“If you now have in place a customer data platform (CDP), such as Oracle Unity, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity this holiday season to observe customers’ behaviors across identified and pseudonymous channels and then use machine learning to identify which channels and content are working best. These insights allow you to target small, homogenous groups of customers, increasing both customer relevance and customer spend.

Patrick Maxwell, Senior Director of Solution Architecture,
Oracle Marketing Consulting

December is a fiercely competitive time and you can gain a key advantage if you can pivot quicker than your competitors. One way to do this is planning contingency and evergreen offers in advance. That way, if shopping behaviors shift, you’ll have specific value props at the ready. For ideas, review your campaigns from across channels from last year, as well as those of your competitors, both direct and in‑direct.

Scott Multer, Executive Creative Director,
Oracle Marketing Consulting

Retailers that have category browse abandonment triggers in place should review those campaigns with a holiday lens. Pay close attention to the product categories and product assortments you plan to promote during the holidays so these triggered emails can amplify the impact of planned promotional campaigns.

Chris Wilson, Strategic Director of Analytic & Strategic Services,
Oracle Marketing Consulting

We’ve developed several production efficiencies to be able to handle the 3‑4X increase in email volume that we experience with some of our clients. We map out send dates, holidays, sales, etc.—and have it all approved in advance. Next, we create email wireframes outlining our content plan. This provides clear messaging direction to our team members before they start work on a campaign.

Nick Cantu, Creative Director for Creative Services,
Oracle Marketing Consulting