By: Tracy, OT Intern
If it seems like your inbox starts shouting at you the moment you open it, it’s not your imagination. December is the month when the most marketing emails are sent. Every brand out there is competing for the same three seconds of your attention, hence they’re sending out in-the-frenzy sales announcements, reminders and countdowns, as well as flinging out subject lines like “LAST CHANCE!!!” And, to be honest? As a marketer, it becomes a very tiresome thing to do—both for you and your audience.
But here’s the good news: you can get noticed without turning your volume up to 100. Winning the holiday email season isn’t about who shouts the loudest or who sends the most email blasts; it’s about being the smartest, the neatest and the most relevant. Here’s how not to become another inbox exploder, but rather to show up with emails that your audience wants to open:
Cut the Noise, Not the Message
Consider your customer’s inbox as a group chat with 87 unread texts. Would you read all of those paragraph-length messages word for word? Probably not. You’d likely skim over them. This is the exact reason why cleaner, more concise messaging becomes a superpower in December. Cut the long introductions and get to the point as fast as possible.
The first thing to do if you’re offering a promo should be to lead with it. When sharing a gift guide, minimize fluff and show it straight away. Most people aren’t willing to go through a heap of text to figure out what you’re offering, and if you make it a time-consuming task for them, they will scroll past you. Instead, adopt this mindset: every sentence should justify its presence.
Seasonal Content That Actually Makes Sense
Holiday marketing takes more than putting a Santa hat on your logo and calling it a day. Holiday content is the most effective when it naturally complements what your brand is already doing, rather than forcing a Hallmark vibe. For example, if you’re selling fitness gear, lean into the energy of a fresh start, promoting giftable workout bundles or “new year, new routine” essentials. If you’re a skincare brand, focus on promoting hydrating heroes or glow-boosting life-savers designed to combat the winter dryness.
Being seasonal doesn’t equate to giving up your voice. It simply means that you’re using the season as a festive accessory—not a reindeer costume.
Tell a Story (Your Audience Loves One)
One major tactic to get noticed in a highly packed inbox is sound storytelling. People forget sales; they recall feelings. Tell the story of a customer who got the perfect gift, share a moment from behind-the-scenes with your team, or explain the “why” behind your product. Even a brief two-line story makes your email a little different and a little more human (which is a much-needed breath of fresh air in a world of AI-generated content).
Stories breathe life into your brand and cut through all the copy-paste holiday templates that people are getting tired of seeing. Be consistent with your brand identity. If your brand is funny, then humor is your weapon (used for good, of course). If you’re warm and sentimental, then go there. Your email should resemble you, not “Every Brand in December 2025.”
Quick Tips for the Holiday Email Magic:
- Send less, but better. A single well-crafted, high-value email will deliver better results than five poor ones. Instead of bombarding your list every two days with emails just for the sake of sending emails, take a strategic approach.
- The subject line is the actual battleground. When competing to have your email opened, an eye-catching subject line is essential. One of the biggest email mistakes brands make is investing all their creativity in the email copy and then putting a forgettable subject line on it. Subject lines have to put in some extra work during the holiday surge. Not louder, but smarter.
- Calm design equals calm energy. This is definitely not the month for disorganized layouts and too-small font sizes. Let your audience breathe by giving them space and keeping the design simple.
- Don’t forget to follow through. Make sure that your post-purchase flows, thank-you messages and onboarding emails are equally as great as your promos. Nurturing leads is important in growing a relationship with the buyer.
Holiday email inboxes are noisy, disorderly, and overall a bit too much. Why not give your audience something refreshing? Stick to clear messaging, authentic storytelling, seasonally relevant angles, and good design. If you do that, then you won’t just survive December—you’ll win it!
Want to learn more about how to create emails that are relevant, on brand and opened by your buyers? Get in touch with our team!