I'm not going to tell you when's the best time to start sending holiday messages, but I will share my experience with one of my more visited websites, Land of Nod. I receive their catalog now, too, which is somewhat bothersome to me because A) I never requested this, and B) it's a waste of paper. But just the same, I received my first holiday email of the 2011 season from LOD on 9/27 with the subject line "We're getting decked out." While this was a pretty email, well branded and with a nice layout, I couldn't help but question if it was a mistake. I mean, September? We have yet to do the Halloween costume bit and Turkey dance. And here they are, boldy expressing love for their new ornaments and tree skirts. If it was a leak strategy, they were missing the "shh, don't tell anyone, but we're doing X" part. It was strange and, frankly, felt out of place, especially here in California with the sun shining and remnants of summer still in the air.
So how soon is too soon? I'm expecting some early bird holiday messaging to start trickling in in the next week or so and definitely by the beginning of November. To get a jump on your competitor, you should be collecting data on when they started their holiday campaigns over the last few years and send yours a week sooner. Or maybe you don't beat them to the punch, but you recognize the need to stand out, so you change up the creative to be less traditional red and green and more like the above. A clever subject line wouldn't hurt either. Try not to do the over done "Twas the night before Christmas" rhyme. I can't begin to tell you how so fifteen years ago that is.
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