The upcoming holiday season is expected to achieve a record-breaking spend of $240.8 billion. Millions of marketers and retailers will use email as a key channel to capitalize on opportunities to offer promotions and connect with their customers. But to drive results, they must know how to write compelling subject lines.
Here are 70 holiday-inspired email marketing subject lines to get your creative juices flowing.
Best practices for subject lines
Well-crafted subject lines can determine the success of your holiday email marketing campaign. They often influence whether recipients read your email. In fact, 65 percent of marketers claim that subject lines have the biggest impact on their decision to open an email. Subject lines are the first thing subscribers see when receiving an email, creating the initial impression. From here, receivers decide whether the email’s content is worthwhile.
During a time when consumers receive an influx of marketing communication, writing effective holiday email subject lines is essential. These best practices will help engage your subscribers, encourage conversions, and stand out in a crowded inbox:
- Be concise: Short subject lines are eye-catching and stand out amongst the clutter—we suggest nine words and about 60 characters.
- Get personal: Personalized subject lines entice subscribers to open the email. Subject lines that address the recipient by name can increase open rates to 39 percent.
- Segment your mailing list: By segmenting your audience, you can create targeted subject lines tailored to each group’s preferences and needs. Because the subject line is more likely to resonate with the receiver, there’s a higher chance they’ll open the email. Segmented email campaigns enjoy 30 percent more opens than those not segmented.
- Create a sense of urgency and intrigue: Use language that drives subscribers to take action immediately due to a limited-time offer or scarcity. Curiosity is also a powerful human emotion that inspires action—use this to your advantage.
70 holiday email subject lines
We’ve compiled some of the best holiday subject lines to inspire you for the upcoming season—feel free to use them as is or make them your own.
General holiday subject lines
Subject lines that reference no particular holiday are a great way to kick-start your campaign and get your subscribers into a festive mood:
- Add some joy to your holidays with [brand]
- Celebrate the season with [brand]
- Seasons greetings from [brand]
- Here’s to sugar, spice, and everything nice!
- From our family to yours: Happy holidays!
- Wishing you a happy holiday season!
- Merry everything and a happy always!
- [Recipient], happy holidays!
- The silly season is here!
- Let’s get festive!
Cyber Monday subject lines
Cyber Monday is a major shopping event for U.S. consumers. In 2023, it sparked a spend of $13.19 billion—an 8.4 percent increase from the year before.
During this period, your holiday sale subject lines should create urgency to capitalize on subscribers’ willingness to spend. To get your foot in the door before competitors, encourage receivers to take immediate action by emphasizing the time-sensitive nature of your offer.
Here are some subject lines you can use to create a buzz before Cyber Monday:
- Get ready for the biggest shopping event of the year
- A sneak peek inside our Cyber Monday deals
- Cyber Monday is around the corner!
- Surprise! Another Cyber Monday special is here
- Cyber Monday: Get up to 50% off!
- Our Cyber Monday sale is live!
Use these toward the end of Cyber Monday:
- Don’t miss out! Last 2 hours to shop 70% off
- Only 1 day left! Get 50%-80% off everything
- This is it. Cyber Monday is almost over!
- Last chance to score a deal!
Holiday special offer subject lines
Beyond Cyber Monday and Black Friday, promotional emails are vital during other holiday events. While specific offers and special discounts can increase revenue, your holiday sale email subject lines alert your subscribers to these exclusive deals:
- You’re invited: Here’s exclusive access to our holiday collection!
- Happy holidays, [recipient]! Here’s 15% off
- We’re spreading the holiday cheer! Here’s 20% off
- Get ready for [holiday] with 30% off!
- ‘Tis the season for some amazing deals!
- Celebrate the season with savings
- Here’s a holiday sneak peek
- Our holiday deals are here!
- Festive savings await you!
- Psst. Holiday deals inside.
Last-minute shopping subject lines
Though the weeks before specific holidays are the perfect opportunity to convert early shoppers, you should also target last-minute consumers in a rush to buy gifts. This way, you can promote products even during major holiday events. Due to the nature of these emails, you should focus your subject lines on urgent and timely messaging:
- Left it until the last minute? We have express shopping
- Last chance for delivery before [holiday]
- Have you forgotten someone? We’ve got you!
