Your Holiday Sending Packing List
Gear up for holiday sending with tools and resources that will set up your email program for sweet success.
Introduction
Even though the year is technically winding down, Q4 can often feel like an exhausting upward climb. Ambitious goals, inconsiderate executives, late nights, last-minute changes, and something that always goes wrong—sound familiar?
It doesn’t have to.
There are fantastic tools at your disposal to transform your uphill slog into a smooth descent.
In this holiday sending packing list, you’ll find blog articles, guides, and webinars designed to give you essential tools to streamline and optimize your email program.
It all starts with the right holiday email sending gear.
Up Next
Holiday Campaigns Start With Your List
Chapter 2
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Holiday Campaigns Start With Your List
There’s no holiday email campaign without a homegrown, topnotch email list to send it to. With the holidays right around the corner, it’s prime time to give your list some much-needed TLC. Here are a few tips and tools to keep handy in your holiday sending pack.
12 Tried-and-True Email List Signup Forms and Tips
Whether your email list is 1,000 or 1 million strong, you need signup forms to keep it growing. If you’re looking for some signup form inspiration, start your trek here. You’ll find a variety of irresistible ideas to get subscribers jumping to join your list—plus tips for creating compelling signup forms.
Grow your contact list with up to 15 Signup Forms.
Marketing Campaigns Advanced Plan
With your email list healthy and growing, you’ll need to follow a few best practices to keep it polished and rust-free.
- Enable Double Opt-In. Double opt-in is an ideal method for collecting email addresses because it requires your recipient to demonstrate a genuine desire to receive your emails.
- Validate Addresses. Close to 10% of all email addresses captured on your site are invalid or fake. Get caught sending to those emails, and you can say bye-bye to your deliverability rates. With our newly released Email Validation API, you can verify emails before sending them—decreasing bounces and increasing delivery rates to the intended mailbox.
- Clean Your List. Just like you always need to maintain your trekking gear, make it a habit to scrub your email list regularly. Remove invalid, non-responsive, and duplicate email addresses as often as you can. Do it before and after the holiday season to keep your list squeaky clean.
Up Next
Take a Load Off Your Shoulders With Automation
Chapter 3
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Take a Load Off Your Shoulders With Automation
Email automation can feel daunting and cumbersome, but it’s far from the challenging mountain it’s made out to be. With the right tools and a little know-how, automation can help you create deeper connections with your audience and save you a boatload of time.
Email Marketing Automation—It’s Easier Than You Think
Despite automation’s clear benefits, only half of companies currently use it. Why? Because trying new things can be intimidating. Not to worry—our email experts will show you just how easy automation can be.
3 Email Marketing Automation Mistakes To Avoid
Don’t get over ambitious too quickly. While email automation can provide necessary relief, you’ll want to be aware of a few common pitfalls. Armed with these insights, you’ll be prepared to create powerful automations while avoiding catastrophe.
How to Build Your First Email Automation With Marketing Campaigns Free Plan
Ready to build your first email automation? Go on a step-by-step walkthrough with one of our email experts and learn to build a high-quality automation from scratch. From account signup to sending your first campaign, see what the entire process looks like.
Up Next
Test, Test, and Test Some More
Chapter 4
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Test, Test, and Test Some More
Email testing is a sure-fire technique for breaking in new email tactics and ensuring the quality of every message you send. Just like you wouldn’t want to wear a brand new pair of boots on a difficult long hike, you wouldn’t want to blindly experiment with fancy GIFs or countdown clocks during your important holiday campaigns. That’s where email testing comes in handy.
Email Testing Walkthrough and Examples: Send Flawless Emails Every Time
Don’t let image rendering, broken links, or spam filters get in the way of your sending success. This post will teach you how to confidently test your emails to perfection. No more “uh-oh”s or “whoopsies.”
Up Next
Holiday Email Inspiration
Chapter 5
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Holiday Email Inspiration
With your holiday pack full of signup forms, automation best practices, email testing tools, and more, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty details. We can’t create your holiday campaigns for you, but we can provide enough holiday inspiration to get your wheels turning.
Email Marketing Tips From Holidays Past
What better place to find email inspiration than in the inbox? Whether you’re looking for subject line or email design genius, here are real-life holiday emails that cut through the noise.
3 Ideas for Thank You Email Campaigns
We ask a lot of our customers, especially during the holiday hubbub: buy this, look at that, sign up here. It’s a lot, which is why it’s so important to take a step back and show your gratitude with a kind “thank you” campaign.
Check out our free template gallery for grade-A, pre-built email templates.
Holiday Templates Galore
Up Next
Make Sure Your Emails Reach the End Destination
Chapter 6
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Make Sure Your Emails Reach the End Destination
Whether you send transactional or marketing emails, it’s critical your emails reach the inbox— especially during the holiday season. It doesn’t matter how clever and beautiful your email campaign is if nobody ever sees it. With a few tools and resources, you can take control of your deliverability and ensure your emails finish their journey.
SendGrid’s 2019 Email Deliverability Guide
Guaranteeing your deliverability is never a one-and-done task. It’s something you need to constantly monitor and maintain. Every year, we update our Email Deliverability Guide to give you the latest and greatest best practices to protect your delivery rates—so rest assured, this advice is as new and relevant as it gets.
If delivery isn’t your thing and you’d like a little help, consider partnering with our experts. We offer a variety of services to take your email program to the next level. Whether you need help with implementation or ongoing support, we have options for customers of every size and budget.
Up Next
Pack It Up
Chapter 7
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Pack It Up
When it comes to packing, more is never better. We believe in taking the same approach with your holiday email program—keep it streamlined, minimalist, and oh-so efficient. We hope this packing list has provided you with the necessary tools to help your program smoothly navigate from Point A to Point B this holiday season.
Happy sending!
