Capturing Vacation-Goer Attention July 13, 2018, | Posted by erin

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Now that we’re well into summer, many people are taking advantage of the warm weather and school breaks to go on vacation; of course, this generally means a bit of a slump in terms of business, especially for retailers. As people take time off from work and their daily routine to get some R&R, it can seem like an impossible task to reach out and keep them engaged with your brand. After all, a lot of people try to avoid email as much as possible when they’re away from work--and for good reason. But Site Impact’s experts know that there’s always a way to reach out to people, with the right level of know-how. Today we’re going to explore some ways to keep consumers engaged through the summer lull, avoiding that dreaded vacation slump.

While the vacationing masses are certainly avoiding their work emails, there’s ample evidence that they’re still at least marginally engaged with other forms of email--it’s a habit that we can’t seem to completely break, even when we flee to a beach or a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. Especially with more and more people moving to mobile as their primary email channel, consumers remain at least a little bit open to receiving messages--but they have to be done properly to keep the attention long enough for those consumers to act on them. The first place to make that effort is in the subject line: every subject line has to count. During vacation, people want to scroll through and skim over their emails quickly; it takes a really gripping subject to get them to engage. While we’ve discussed the fact that subject lines are always a make-or-break factor for email success, in the summer months brands don’t just have to compete with each other--but also with the myriad of external distractions. So tighten down on the email subject lines, and get the point across in a way that really hooks your recipients, if you want to avoid the summer slump.

Another way to keep consumers engaged is to pay attention to colors in the design of your email creative. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, color theory can play a major role in making sure that when a recipient opens your email, that email can compete with their surroundings to keep their attention. Of course, this is an area in which testing is definitely your friend--test different color options aggressively to get the best response. Ultimately, color choices can not just set your message apart from the crowd, but also make sure that it sticks in your customers’ minds--which can be useful with the tendency towards a longer lead-time in conversions over the summer months.

Finally: make technology work for you with contextual messaging. Some of the biggest tools to come to email marketing in the past several years have been ones geared at putting information to use: knowing where your recipients are normally, when they’re out of town, and more. Add to that the ability to create emails that respond to background data, and you can create powerful impressions on even the most zoned-out vacation-goer. Triggered emails featuring products that would be ideal for their location, or that solve problems they might only have become aware of moments before--like unexpected weather shifts, for example--can lead to conversions and increased engagement alike. Of course, you want to make sure that you don’t come across as stalking your recipients; but smart, triggered emails can keep things going, and keep up a steady stream of communication between you and your customer base.

Summer has long had a reputation for being a slow time of year, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By using a little color theory, putting technology to the task of knowing what your email recipients are up to, and crafting punchy, relevant and attention-grabbing subject lines, you can hold onto the engagement that you work so hard to achieve during the more active times of the year, and keep even distracted vacation-goers on board to convert. Contact Site Impact today to learn more about how we can help you implement the best practices and keep the traffic up all year long.