Return to All Resources Simple strategies to spin effective holiday email campaigns 5 Minute Read Email Marketing Marketing Strategy Recommended for you 11 tips for post-holiday customer activation Empathy for the holidays: Why personalization matters in marketing CordialSend a better message. Holidays make a beautiful opportunity to engage your customers. And those winter holidays messages can be especially effective if you dazzle your audience with compelling subject lines, stunning images, clever copy, and crystal clear calls to action — with extra jingles of customer personalization. We’ve collected a few holiday email campaigns from previous years to inspire you to create your own, each highlighting a particular aspect of effective holiday email marketing. Holiday email campaign examples 1. Extend gratitude — and encourage more. Airbnb hits the nail on the head with its Happy Holidays email campaign, which helps travelers thank their hosts. It starts strong by focusing the message on gratitude. Then it encourages engagement by suggesting customers send more cards to other hosts. The result? More of the community magic that makes Airbnb special. Oh, and customers might also check out holiday getaways while they’re on the app. It’s brilliant. See full example. 2. Spread the cheer with shareable offers. Starbucks packs a punch in this email showcasing its partnership with Uber Eats. Recipients are immediately drawn to the crisp visual of the classic Starbucks holiday cup. The email copy itself is simple and straightforward with a clear and persuasive call to action. And the promotion cleverly makes it easy for you to share a coffee with friends and family. “Merry, delivered” indeed! See full example. 3. Offer gift suggestions. One of the challenges of the holidays is choosing a present. AllTrails provides the perfect suggestion: Give the gift of adventure. This starter is followed up by clean copy explaining their product and why it’s the ideal gift. See full example. 4. Remind customers of holiday FOMO. Watching a holiday movie is an essential part of the season. Disney+ makes the most of this with an email offering the best of their collection. It’s a reminder to people who have canceled their subscription about what they’re missing. Beautiful visuals do most of the heavy lifting, but let’s give a special shout-out to the writer who came up with, “Have yourself a merry little movie night.” See full example. 5. Make celebrating easier. This Uber email speaks to holiday party hosts. It’s spot on with its message focused squarely on safety and convenience. We love the simple text and the slightly moving images offer just the right amount of holiday cheer. See full example. 6. Show your brand’s holiday spirit with cheery visuals. Tacos aren’t traditional holiday chow in most places around the world, but you wouldn’t know it from this clever marketing campaign. Taco Bell serves up their holiday email fresh nailing the holiday spirit while somehow managing to stay on brand. See full example. 7. Adapt your brand’s use cases to the holidays. Google uses the holidays as an opportunity to showcase its home assistant, and it works beautifully. We love that the email provides value, demonstrating how to use their product. The images are spot on, and the clever holiday wordplay is a delight. Plus, they include an opportunity to donate to charity. Season of giving indeed. See full example. 8. Offer immediate value in the season of giving. In this email, Apple offers a wide range of uses for its payment solutions, and they do it in style. We love that they start off with a promotion, providing the reader with immediate value. The images are festive but unique. And “Less shopping, more bottle popping” wins a nod for best copy in a supporting role. See full example. 9. Make it timely and localized. Rentalcars offers a good example of timely, localized personalization in its holiday email campaign. Their video holiday card feels both classic and current. The Santa hat on the logo also adds a nice touch. See full example. 10. In a hectic season, be simple and helpful. In their holiday email, Fossil shows us they’re classic without being boring. The holiday pun adds flavor without causing eye rolls, and their gift guide is simple but effective. Like the visuals, the message is simple and crisp. See full example. More ideas for personalized email campaigns Email strategies for loyalty and rewards programs 10 recommendations emails to win customers 10 effective win-back emails from top brands Welcome email examples from leading brands Send a better holiday message Looking to up your holiday email game? Cordial can help. It allows you to combine your real-time customer data with your marketing across channels, and all inside a single platform. To learn more, check out the platform features or request a demo. Our best content to your inbox, every month Picked For You Article Nearly half of Gen Z, Millennials to rely on “buy now, pay later” this holiday season As shoppers stretch their holiday budget, a survey of 1,000 consumers from the customer service… Article Intro to personalized marketing with top stats and brand examples Ready or not, digital transformation is here. And with it comes opportunities to use data… Future-thinking brands choose Cordial to drive record-level customer engagement and revenue growth Get a demo