Can you believe this? We finally made it to the end of 2020! Holiday copywriting tips
I think everyone would agree that it’s been a difficult year and we all deserve a break (and a hug). Thankfully, the holidays are just around the corner!
Every holiday season, we see brands and marketers scrambling to get their campaign out of the door aiming for a last-minute sales surge.
But remember, when the opportunity is big, so is the competition.
With everyone (and their grandmas) sending out holiday-themed emails, having an end-of-the-year sale, and posting on social media — it’s important that you DON’T just add to the noise of the marketing landscape during a holiday.
This is why we have come up with 9 holiday copywriting tips that can help you craft a holiday marketing message that your customers actually want to read.
Planning your holiday content

Have a clear plan
Sometimes, we get so excited about the chance of being extra-jolly in our message, that we forget the POINT of the message we’re sharing. The holidays are noisy enough as it is, so make sure that you have a solid purpose behind every post or email you’re sending out.
Ask yourself, what is my goal? Is it to encourage? Inspire? Educate? To attract people to my blog? To actually drive sales?
Having an unclear message will just create additional noise and confusion. So be sure that your message can stand out amongst the throng of holiday-themed marketing messages.
Understand your audience
No matter the season, understanding your audience is essential to ensure that the message will resonate with your audience. You need to be aware that consumer behavior can and will change — especially during the holiday season.
Before creating any marketing materials, be sure that you have the answers to these questions:
- What kind of products do people buy during the holiday season?
- Why do they buy these products?
- What do your customers want from your brand during the holidays?
These are just a few questions to get you started. Understanding your customer’s problems, desires, and preferences is the key to creating holiday campaigns that work.
Put a festive spin on your content
Now for the fun part. Sprinkle a few festive keywords, phrases, or even song lyrics in your copy to get into the Christmas spirit! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Jingle bells | Deck the halls | Under the mistletoe |
Joyful/jolly/merry | All I want for Christmas is… | Wondrous |
Santa’s list | Ho-ho-ho | Naughty or nice |
Reason for the season | It’s the most wonderful time of the year | Winter wonderland |
May your days be happy and bright | Let it snow | Last Christmas |
Holiday Email Campaigns

Build trust; foster a relationship
Remember that there’s more to marketing and doing business than just making sales offers.
For B2B businesses, holidays are not the best time to push for sales. The person who makes decisions is most likely to be on leave or want to push big decisions to the new year.
What you can do is build a relationship with your clients. By doing so, you can create trust which will drive them to do business with you. You can do that by sending out a personalized holiday email campaign that has real value (Give them freebies, share a funny story, and so on). Make sure to customize your campaigns to create a conversation with your customers.
Make your subject line clickable
Your customer’s inbox will be as crowded as Times Square on New Year’s Eve (You know, before COVID). So be sure to make your subject line stand out! Use the right kind of emojis (no more than 1 obviously), a punchy/quirky subject line, or getting straight to the point.
Don’t bombard your customers with information
When you write your holiday email campaign, it’s important that you don’t overwhelm your customers with information. Make the copy easy-to-understand, tease the product/offer to your customers, and use clever holiday copywriting tips that will intrigue your customers to check out your offer and hopefully, make a purchase.
E-commerce

Create urgency
For E-commerce brands, the holiday season is the perfect time to promote your products. After all, you can help your customers get the perfect last-minute Christmas gift they’ve been looking for!
So, be sure to create a sense of urgency (but don’t be too pushy) in your holiday copy and present your product in a fun and useful way. By doing this, your customers will be compelled to
whip out their credit cards and secure their Christmas gifts right away!
Use actionable words & phrases
The trick for creating a sense of urgency is to use actionable words and phrases in your holiday copywriting. Use words that inspire action and will convert your audience into buying customers for your brand. Here are a few examples to get you started:
- Exclusive online offer
- Make your purchase today
- Available for a limited time only
- Buy now
- Selling fast
- Only a handful left
Build trust through customer reviews
Thanks to online scams and online shopping horror stories, people are wary about purchasing holiday gifts online. That is why e-commerce brands have to build a solid foundation of trust with their customers.
This can be done by including customer reviews in your marketing materials or you can even make a story out of it. This is how you can gain people’s trust and get them to do business with you while creating lifelong relationships between your brand and your customers.
Need help applying these holiday copywriting tips to your business?
We can help. Start a project with us now!