan. Gone are the days of blasting generic offers to your audience. You now have to be smart, strategic, and personal in gaining that holiday sale and rising above the competition.