By Richard Buss

The period between Thanksgiving and New Year is notoriously slow for all businesses except retail. For about five weeks, people are so involved in the holiday hustle and family visits that adult entertainment sales can drop dramatically.

Don’t let that curtail your email marketing. Mainstream digital marketing platform Listrak offered a few suggestions to help companies power through the holiday doldrums. With a little creativity, they can work just as well in adult.

Send more email, not less. Listrak’s research indicated sending an additional four emails during the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas can provide an average return on investment of $59.25 per dollar spent.

Time delivery. Try sending email at different times of day to catch recipients when they have time on their hands. Listrak suggested sending marketing messages in the evening, so users receive them after dinner. That time of day is common for website traffic spikes.

Take advantage of “special” days. Mainstream retailers hit their mail lists hard on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when people are looking for deals. Some send as many as three emails on Cyber Monday alone. Don’t be afraid to follow their lead.

Give a gift. The holidays are all about gift-giving, and shopping begins in earnest during the first two weeks of December. Listrak suggests adding extra emails during the week following Cyber Monday. Offer some kind of special freebie in each one, but make consumers visit your website to claim it.

Tailor the message. The more you know about your email subscribers, the better you can customize offers. Data has power. Don’t forget to use it.

Richard Buss is the senior account manager for YNOT Mail and director of products and services for YNOT Group LLC.