Last-minute email tactics and changes contribute to a significant portion of most retailers’ holiday sales. Even if this year’s shopping started earlier than ever.

But let’s face it — you don’t have time to throw everything you’ve been working on out the window and start from scratch now on an entirely new campaign. While your year-end holiday marketing efforts are already in place, these four last-minute email tactics can help you ensure holiday marketing success. Even if you only have an extra hour or two to spare!

Add creativity, flexibility, and fun with e-gift cards

As the holiday shipping cut-off deadline quickly closes in on customers still waiting to receive their orders, supply chain woes are only getting worse. Between global shipping delays, the scarcity of raw materials and shipping containers, an inability to travel or freely source goods, and unexpected factory closures, fulfillment has been extra challenging for any marketer to overcome this year.

So, how can you successfully implement last-minute email tactics to sell (and, more importantly, deliver) goods that aren’t on your physical or digital shelves yet without fear? By taking a not-so-new fulfillment approach and breathing new creative life into your brand through e-gift cards.

While many holiday shoppers are excited to return to your in-store experience this year, there are still millions who are likely to make their purchases without leaving their home. Don’t believe us?

According to our 2021 Retail Personalization Index Consumer Survey, more than half of all retail consumers plan on using next-gen fulfillment options like e-gift cards even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Because travel will still be limited this holiday season, e-gift cards are an easy and effective last-minute email tactic that not only ensures shoppers’ orders arrive on time — but one that helps your customers find the perfect gift without an exhausting search through multiple stores at a time when shelves are emptier than ever.

After all, if your holiday email marketing experience can eliminate some of the miscellaneous errands consumers have to run — like wrapping presents, packing boxes, mailing products, and driving to and from the store to find items — and maximize the time they spend at home with friends, family, and loved ones instead, your efforts are sure to deliver maximum ROI.

Give your shoppers the last-minute tactic everyone loves: gifts!

Everybody loves free stuff! So, use the holiday spirit to your advantage by using a proven last-minute email tactic that offers special gifts to anyone who completes their customer profile or makes a purchase over the course of Q4.

Beyond the extra revenue captured, this last-minute email tactic gives you clearer insight into what motivates your customers to act — and, if any zero- or first-party data is collected — make your future holiday season interactions even more effective as a result of the personalization potential this quick pivot creates.

A free holiday gift is also a great way to re-engage any buyers your brand hasn’t seen since this time last year as well. If they take the bait and make another purchase, fantastic! That’s one more sale you wouldn’t have made otherwise. And if not, you can scrub them from your holiday email subscriber list for good to focus your limited time and attention on the people who are most likely to buy instead.

Tap into year-in-review emails customized for each shopper

You collect dozens, perhaps even hundreds or thousands, of unique data points on every email recipient and retail customer you engage with. So, put all of that information to good use by sending your holiday campaign list a personalized year-in-review email summarizing their activities, money saved, loyalty points and rewards earned, and more!

Promote top customer picks to make purchasing faster and easier

Over the course of Q4, you’ve spent hundreds of hours analyzing real-time data trends and purchases to understand what makes your holiday shoppers tick. But do you know what’s even more easy and effective? Asking them what they’d like to see in your emails — or, even better, featuring customer-created content instead of sales promotions in your late holiday push.

Embedded email polls, subscriber social media posts, and user-generated content (UGC) like product reviews and ratings are a great way to cut through the marketing speak and noise flooding email inboxes right now. By giving your customers an active role to play throughout your holiday campaigns, you instantly increase engagement and the average shopper’s propensity to make a purchase.

If you’re looking for a last-minute email tactic or two to push your holiday campaigns over the finish line successfully, now you have four of our favorites ready to roll. But we’ve got even more low-effort, high-impact email strategies to share! Download Sailthru and Liveclicker’s Work Smarter Not Harder Guide now to find out how easy it really is to improve your holiday marketing experiences.