Christmas is just around the corner!
The preparations are in full swing—you can see the festive lights coming on, start to smell the turkey, and hear the carols in the distance.
It’s also time to start sending out your Christmas email campaigns. That’s the best way to spread the holiday cheer and thank your employees for their hard work and customers for loyalty.
But where do you even start?
Here!
We’ll give you Christmas newsletter ideas and show you how to write a successful holiday campaign.
In this article:
Automate your email marketing during the busy Xmas season
If you want more help with improving your marketing efforts, increasing sales, and generating more leads, check these out:
- What Is Chatbot Marketing? Benefits, Examples & Tips
- Sales Tools for Sales Representatives & Marketers
- Effective Lead Generation Tools & Software
First things first—what to write in a Christmas newsletter?
Let’s start with some thoughts and examples.
Christmas newsletter ideas for better engagement
Before we get to the great templates with beautifully designed backgrounds, you should remember one thing. And that is: your “Happy Holidays” newsletter campaign will be a flop if you don’t fill it in with great content.
So, here are six of the best Christmas newsletter ideas to ensure your holiday campaign is a success.
1. Pick a catchy call to action
But first—decide what you want to get out of this Christmas newsletter campaign.
Ask yourself why you are sending out these holiday emails. Do you want a high click-through rate? Conversions? Or increased customer satisfaction?
Decide what’s the most important outcome for you and optimize your holiday newsletters to reach that goal. For example, if you aim to increase sales, you’ll need to optimize the campaign for mobile devices, send your email at the right time, and include a clear call to action (CTA).
Here are some examples of Christmas CTAs you can incorporate in your client communication:
Read more: Learn the best ways to increase email click-through rate and check out some of the best tools to increase email marketing conversions.
2. Get shoppers to open your letter
Engaging subject lines and great content are a must! But your subscribers need to see your email come through first. So keep in mind that the time you send your Christmas business newsletter campaign matters. A lot.
Especially since the open rate drops from 12.6% on December 22nd to a mere 3.4% on December 25th.
Think about it. Who’s going to scroll through emails on Christmas Day? Nobody.
So, make sure you send the email earlier on to give yourself an advantage when it comes to your subscribers opening the campaign.
Read more: Discover the best Christmas marketing ideas to boost your sales this holiday season.
3. Include gift ideas and playful poems
Another one of the December newsletter ideas for business is to repurpose the “12 days of Christmas” by putting your products into the song’s lyrics for this purpose.
For example, if you have a clothes store, this could go something like:
| On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me: A Dungarees in a Fur Scrip On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 2 Purple Gloves and a Dungarees in a Fur Scrip On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 3 French Berets 2 Purple Gloves and a Dungarees in a Fur Scrip |
You get the point.
Automate your email marketing during the busy Christmas period
You can also match some of your products to your customers’ family members, partners, and friends. This way, you relieve the shoppers from the stress of not knowing what to buy for their parents and siblings. At the same time, this can increase your online sales as all the gift recommendations will be coming from your store.
It’s a win-win situation for you and your clients!
4. Make a countdown
You should consider adding a countdown timer as an addition to your email. It can truly make the click-through rate go through the roof!
Why is that?
Because this is one of the Xmas newsletter ideas that play on the FOMO effect. As studies show, people make impulsive purchase decisions when they feel like they’re missing out on something. And about 69% of Millennials admit they experience this fear.
So, simply add a clock that counts down the days until your sale is over, or until the shopper can be sure to get their products on time, or any other date of your choice.
One of the holiday newsletter examples comes from Thorntons:
Don’t you think that this email will persuade at least half of the recipients to get the alphabet truffles for their loved ones?
5. Provide free and fast deliveries
Free and fast deliveries are important aspects for shoppers all year round. But especially during the Christmas season! This time, people worry that the presents for their family and friends won’t arrive on time for the Christmas party.
In fact, research shows that 62% of customers expect their order to arrive within 3 days of the purchase. Our study into Black Friday trends confirms that. We found that fast and free delivery are the two most important factors when it comes to shopping for online deals.
