Writing Holiday Greeting Emails Customers Open
Every December, inboxes fill with near-identical "Season's greetings" emails that nobody opens. Yours can be different. A holiday greeting email that feels personal, short and genuinely thankful gets opened, read and remembered, and it costs you nothing but an hour of careful writing. This guide shows you how to write one your customers will be glad to see.
Key takeaways
- A greeting email is a thank-you, not a sales email. Keep any offer small, optional and at the bottom, or leave it out.
- Subject lines that sound like a person writing to a person get opened more often than generic seasonal phrases.
- Write one specific memory or number from your year. Specific beats sparkly every time.
- Send to people who agreed to hear from you, and keep the unsubscribe link and postal address in place.
Most small businesses already send plenty of promotional email in the run-up to the holidays. The greeting email is the odd one out. It has one job: to make a customer feel noticed and appreciated. When it does that job well, it builds the kind of goodwill that shows up later as repeat orders, referrals and kind replies.
The planning of your whole seasonal campaign calendar is a separate topic. Here we focus on one message: the warm greeting you send once, near the end of the year, and how to write it so people actually open it.
Why most holiday greeting emails get ignored
Before you write, it helps to know what you are up against. Greeting emails tend to fail for a handful of predictable reasons.
- The subject line is generic. "Season's greetings from all of us" looks exactly like a dozen other emails arriving the same week.
- It is a sales email in disguise. Readers spot the discount code under the snowflakes and feel slightly tricked.
- It is all about the business. "We had an amazing year" is nice for you, but the reader wants to know why they should care.
- It is too long or too designed. Heavy image banners can load slowly, land in promotions folders and hide the actual message.
- It arrives at the busiest moment. Sending on the same days as every major retail promotion means competing with the loudest emails of the year.
Every one of these problems has a simple fix, and as a small business you actually know some customers by name.
Choose the right moment to send
Timing shapes whether your email gets a calm read or a quick delete. Think about your customers' calendars, not just your own.
Avoid the promotional peak
In 2027, US Thanksgiving falls on 25 November, followed by Black Friday on 26 November, Small Business Saturday on 27 November and Cyber Monday on 29 November. Inboxes are at their most crowded that week. A greeting email sent then competes with hundreds of sale announcements. Many small businesses get a better reception in early to mid December, or in the quiet days between Christmas and New Year.
Match the holidays your customers celebrate
Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and some of your customers will have marked Diwali, Hanukkah or other festivals at different times of the year. If you know your audience well, you can time a greeting to the occasion that matters to them. If you do not, a warm end-of-year or new-year message is inclusive and lands well with almost everyone.
Pick a day and time you can test
There is no universal best day. Look at your own past email reports and note when your audience usually opens. If you have no data yet, send mid-morning on a weekday in your customers' main time zone, then compare the result next year.
Pro tip
If you serve customers in both the US and the UK or Europe, schedule the email by time zone if your email platform supports it. A message that arrives at 7 a.m. local time feels more personal than one that lands at 2 a.m.
Write subject lines that feel personal
The subject line decides whether anything else you write gets seen. For a greeting email, aim for something that sounds like a real person wrote it, because a real person did.
Here are patterns that tend to work for greeting emails, with examples you can adapt:
- Plain thanks. "Thank you for this year, Sam"
- A small, honest note. "A quick note from the workshop"
- A specific detail. "1,200 orders packed by hand (yours included)"
- A question. "Can we say thank you properly?"
- The founder's name. Sending from "Priya at Northfield Candles" instead of just "Northfield Candles"
Keep the subject line short enough to read on a phone, skip ALL CAPS and pile-ups of emoji, and do not promise something the email does not deliver. Pair it with a preview text line that adds a second reason to open, such as "No sale, no catch, just a thank you."
Common mistake
Writing a subject line that hints at a gift or deal when the email is only a greeting. Customers notice the bait and switch, and it damages trust you have spent all year building. If there is no offer, say so. Honesty is surprisingly disarming in December.
Structure the email in five short parts
A good greeting email is short. Most land somewhere between 100 and 200 words. Follow this structure and you will rarely go wrong.
- Open with the reader. Start with their name if you have it, and a line about them, not you. "You helped us more than you know this year" works better than "What a year it has been for us."
- Share one specific moment. A first wholesale order, a new product customers suggested, a flood in the stockroom you got through. One real detail makes the whole email believable.
- Say thank you plainly. Thank them for something concrete: their orders, their reviews, their patience during a delay, their kind messages.
- Mention anything practical. Holiday opening hours, last order dates or a short closure. Keep it to one or two lines.
- Sign off as a person. Use a real name, and if it suits your brand, a short personal postscript.
Find the right tone and inclusive wording
Your greeting should sound like your brand on a good day. A bakery can be cozy and playful. An accounting firm can be warm but more measured. Whatever your voice, a few principles help.
Write the way you speak
Read your draft out loud. If you would never say a sentence to a customer at your counter, rewrite it. Swap "We extend our warmest wishes" for "We hope you get a proper rest this month."
