21 Festive Email Ideas to Rock Your December Marketing Campaigns
December is the perfect time to infuse your email marketing strategy (or jump-start it) with a touch of ✨ holiday cheer ✨.
In this article, we’ve compiled a treasure trove of 21 email ideas to help you engage and connect with your subscribers and customers.
I’m confident you’ll find something that will work for your business and audience. And if not, give me a shout, and I’ll brainstorm some ideas with you.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
Share Plans for the Year Ahead
Perhaps you’re adding a new service or product in the new year that your email list can get the inside scoop on.
Showcase Highlights from the Current Year
Did you hit a new milestone in your business or move offices? Sharing your journey and milestones helps your community feel more connected to you.
Send a Happy Holidays Message
This can be as simple or complex as you like — from a nice photo and message to you and your employees singing a song. Get creative and have fun with it. Canva has many fun templates for this to get you started. Modify the template using your brand colors and fonts.
New Year’s Resolutions
Share your resolutions with your community. Encourage them to share theirs as well.
Express Your Gratitude
Share your heartfelt thanks to your community. Simple, right?
Create a Limited Offer
Offer a discount for booking now for a January service. This is an excellent way to front-load your January income, which is traditionally slow for many industries, and give your customers something special.
Host a Raffle or Giveaway
The prize could be one of your products or services — or you could collaborate with other businesses and share the spotlight.
Offer Tips Related to Your Industry
Try tying it into the holiday season. For example, you could send a tip daily for 12 days.
Offer an Insider Exclusive
Create an exclusive bonus or incentive for email subscribers or current customers.
Create a Customer Q&A
Collect your most frequently asked questions and provide detailed answers.
Show Customer Appreciation
Share appreciation for unique repeat customers. Be specific, whether for being a long-time customer or someone new for trying your business. Perhaps you have customers who always give you referrals, or they simply brighten your day when you see them.
Provide a Daily Dose of Inspiration
Send out inspiration from you and your team. Tie it to your products or services if possible.
Highlight a Service or Offer
Do you have something unique to offer, but it’s not being utilized? This could be a service or product feature that might be getting overlooked.
Create a VIP Bonus
Can you add something to your current products or services that adds a little delight? Treat your loyal customers to a little gift to make them feel special and appreciated.
Share Funnies from the Year
Are there some humorous happenings you can round up and share with your audience? This makes you more relatable and shows you can laugh at yourself. Just be sure you’re not doing this at someone else’s expense.
Ask a Question
What is one thing I can help you with next year? What would you like to know about _____________? How could I make _____________ better for you?
Share a Pledge
Are you making efforts to be more earth-friendly in the new year? Share those goals with your audience. Then, share your journey on this pledge throughout the year.
Quick Tip
To get more out of your copy, turn these into accompanying social posts and a blog post with the same theme. Don’t worry about being repetitive — it’s unlikely your audience will see all of your posts, emails, and articles. And if they do, it just helps make you more memorable.
Send a Video Greeting
To create a deeper connection with your audience, why not send them a video message rather than another long email to read? It’s a lovely way to get creative and add a bit of personality to your brand. Simply record on your phone and share a link to the video, which you could host on Vimeo, Loom, or YouTube. Create a fun preview image in Canva.
Share a Glimpse Into Your Day
If the holiday season is busy, your audience may enjoy seeing you behind the scenes. How do you get all those packages out the door?
Offer Gift Certificates
Do you offer gift certificates? Share an exclusive gift certificate offer with your valued customers and encourage them to share the love with a friend. This boosts end-of-year revenue and opens the door to welcoming new customers in the upcoming year.
Share Your Favorite Things
This could be a gift guide or your own products. If you are a brick-and-mortar, share local favorites in your town. Everyone loves to discover a new product, restaurant, book, you name it. It’s even better when it comes from someone they know and follow.
And for a little bonus, here are a few quick tips to increase your email open rate and engagement:
Create a catchy subject line and headline. I use the Headline Analyzer from Coschedule to check mine. And if you have trouble coming up with a headline you like, ask ChatGPT to create headline variations. It might not create precisely what you’re looking for, but it will provide some new inspiration.
Format your copy so it’s easy to read. Break out your text into smaller bites. Use numbers, bolding, or sub-headlines to give the eye something to land on
Include images. Our brains love imagery. The human brain can process an image 60,000 times faster than text
If You Include a Call to Action:
Be clear on what you want your audience to do. This is not the place to be coy.
Don’t confuse your audience. Ask them to do one thing. When you create too many options, you risk losing their attention. Don’t make them think!
Finally, make your CTA easy to find. Don’t bury it in your text; use a color for your CTA that is pleasing to the eye and stands out. Ideally, this is one of your brand colors, and avoid red. Here’s an example:
With these 21 email ideas at your fingertips, you can make December (and January) a month of connection, gratitude, and growth in your business.
Whether you’re reflecting on your achievements from the past year, extending warm holiday wishes, or sharing exciting plans for the future, these email topics will help you build a stronger connection with your audience and help set the stage for a successful year ahead.
Remember, every email you send is an opportunity to engage, inspire, and delight your subscribers.
Happy emailing!
