Writing Christmas messages for clients who'll get forty others that week

It's the second week of December. You've closed out the last invoice of the month, and the holiday email is sitting in drafts: Happy Holidays from all of us at Brightline Design! Enjoy 15% off all services through Dec 31. It's tidy. It's on brand. And it will land in the same inbox as forty others that say almost exactly the same thing.

A good Christmas message for clients thanks them for something specific, is written to that person or that company, and asks for nothing back. Below are 18 messages sorted by situation, ready to copy and adjust. First, the three things that make the difference.

1. One detail from your year together. The first order, the project that went sideways and got saved, the dog who now walks into the shop on his own.
2. A thank-you with no offer attached. If there's a discount code, it isn't a greeting. It's a campaign.
3. A real person's name at the bottom. The Team at Summit Solutions LLC doesn't shake anyone's hand. Dana, from the print shop does.

The details in these messages are examples. Swap in what you actually lived through with each client.

• Mrs. Patterson, you still pay by check and still ask about our kids by name. Thank you for another year of visits and for sending half the neighborhood our way. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Rita.
• Greg, you've trusted us with your truck through two cross-country moves and one very long winter. Thanks for always doing your best impression of the noise it's making. Happy holidays, and safe travels. Mike and the crew.
• Merry Christmas, Alicia. You were our first booking back in January and you're our last one this December. We like a client who bookends the calendar.

• Hi Jordan. You came in for one picture frame in August and left with a plan for the whole hallway. We've enjoyed watching that wall fill up. Thanks for choosing us, and Merry Christmas.
• Merry Christmas, Priya. Your first project with us started with a 7 a.m. voicemail and a very clear sketch, and it came out exactly like the sketch. Thank you for trusting us with it.

The tone is more formal, but the detail still does the work. Talk about the work you did together, not about your company.

• Dear Harbor Logistics team, this was the year we moved three warehouses' worth of stock together without a single missed pickup. Thank you for the partnership and the straight answers. We wish you a restful holiday season and a smooth start to the new year.
• Dear Karen, thank you for another year of working together. The October audit could have gone sideways, and it didn't, largely because your team answered every request within the hour. Happy holidays to you and your team.
• To the procurement team at Westfield Group: thank you for a year of clear purchase orders and quick sign-offs. Our office closes for the holidays on the 23rd, and we'll be back in touch the second week of January.

• Merry Christmas, neighbors. You kept walking around the cones all summer while the road out front was dug up, just to get your morning coffee here. We noticed every one of you.
• This year we replaced the oven, lost a week to a burst pipe and reopened because you showed up with buckets and mops. There's no good way to thank you for that. Happy holidays to everyone who's walked through this door.
• Thank you for shopping local this year, even when the delivery app was one tap away. We know who takes oat milk and who always pays in exact change. Happy holidays, and see you in January.

Keep a text to four lines at most. Send it one-to-one, with their name, and never in a group thread where everyone can see everyone else's number.

• Merry Christmas, Monica. Thanks for every Thursday class this year, even the 6 a.m. ones. See you back on the mat in January.
• Happy holidays, Marcus. Your fence made it through every storm this fall, and we're taking a little credit. Call us anytime.

In an email, the subject line decides whether it gets opened. Make it sound like a person wrote it, such as Thank you for this year, Danielle, rather than Season's Greetings from Company X.

• Danielle, before we close for the break I wanted to thank you directly. You were the first client to try our new booking system, and every bug you reported got fixed because you took the time to write it up. Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year. Sarah, founder.

Cards still carry weight here. In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service, citing the Greeting Card Association, reported that about 1.6 billion Christmas cards are sold each year, making them the most popular seasonal card. A business card in that pile stands out only if a human touched it. Two handwritten lines over a printed message change everything.

• Thank you for being part of our year. The handwriting on this card is Ana's; she has packed every one of your orders since spring. Happy holidays.
• Merry Christmas. You ordered from us in every season this year, which makes you officially part of the calendar here. Thank you for that.

For more short lines, see what to write in a Christmas card. If you want to send something along with the card to your closest clients, there are ideas in thank-you gift ideas and in these Christmas gift box ideas.

Not every client celebrates Christmas. When you don't know, happy holidays or season's greetings works for everyone without sounding cold.

• Season's greetings, and thank you for a year of good work together. We hope the break brings rest and long dinners.
• Wishing you a peaceful end to the year. It's been a pleasure working with you, and we're already looking forward to what comes next.

• The greeting with a coupon. Merry Christmas! Use code HOLIDAY15 is an ad wearing a bow. If you want to run a promotion, send it on another day, in another message.
• The mail merge with the wrong name. If your spreadsheet says Dear Mr. Jennifer or Hi {FirstName}, the client sees the list, and the list stings more than silence. Check the fields before you hit send.
• Forgetting that email has rules. In the US, the FTC's guide to the CAN-SPAM Act says the law covers all commercial email, including business-to-business messages, not just bulk sends. Commercial messages need a clear way to opt out, honored within 10 business days, and a valid physical postal address. The guide also says the message's primary purpose decides which rules apply, so a greeting with an offer tucked in can end up counting as commercial. The UK and other countries have their own rules. This isn't legal advice; if you're unsure about your list, ask whoever handles legal for your business.
• The twelve-paragraph letter. Nobody reads that from a company during the week before Christmas.

For the message to your own team, the tone shifts. There are ideas for colleagues in gifts for a coworker.

The first Christmas card came from the same squeeze you're in: a long list and not enough time. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in 1843 Henry Cole, who would later become the museum's founding director, had unanswered mail piling up and needed a time-saving solution. He had a thousand copies printed of a card designed by his friend John Callcott Horsley, and each one could be personalized with a handwritten greeting.

The lesson holds. Printing in bulk is fine. What makes a client feel the message is theirs is the line you write yourself.

And if your business's year is mostly pictures, like the window display, the team at the holiday party or the first order you ever wrapped, you can send that too. Eternal Gift builds a page online with photos, a message or letter, music and stickers, delivered by link or QR code. The link goes in the email, and the QR code can be printed on the card that goes out with the last order. Use photos of your shop and team, and only show a client if they've said yes.