Season Finale: Labor Day 2007

A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:

Start to finish: The first reference to Labor was on Aug. 2 from Cabela’s and the last reference was on Sept. 4 from JC Whitney.

The distribution curve: Retailers sent the majority of Labor Day-themed emails after Aug. 31. The biggest days for Labor Day emails were Friday, Aug. 31, followed by Sunday, Sept. 2.



Surprises: I was surprised to see HSN changing up their standard subject line in a Labor Day email. Normally HSN uses the same ol’ subject line week after week for all their emails: “Your Featured Products of the Week.” While subscribers will recognize the subject line as that of an HSN email because it never changes, the subject line doesn’t include the HSN branding and doesn’t contain anything timely or specific to encourage opens. But in an Aug. 30 Labor Day email, they used the subject line “Your Featured Products for the Week: Pre-Labor Day Clearance Blowout”—which tells subscribers that they’re having a sale and adds urgency because the sale is connected to Labor Day.

Subject line trend: Of all the Labor Day emails that mentioned the holiday in their subject lines, half included “Labor Day” at or toward the beginning of the subject line, a quarter had those words in the middle somewhere, and a quarter had them at or toward the end. So there’s a pretty strong preference for mentioning Labor Day at the beginning of subject lines, which might indicate that subscribers respond better when they’re in that position within the subject line.

Standout subject lines:
Furniture.com, 9/3 — Take a break from the grill - This sizzling deal ends at Midnight!
SmartBargains, 9/3 — Just hours to go! Labor Day Weekend Sale ends soon
Sharper Image, 8/29 — Take $20 Off: Labor Day is Play Day!

Read previous Labor Day Season Finales: 2006

Read previous posts about Labor Day emails.
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