- Last chance: shipping deadline is tomorrow!
- Order by tomorrow, get it by [holiday]
- Last-minute shopping? We have you covered
- You can still get it in time for [holiday]!
- Attention all procrastinators!
- ‘Tis the season to hurry up!
- No gift? No problem!
Holiday emoji subject lines
Including emojis in your email subject lines for holiday communications is a fun way to drive engagement. These colorful icons can help your email stand out amongst the black-and-white text of your subscribers’ inboxes. There are many holiday-specific emojis to choose from, and you can even use them to replace specific words or hint at the contents of your email.
Use emojis in a way that resonates with your brand and audience and avoid overusage. Stick to one or two per subject line:
- Welcome another year with a new wardrobe 👠👗
- Experience the holiday magic with [brand] 🌟
- 🚨 This is not a drill! 70% off for Cyber Monday🚨
- Looking for stocking stuffers? We’ve got you! 🍬
- Them: Is it too early? 🎃 Us: Never!
- [Recipient], your 🎁 is here!
- Spooky savings are here! 👻🎃
- Need a gift? The ⏰ is ticking!
- Keep calm. Get a gift card! 💌
- ❄️ Winter deals are here!
Pre-sale subject lines
These holiday subject lines for your email campaigns can notify your subscribers of upcoming festive sales and exclusive deals, creating anticipation and hype:
- [Recipient], you have early access to our [holiday] sale!
- Your early access to the [holiday] sale, [recipient]
- Celebrate the season with savings! Get 30% off in 24 hours
- Mark your calendars! Our festive sale starts on [date]
- Countdown to [holiday] sale! Get 20% off
- Priority access: Enjoy exclusive season savings
- Are you ready? Shop our festive offers tonight!
- Get ready: [holiday] sale starts soon!
- [Holiday] sale starts tomorrow!
- Seasons savings in 72 hours!
Post-holiday subject lines
Whether you want to thank your subscribers or promote clearance sales, you must pay extra attention to these subject lines. Many consumers may be tired of holiday emails, so ensuring they are attention-grabbing is vital:
- What a holiday season! Here’s 20% off to say thanks
- The season is not over till we say it is! Here’s 10% off
- We’re ending the holidays with a bang! Get 40% off
- We’re welcoming another year with 30% off!
- You thought we were done? Here’s 30% off
- Didn’t get what you wanted? Get it on sale
- We still have some holiday cheer left in us!
- It’s the end of the silly season sale!
- It’s the after-[holiday] sale!
- Last sale of the holiday season!
The importance of email deliverability
Besides crafting compelling subject lines, marketers should measure deliverability to assess the health of their email lists and sender reputation. Without credibility, mailbox providers might view you as a spammer.
Even the best holiday email subject lines will have difficulty driving sales if your sends aren’t landing in an inbox. Email deliverability is the number of emails that are successfully delivered instead of being flagged as spam or blocked. The better your deliverability, the more emails will reach subscribers, and the more fruitful your campaign will be.
Unfortunately, millions of emails end up in spam folders each year, damaging marketers’ sender reputations with Google, Yahoo, and others. This eventually results in even more emails being marked as spam. Plus, monitoring and managing deliverability can be expensive, time-consuming, and challenging without expert support and the correct technology.
Ensure your emails are delivered with Validity
Whether you’ve already planned your holiday emails or just started writing subject lines, ensure that recipients see your content. In addition to crafting engaging, relevant, and time-sensitive subject lines, a better deliverability rate will help drive sales. Harness the power of email reputation tools to achieve a deliverability strategy that boosts the number of emails reaching inboxes for more opens, clicks, and email revenue.
With Validity’s Sender Certification, millions of emails are put back into subscribers’ inboxes instead of spam folders.
For over 20 years, thousands of companies have trusted Validity to help optimize their email marketing performance. To learn more about how our solutions can improve your deliverability, contact us today!
