We're all aware of what's happening to the economy today. But what does this mean to you, the marketer? You're probably not sure where the future is headed. Some marketers tend keep their budgets at a minimum or on hold during economic distress. However, it's times like these that a higher marketing budget can pay off especially going into the holiday season.

Maintaining or increasing your budget during this holiday season is actually a good thing to consider. In fact, the best time to reach your email subscribers is between November and January. You should be ready with discount offers and new promotions to send to your subscriber list.

Also, your frequency of sending should be increased slightly. If you're regularly sending four times a month, try increasing to six times a month and see what happens to your numbers. You can experiment with the timing by doing a split test mailing. Just be careful not to overdo it, otherwise you'll risk annoying your customers.

So, how does one go about running a split test? It’s simple. Take the content from your next email campaign - the subject line, content, offer, images, etc. - and develop various alternatives. For example, you might test the same content, but with different subject lines. Or you might keep the subject line and content the same, but include a different promotional offer in the email. These are all good things to test during tough economic times. Keep in mind, consumers are most responsive to email offers that save them money (e.g. promotional offers and discounts).

This is what makes a good marketer a great marketer. Utilizing the tools at your disposal to continually hone your marketing efforts so you can be assured you’re sending the right message to achieve the results you seek.

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