Getting the attention of a client base at the last minute may not make sense any other time of year, but for the holiday season it’s a whole different game, with different rules. Last minute shoppers are a reality during a time of year when shopping becomes a full-contact sport, and the retailers that offer last-minute deals will be the ones to get the sale. However, it’s not always about offering a deal at the final hour; someimes it’s about stimulating the existing customers that just need a tad more incentive to get them out the door.

While most merchants have been busily getting their s lined up for a holiday season blitz on email marketing, online advertising, and traditional platforms to spread some buzz about sales and discounts for the season, there is a lot to be said for reminding the ones who have been waiting in the wings for their chance to shop, even if it seems like it’s too late.

Increasing social engagement is always a good thing, but the line between helpful reminders and spammy junk that ends up getting filtered away from the inbox is not doing anyone any good. One aspect that perhaps too many online marketers forget is that there are living humans on the other end, and the messages need to be crafted to elicit emotional responses, rather than simply driving them to hit the “delete” button upon contact.

A call to action is important if any kind of response is desired, but building one that gets the correct action is becoming more of a challenge as the years roll by. Shoppers are becoming more sophisticated, and at the same time, they are becoming more immune to repetetive efforts to extract buying impulses. In short, it’s time to change up the strategy, and the best time could be when they are already getting deluged with loads of emails that are not effectively differentiating themselves from each other.

One hot trend in mixing things up is the giveaway at the attention-getting level of interaction. Something as simple as a PDFfile that adds value to the message will be received with welcome. If increased traffic is the goal, a link to a useful site or landing page will make the click worthwhile to recipients.

Some shoppers will be highly impressed by a gesture that recognizes their value, like a message stating that they have been given a reward for being loyal customers for a certain amount of time. Also, there could be some potential behind choosing the top of the crop, and offering them a real surprise that engages them in a one-to-one marketing that I onl avcialable to the best or most loyal of the bunch.

Sometimes a gesture as simple as featuring a customer in a newsletter is all that’s needed. Electing a customer of the week, or similar form of recognition, can do wonders for repeat business and word of mouth advertising, especiallyfor merchants that work within tightly-knit markets.

Perhaps most important is the simple act of responding to queries and messages with an actual reply, not an automated message. As we near the end of the decade, it’s becoming quite apparen that the ones who remember to put a human element back into the technological stream of consciousness will be the winners.