10 Email Marketing Hacks for Green Wednesday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday

It's that time of year again. The push is on to send out campaigns for Green Wednesday, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. With consumers getting massive discounts and promos from every brand under the sun, how are you going to fight your way to the top? 

Email marketing is now one of the primary tactics brands are using to hack into the psyche of their customer base, especially at this time of year. And while cannabis companies do have to be a bit more careful to avoid spam filters, many brands are working within an established subscriber list.

10 Email Marketing Hacks for Cannabis Companies

How do you make the most out of your email list for marketing your big Green Wednesday or Black Friday blowout? Here are our 10 greatest hacks for getting the best returns from a cannabis email marketing campaign.

1. Create Clear Campaign Objectives

Align your brand's overall marketing objectives with the specific objectives of this email campaign, then set clear goals. 

Maybe that means simply improving the open rate above the industry average of 21.33 percent. Or, perhaps you want to reach an explicit sales objective. 

A post-campaign debrief is only possible if you plan SMART goals. So set those key performance indicators before you press send.

2. Turn Data into Action

In our experience, the best email campaigns come from mining consumer data. If you are a brick-and-mortar cannabis retail shop, you should have a customer database with some info. If you operate via an e-commerce platform, you'll hopefully have even more data to work with.

Layer in other consumer databases, like we use at Wunderworx, for millions of points of data. Together, you'll glean a much better understanding of what your customers are looking for. Then, apply consumer data to your email lists to target different segments. 

3. Get Personal

Did you know that 91 percent of customers are "more likely to shop with brands who recognize, remember, and provide them with relevant offers and recommendations"?

Start breaking down your available consumer data based on your campaign objectives. For example, ask questions like, "What products do women buy?" “What demographic has the highest cart spend?" and "What are the shopping habits of 20- to 30-year-olds?"

Once you have this information, you can create highly targeted campaigns for specific segments of your email list. 

4. Avoid Spam Labels with Better Segmentation

If you blast your entire email list with the same promo email, you risk ticking off the spam filter. You also risk missing the mark for a large percentage of your customers. 

Instead, drill down into the different customer segments that live within this list. Curate smaller lists with created and targeted messages. This could be product preferences, position in the customer lifecycle, age, sex, or any other filter.

According to the DMA, segmentation can lead to a 760 percent increase in revenue. 

5. Set A Consistent Schedule

People love routine, even when it comes to promotional emails. So plan your campaigns around a consistent and regular schedule. 

That means sending out your weekly promos every Tuesday at noon or monthly product roundups on the 30th. 

While it does make sense to increase frequency around super-charged sales events like Green Wednesday, a regular schedule helps keep you at the forefront of the consumer's mind for purchasing decisions.

6. Create a Campaign Within a Larger Customer Journey

Every email you send is a step in the overall customer experience. Design every message to fit in with all the other communications your subscribers may receive from your brand. 

Do you have a set protocol for new subscribers? Preset welcome-back messages and promos for return shoppers? How does your Green Wednesday or Cyber Monday sale fit within this larger picture? 

Don't be afraid to break your email list into different sublists based on where your customer is within the sales funnel.

7. Use Formatting to Your Advantage

The truth is that the internet reader is a lazy one. People love online content that is short, sweet and to the point.

Create email templates geared toward this goal, with small sections broken up with images, calls to action, and other media. If your email subscriber can quickly scan the email, they are more likely to absorb the information.

8. Highlight the Facts First

The faster you grab the attention of the 21 percent of people who open promotional emails, the greater the chance you have to score better click-thru rates, and ultimately, better sales. 

In the first section of your email, highlight the campaign's who, what, and when. That means your subscriber knows who sent it, what is offered, and when the sale is happening.

9. Test, Test, and Test Again

You can test almost anything—from subject lines, images, and messaging to CTA buttons, send times, and even message length. 

With testing, you can learn and polish to create the most successful emails ever. You can learn a lot about specific successful elements from this method to boost the results of future campaigns.

10. Find Your Sweet Spot  

How many emails is too much? How much sales content will overwhelm your audience? You have to find your sweet spot. 

Use your campaign tracking data through marketing automation tools to help strike this balance. Use them to set actions based on variables like timing and prospect behavior.

Make Your Next Cannabis Email Campaign Count

There are really just three fundamentals of email marketing success. The first is to use SMART goals and KPIs before launch. With this information, you can then assess what tactics worked and whether the campaign was successful.

Second, make intelligent use of all data you can get your hands on. This data will help personalize the campaign for smart segmentation. Third, test different schedules, formats, subject lines, and styles to see how your customers respond. 

Rolled together into a comprehensive data-driven strategy, you can ensure that more subscribers open, rate, click, and buy. 

Interested in Learning More?

We understand the challenges that small businesses are facing. If you would like to learn more about shifting your marketing strategies to grow your market share and bottom line, let's have a conversation. Stay informed to receive our Marketing Matters White Paper Series and Newsletter. ‍

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