What you need to do is remove the fear of late deliveries for your clients by putting forward a message that their order will arrive on time for Christmas.
You can even go a step further and tell your subscribers what actions you put in place to get their products delivered faster.
So, simply say something like “We’re working 24/7 tirelessly to get your order to you on time!” or present more details. For example, if you increased the number of delivery trucks and got more “helping elves” on board for the period, then state it in your Christmas holiday newsletter to increase the customers’ trust and confidence.
6. Add a game
Another holiday newsletter idea is to include games and use social media to spread the word.
You can do this by sending a Christmas trivia, scavenger hunt, or other games attached to your Christmas email newsletter. Let your clients enjoy it during the Merry season.
You can also prepare a Christmas competition. For example, if you choose to do a scavenger hunt for your clients, then join the game. Make the hunt about your company and put your Christmas products into the checklist. Then, give your clients a few days to send you photos of themselves holding the products and a checklist back. The first few people win a prize.
This is a good Christmas newsletter idea to show your company is a fun place and attract your customers to interact with you. They’ll also have to visit your store to pick up the items from the list, and once they’re there, you have a great chance of making a sale.
7. Use a playful tone for your offer
When writing Christmas newsletter greetings to your customers, staff, and business partners, ensure you use a light voice. You might think that it doesn’t match your brand voice—but here’s where we’ll stop you.
Light and playful tone in a Christmas message to clients is perfect for everyone from law firms all the way to kids stores.
That’s because it’s the time of the year when everyone wants to feel a little bit like a kid again, forget all their worries, and have a cozy time with their loved ones.
So, whether your December email topics are aimed at your employees or clients, you should ensure they’re heart-warming and cheerful! Look at this example from Rifle Paper:
8. Beware of Grinches
Be careful who you’re sending your “Happy Holidays” newsletters to. Because some of your customers and subscribers might not be big fans of this holiday.
How are you supposed to know? Well—that’s tricky. Because you can’t be sure. One Christmas campaign idea to help you win those clients over is to make your email fun. Try to make the recipients smile and engage with your brand through happy, all-inclusive content.
Also, remember that even Grinch came to love Christmas in the end! So ensure your email brings joy to everyone, even if they’re not in a cheerful mood YET.
Now you know what you should include as your Christmas newsletter content. See what works best for your company, and don’t be afraid to mix and match the suggestions. Something unique and very effective might come out of that!
But how to start a Christmas newsletter in the first place?
Let’s find out!
How to write a Christmas newsletter: tips & tricks
For your newsletter to be effective, you need to keep your goals and your target audience in mind. Ensure you personalize it for the receivers and put your message across in a fun way.
Okay, but where do you start?
In creating great Christmas subject lines!
Write an engaging holiday subject line
For your emails to be effective, you need to keep your goals and your target audience in mind. Ensure you personalize it for the recipients and put your message across in a fun way.
Okay, but where do you start?
With creating great Christmas subject lines!
Write an engaging holiday subject line
First of all, what do you write in your Christmas email subject lines so that customers actually open your email? This is very important as it’s the first step for them to see your beautifully crafted Christmas-themed newsletter.
Contrary to popular belief, you should not use emojis in the subject line.
We know, we know—it’s Christmas!🎄🎅🤶
But this can really do more harm than good. A study shows that emails that have emojis in their subject line have a 6% lower open rate, over 40% more unsubscribes, and a higher abuse complaint rate.
A better idea would be to just wish them a Merry Christmas and briefly say what they should expect from your email campaign. So, if you send them offers or games, include that in the Christmas newsletter subject line.
For example:
Read more: Find out more about email subject lines, how to write them effectively, and what to avoid.
Personalize your Christmas newsletter header
Put on a big “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” header—it’s a Christmas email campaign, after all!
And make it more personal by including the recipient’s name in the header. A study found that personalized emails generate six times higher transaction rates than general newsletters. Don’t miss out on that opportunity.
What better way to personalize your holiday communication than by addressing it directly to the person reading it?
