Daylight Saving Time: Why Retailers Should Reset Marketing Strategies and ‘Fall’ Into New Revenue

This Sunday, setting our clocks back an hour for Daylight Saving Time marks the move toward colder, shorter days — but it doesn't have to all be winter humdrum. November is the month of long-awaited Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping days, so retailers should jump at the chance to use Nov. 2 to reset both office clocks and all-important marketing strategies.

During the busy holiday season, timing is everything — especially when it comes to the battle of the inbox message that will get consumers buying both online and in-store. I've packaged up some tips and tricks on how to get timing down right so you can "fall" into seasonal revenue:

Fall Into the New and Improved
With holiday retail pressure in full swing, it's easy to settle into the comfort of pre-designed marketing campaigns and the same old holiday promotions. Use that extra hour this November to embrace a new retail season and "fall" into something different. For example, with the beginning of November, you can bet countless competitors will be running Thanksgiving promotions. Don't write off Black Friday specials, but wouldn't your customers love to see something unique, like a pajama and bedding sale in honor of National Sleep Comfort Month? Always take it back to your core audience; make it newsworthy, but keep it relevant.

PST, EST, Mountain Time or Personalized?
In today's competitive retail environment, customer communication is key. Both in-store and online, timing is everything. Industry standards for email marketing typically say 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and 3 p.m. on Thursdays are the best times to send emails. However, with valuable customers in different time zones, are you really delivering sales notifications and special offers at the right time? Segment your list and tailor your campaigns by buyer behavior, location and other factors to achieve higher open and clickthrough rates. Successful retailers look at data on when customers typically open emails or when they last opened an email from your brand and then personalize email delivery timing.