"The holiday season is the most important time of year for retailers, when aggressive goals are set for increased traffic and sales, both in-store and online," says eROI's Alex Williams in a MarketingProfs article on key takeaways from his podcast with Chad White of Smith-Harmon.

As you experience this holiday season's campaigns and results, make sure you record key data to analyze for next year, Williams and White advise. Here are some points to keep in mind to help ensure ongoing holiday-marketing success:

Analyze campaign results early. According to Williams and White, you shouldn't wait until mid-August—when you're ramping up for the next holiday season—to analyze results from the previous year. Do it early, and do it often. "When examining campaigns from last year," says Williams, "look at your big wins, big misses, and how people responded to certain aspects of the campaign, including frequency, subject lines, calls-to-action, etc."

Mold your holiday strategy upfront. Email marketers break campaigns into two distinct periods: pre-holiday, which runs from mid-August to mid-November; and holiday, which runs from mid-November through the end of December. Williams and White stress the importance of a pre-holiday strategy that lays the groundwork for your holiday push. For instance: "Asking [subscribers] questions in an email during September regarding products they are interested in, preferred email timing and frequency, and preferred point of purchase (online or in-store) can do wonders to help improve the response you receive during your November and December mailings."

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