Your Christmas email header is your virtual first impression, so make it good and engaging. That way you can get the customer to keep reading the holiday newsletters you prepared for them.
Read more: Learn how to write a professional email header with tips and examples.
Use an eye-catching Christmas newsletter layout
Your Christmas newsletter background should focus on your offer and what can you do to make your shoppers’ holiday extra merry.
But don’t forget that this is a Christmas newsletter email! So, don’t just reuse one of your other email marketing campaigns. Make something special for the occasion. This will increase the effectiveness of your emails.
Send Christmas wishes to your customers on autopilot
Speaking of the layouts, let’s look at some of the top templates you could use as your holiday email backgrounds.
Christmas newsletter templates
The best way to start a “Happy Holidays” newsletter campaign is by researching template ideas and getting inspiration from them. You can then use the Christmas newsletter samples or create your own email by mixing and matching the examples together on tools such as designmodo, Photopea, or Canva.
Some of the best Christmas newsletter template examples include:
| Template | Free | Recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Classy & elegant | ✅ | Employees and partners |
| Friendly | ✅ | Customers needing help with Christmas preparations |
| Modern | ✅ | Churned customers |
| Card | ✅ | Addition to your newsletter to customers |
| Year in review | $20💰 | Employees |
| Christmas sale | $15💰 | Customers who abandoned their carts |
| Christmas offer | $2.99💰 | Subscribers of fun companies |
| Gift recommendations | $9.90💰 | Showcase your products to clients |
Okay, let’s go over the Christmas emails ideas for business one by one, starting with some free options.
1. Classy & elegant business holiday email
These free Christmas email templates are minimalistic but elegant. You need to log in to Canva to use them, but the process of signing up shouldn’t take longer than a minute or two. You can customize the template to your needs by changing, removing, or adding any of the elements, like graphics, video, music, and text.
And once you finish personalizing the newsletter, you can download it in the file type that suits you best. Available file types include PNG, JPG, PDF, GIF, and MP4 video. You can also freely share this holiday newsletter idea with any of your employees so they can view or even edit it.
Canva is also available on mobile devices, so you can edit, download, and play around with these Christmas business newsletters on the go.
Recipients:
- Best for sending to employees and partners of your company
Main benefits:
- Fully customizable
- Can be shared and published on any channel
- Millions of images, icons, and graphics available
- Downloadable in JPG, PDF, GIF, and other file formats
Price:
- Free to use
2. Friendly business holiday newsletter
With these free holiday email templates, you can include some tips for Xmas preparations alongside the “Happy Holidays” wishes. You’ll need to learn how to use Canva to make the most out of it, but the platform is straightforward, so you can quickly understand its functions.
After signing up for a free account, you get instant access to this holiday newsletter example as well as many other layouts.
You can fully customize it with thousands of different elements, such as images, icons, and graphics. This idea also lets you share some recommendations for Christmas decor, meals, and other preparations.
Recipients:
- Best for small businesses who want to show how their products can help customers with preparations
- These are also great family Christmas email templates when you want to include some DIY holiday tips and suggestions for your close ones
Main benefits:
- Edit and download on any device
- Share and publish on any channel
- Wide variety of graphics, photos, and videos
- Collaborate in real-time with other team members
Price:
- Free to use
Read more: Learn how to use Tidio’s contact list and save emails from your site’s visitors into segments automatically.
3. Modern Christmas newsletter
This is one of the best holiday newsletter ideas because it helps you share the festive spirit with your customers and attract the churned clients back to your doors. You can download this Merry Christmas newsletter straight away and personalize it in Photoshop, HTML, or Outlook.
This Christmas newsletter template is modern with a dark background and beautiful design. It’s clear but captivating to help you attract customers to click through to your store and use the special offers you have in stock.
You can fully customize the look of this free Christmas newsletter example to match your needs. So, if you prefer to go with a different color scheme because your company’s primary color is blue, then go ahead and tweak it, so your subscribers get a familiar look when they open your email.
