American retailers are stepping up their holiday email marketing strategies with increased references to Christmas-related terms, the latest Retail Email Index has shown.

According to the Retail Email Blog, the number of such keywords and phrases appearing in promotional messages doubled in the week ending on November 7th.

Meanwhile, the top 100 US retailers were found to have each sent nearly 2.4 messages on average, while the overall Retail Email Index rose by less than one percent to reach 236, a new high for the year to date.

Other terms frequently referred to in last week’s email campaigns included coats, boots, elections, winter and holiday parties.

According to a recent post on the Email Insider blog by Stephanie Miller, those looking to refine their email campaigns amid the current economic downturn should tailor their messages and discounts to the current prevailing mood instead of simply sending more of the same emails to consumers.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.