Choose inclusive greetings when you are unsure
"Happy holidays", "Warm wishes for the new year" and "Thank you for this year" include everyone. If you know a segment celebrates a specific holiday, you can address it directly. Avoid assuming everyone is with family or celebrating, since the season is hard for some people. A line such as "However you spend the coming weeks, we hope they are kind to you" is gentle and inclusive.
Keep the design light
A single image, a short block of text and a clear signature are enough. If you use images, add alt text so the message still makes sense when images are blocked.
A copyable holiday greeting email template
Use this as a starting point and replace every bracket with something true and specific to your business.
Template: holiday greeting email
Subject: Thank you for this year, [first name]
Preview text: No sale, no catch, just a proper thank you.
Hi [first name],
Before the year wraps up, I wanted to say thank you. This year you [ordered from us / left a review / recommended us to a friend], and that genuinely kept our small team going.
One moment stands out: [specific moment, such as "the day our new winter range sold out because customers like you asked for it"].
Our holiday hours: [dates]. The last day to order for delivery before [holiday] is [date].
However you spend the coming weeks, we hope they are restful and kind to you.
Warmly,
[Your name], [role] at [business name]
P.S. [Optional: a tiny personal note, a photo of the team, or a simple reply invitation such as "Hit reply and tell us what you would love to see from us next year."]
Segment planning template
You do not have to send the same words to everyone. Copy this table to plan a few versions. The segments and numbers below are made-up examples.
| Segment | Example size | Personal detail to mention | Send date | Offer included? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loyal repeat customers | 180 contacts | "You have been with us since our first market stall" | 8 December | No, thank-you only |
| First-time buyers this year | 420 contacts | "Welcome, we are so glad you found us" | 10 December | Small optional welcome code |
| Wholesale and trade partners | 25 contacts | A specific order or project you worked on together | 13 December | No |
Hypothetical example
Imagine Leo runs a small online tea shop. Last year he sent a heavily designed "Holiday Sale" email the week of Black Friday and saw few replies. This year he sends a plain email from his own name on 9 December with the subject "Tea, thanks and a quick update". He mentions that customers voted for the new spiced blend, thanks them and invites replies. Dozens write back with their favorite blends, giving him ideas for next year.
Stay compliant and protect deliverability
Even a warm greeting is still a marketing email in most cases, so the usual rules apply. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the official guidance or ask a qualified professional if you are unsure.
- US. CAN-SPAM requires a clear way to unsubscribe and a valid physical postal address in commercial emails. Keep both in your footer, even on a greeting.
- UK and EU. PECR and GDPR rules on consent apply to marketing emails. Send greetings only to people who opted in or who fall within the rules for existing customers, and honor every unsubscribe.
- List hygiene. Remove addresses that bounce and consider leaving out contacts who have not opened anything in a long time. Sending to an engaged list helps your email reach inboxes rather than spam folders.
Email platforms such as Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Kit and Brevo let you add personalization, segment your list and schedule by time zone. Features change often, so check each one's current features, pricing and privacy policy before you rely on it.
Use AI to draft, not to write for you
AI writing tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grammarly can help you brainstorm subject lines, tighten a draft or adjust the tone. They are useful for getting past a blank page. The risk is that AI drafts tend to sound polished but generic, which is exactly what makes greeting emails forgettable.
Use AI for the scaffolding, then add the details only you know. Do not paste customer personal data into AI tools without checking their privacy policies.
Your holiday greeting email checklist
- Pick a send date away from the busiest promotional week
- Choose the segments you will write for and their personal detail
- Write three subject line options and pick the most human one
- Add preview text that gives a second reason to open
- Include one specific moment from your year
- Say thank you for something concrete
- Add holiday hours and last order dates in one or two lines
- Sign off with a real name
- Check the unsubscribe link, postal address and consent status
- Send a test to yourself on a phone and a computer
Frequently asked questions
Should a holiday greeting email include a discount?
It does not have to. Many businesses find a pure thank-you builds more goodwill. If you want to include an offer, keep it small, place it after the greeting and make clear it is optional, so the email still reads as a thank-you first.
Is it better to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays"?
It depends on your audience. If you know a group of customers celebrates a specific holiday, addressing it directly can feel warm. When you are not sure, inclusive wording such as "Happy holidays" or "Warm wishes for the new year" welcomes everyone.
How long should a greeting email be?
Short. Aim for something a customer can read in under a minute on a phone. A few short paragraphs, one specific detail, a clear thank-you and a real signature are usually enough.
Can I send a greeting email to everyone who ever bought from me?
Only if your consent and email marketing rules allow it. In the US, include an unsubscribe option and postal address. In the UK and EU, check that PECR and GDPR consent rules are met before sending marketing messages.
Related reading
The bottom line
A holiday greeting email customers open is short, specific and sincere. Send it away from the loudest sales days, write a subject line that sounds like a person, share one real moment from your year and thank people for something concrete. Keep the compliance basics in place and let any offer take a back seat.
Block out an hour this week, draft your email with the template above and schedule it for early December. The replies you get back may be the nicest messages in your inbox all year.