Recipients:
- Best for attracting churned customers back
- You can also send it to your existing customers and include a special gift for them
Main benefits:
- Fully customizable
- Useful suggestions for the text input
- Easy to use for beginners
- Download in PSD, Outlook, and HTML
Price:
- Free to use
Read more: Learn more about what customer retention is and strategies to build stronger relations. Check out some of the best retention software and what it can help you with.
4. Christmas newsletter business card
It’s more of an addition to your December campaign. This template is in the form of a Christmas card and adds an extra personalized touch for your clients.
Depending on your brand’s image and personality, you can make it fun and quirky or heartwarming and uplifting.
It brings modern twists to the classic December newsletter template and includes an editable front and back. You need to sign up to be able to use this free holiday newsletter example. But once you do, you can change the photos by simply double-clicking on the images, and the same goes for the text. This saves you time because you create the card in mere minutes.
Recipients:
- Everyone you’re sending a Christmas letter to
- Best for sending alongside your email to add an extra personal touch
Main benefits:
- Easily customizable
- Simple design
- Double-sided
- Printable version available for download
Price:
- Free to use
Moving on—
Those were the free Christmas newsletter templates you could edit and use for your campaigns. Now let’s go through some of the best paid options out there.
5. Year-in-review business Christmas newsletter
This is one of the Christmas work newsletter ideas perfect for an end-of-the-year recap as it lets you celebrate and share the big accomplishments.
You get an email with this holiday newsletter template, instructions on how to use it, how to crop photos, and general information about printing it right after your payment. There are three layouts included in the email, and you can use any of them.
All the photos and text are customizable, but the font stays the same. You’ll need seven landscape photos (6×4 format) and three vertical photos (4×6 format). The photos can be in BMP, PNG, JPG, and GIF files for your convenience and freedom of personalization. These sample holiday newsletters are available as a digital download in PDF and are designed to look best in letter size (8.5 x 11 inches).
Recipients:
- Best for sending to employees
- Perfect as a family Christmas newsletter with family photos and family members’ milestones
Main benefits:
- Instructions and advice provided
- Designed for both print and digital format
- All text and images customizable
- Only PDF download
Price:
- $20
| You need Adobe Reader to be able to use this template. You can use the free version of the software to enter information and photos. |
6. Christmas sale newsletter
Santa already arrived at your store and brought some Christmas sales in his bag? This holiday newsletter example is the perfect solution to display your products. And you’ll get instant access to this one and many others on the website after signing up for an account.
The design of this Merry Christmas email template with the ticking clock will create a feeling of a last-minute chance to get your products. It can also engage a type of customer who fears missing out.
You can drag and drop elements to edit all the text and photos. It’s fully responsive for mobile devices, and it can aid you in showing your products clearly and effectively without distracting the potential customer.
This fun Christmas newsletter idea works on most email service providers, such as Outlook, Gmail, MailChimp, etc., so you can send your campaign faster and easier. It was tested on 57 email services, and you can export it to HTML email builder, Outlook, Gmail, and MailChimp.
Recipients:
- Best for sending to your customers who abandoned their shopping carts
Main benefits:
- Drag and drop editor
- Fully responsive
- Exports to Gmail, Outlook, MailChimp, etc.
- Simple design
Price:
- Pricing plans for unlimited templates from $15 to $99/mo
- Free 14-day trial available
Read more: Learn how to write effective abandoned cart emails, why people abandon their carts, and how to increase your cart recovery rate.
7. Christmas offer newsletter
Sales are common and popular in this Holiday season. To jump on that trend, you need a newsletter. But not just any newsletter. You need a funny Christmas newsletter template to engage customers to click through and start their holiday shopping with your sales.
That’s what these sample holiday newsletters are all about. They’re not classy or chic, but they will bring a smile to the faces of your clients.
You can customize the text on the template, but the design will stay the same. It’s easy to print out and use as a digital product. So you can send your Christmas holiday wishes to customers as a physical copy and an email campaign.
Recipients:
- Best for sending customers to easy-going businesses
Main benefits:
- Easily printable
- Customizable text
- Simple to use
Price:
- $2.99
Read more: Discover how Endeksa used Tidio to boost its lead generation by 138%.
8. Christmas newsletter with gift suggestions
It’s an elegant and stylish way to present your products as gift recommendations to put under the Christmas tree for your customers’ loved ones. You get an email after making the payment. It includes a link to the template available in Canva and instructions for accessing it.
You can edit this unique Christmas email by changing the colors, text, images, and other elements. Then download the finished work to send out or share with colleagues to gain their opinions first.
This gift guide is not directly compatible with Mailchimp or other email marketing platforms. The file must be exported from Canva and then uploaded directly to the email marketing campaign.
Recipients:
- Best for ecommerce boutiques to showcase the products to customers as perfect gift ideas
Main benefits:
- Fully customizable
- Easy export as a PDF file
- Instructions for accessing the template included
Price:
- $9.90
You need basic knowledge of how to use Canva to edit the file. The template is editable on that platform, and no support or instruction on how to use Canva is included with the template. You can use this step-by-step guide to get you started.
Read more: Check out some more templates from Etsy and Canva. Also, get inspired with recommendations from Pinterest on how to make your Christmas email unique.
Three stages of Christmas newsletter campaigns
Sending of your Christmas email campaigns starts way ahead of the holiday and continues way after it. So, what are the three stages you should follow when distributing this year’s December newsletters?
Before Christmas
You might be surprised, but most people start their shopping before or at the beginning of December. In fact, only 12% of people who buy gifts for loved ones begin shopping after mid-December. This is your sign that you should send out the first batch of your letters early.
These Christmas newsletters build anticipation, create desire, and bring some traffic to your website before your sales even begin. And if you want to grow your revenue, why not start your sales earlier and beat the competition?
Some Xmas newsletter ideas to send pre-holidays include:
- Early bird discount codes
- Wishlist guides and gift suggestions
- Coming soon announcements
Be creative. Be funny. This will help you spread the word about your brand and make you unforgettable so that when shoppers are ready to buy, you’ll be their first stop.
During Christmas
The holiday season is busy for the shops and families alike. It starts right around a week before Christmas Day and ends after New Year’s Eve. The planning, the shopping, and the preparations create a busy atmosphere but they’re all worth the warm time with your family.
So, how can you make your business fit into this limited timeline? Try creating scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity with your emails. On top of that, get into the holiday spirit and say your season’s greetings in the email. This will help to match the fast-paced atmosphere of Christmas preparation and convince more buyers to purchase from you.
Some holiday newsletter ideas include:
- Countdown deals
- Add freebies or free shipping
- Create gift cards for late shoppers
You can also add promotional emails to upsell, cross-sell, and provide recommendations for bundles. Consider using automation tools to save time and keep everything organized during the busy season.
After Christmas
Christmas email marketing doesn’t stop at Christmas. This stage of your campaign is the time starting on Boxing Day. And after the Christmas cheer has been shared with family and friends, it’s time for your prospects to treat themselves to some deals. So, send out some post-Xmas newsletters with special offers to those clients.
You can include New Year’s wishes and make the receiver feel special with your email. This can improve customer experience with your business and boost your brand image.
Here are some New Year newsletter ideas:
- Year-end and post-Christmas special deals
- Extensions on the sales for loyal customers
- Discounts on Christmas-themed items
Remember to be understanding to the people who missed your deals because they were spending family time with their loved ones. The best end-of-year newsletter ideas include extending your wishes, being genuine, and appreciating their loyalty to your company.
Summary
And that’s all for now.
Look through the templates again and pick the right one for your business. Think about what kind of feeling you want your newsletter to have. Are you aiming to be funny, modern, chic, or helpful to the subscribers?
Then, look through the Christmas newsletter examples and creative recommendations to fill your email to the brim with great content.
A few quick tips for how to write a good Christmas newsletter:
- Keep it light and cheerful
- Send it at the right time
- Add some character with games, ideas, or a yearly review
Handing it over to you. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
