Quick answer
A good December newsletter for customers covers your Christmas opening hours and emergency cover, a short look back at the year, a genuine thank you, one useful seasonal tip, how to book or buy in January, and a single clear call to action. Send it in early December, before inboxes fill up and people switch off.
Not every business wants a Christmas sales blitz. A plumber, an accountant or a dog groomer usually needs one well-timed email that tells customers when you are open, reminds them you exist and starts January with bookings in the diary. This checklist is built for that kind of end-of-year newsletter, section by section.
The December newsletter, section by section
| Section | What to write | Example for a heating engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Subject line | Say what is inside | “Our Christmas hours, and how to beat January’s boiler rush” |
| Opening hours | Exact dates closed and open | Closed 25 and 28 December and 1 January; open other weekdays |
| Emergency cover | Who to call, and when | Emergency number for no heating or hot water |
| Year in review | Two or three highlights | New van, a second engineer, a popular new service |
| Thank you | Short and sincere | “Thank you for having us in your homes this year” |
| Seasonal tip | One practical piece of advice | What to do if the condensate pipe freezes |
| January | How and when to book | Servicing slots open from the first week back |
| Call to action | One button | “Book your service” |
Opening hours and cover
- State the exact dates you are closed, not just “over Christmas”. Customers plan around specifics.
- Check bank holidays rather than assuming. GOV.UK’s bank holidays page lists Christmas Day on Friday 25 December 2026 and the Boxing Day bank holiday moved to Monday 28 December, with New Year’s Day on Friday 1 January 2027 in England and Wales. Scotland also has 4 January 2027 as its 2nd January holiday.
- Give emergency or out-of-hours arrangements if you offer them, and say clearly if you do not.
- Give the last date for orders, deliveries or bookings before the break if that applies to you.
- Set an auto-reply on your inbox for the closed days. Our out-of-office templates include Christmas wording.
A look back and a thank you
- Pick two or three highlights customers would care about: a new service, a new team member, an award, a project you are proud of, a charity you supported.
- Use a photo of real work or real people. December newsletters full of stock baubles all look the same.
- Keep the thank you short. One or two sentences, written as you would say them, beat a paragraph of greetings-card language.
- Skip anything that reads like boasting. “We helped over a hundred families” can sound fine to you and hollow to a customer who waited three weeks for a visit.
One useful thing
- Give a single practical tip that fits the season and your trade: protecting outdoor taps, keeping a dog calm during fireworks, deadlines for tax returns in January, caring for a real Christmas tree.
- Keep it short enough to read on a phone, and link to a fuller guide on your website if you have one.
- Useful content is the reason people keep opening your emails in the other eleven months, so it earns its place even at Christmas.
Looking ahead to January
- Tell people how to book early in the new year, and whether January fills up fast.
- Mention any price changes coming in the new year, with dates and the reason in a sentence. Notice is fairer than a surprise on the first invoice.
- Preview anything new: a service, longer opening hours, a new area you cover.
- Invite replies: “What would you like us to cover in next year’s emails?” Replies give you ideas and help your emails reach inboxes.
Offers, if you use them
- One clear offer is plenty: a gift voucher, a January booking incentive or a loyalty thank you.
- State the terms plainly, including the end date.
- Put it below the useful content, not above it.
- If you sell gifts, a dedicated campaign is better than squeezing a full gift guide into this newsletter.
What to leave out
- A long list of every greeting for every festival and season. One warm line is enough.
- Animated snow, flashing images and heavy graphics that load slowly on phones.
- Last-minute “sorry we are closed” news buried at the bottom. Hours go near the top.
- More than one call to action competing for the same tap.
Timing and sending checklist
- Send in the first or second week of December. Later, people are busy, away or already switched off.
- Only email people who have agreed to hear from you, or who fall under the soft opt-in for previous customers explained in the ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing.
- Include a visible unsubscribe link. Google’s sender guidelines require marketing email to offer one-click unsubscribe as well as a link in the message.
- Send a test to yourself and read it on your phone before the real send.
- If past emails have landed in junk, check the causes in our guide to emails going to spam first.
Plan next year’s emails while you are at it
December is a natural moment to plan the year’s newsletters. Sketch twelve subjects in an evening using our content calendar template, one seasonal tip per month, and you will never face a blank screen again. Our guide to email marketing for small businesses covers the rest of the year, and regular contact is one of the simplest habits in our customer retention guide.
If you would like the foundations done properly, our email marketing and automation setup is a one-off £149, with branded templates you reuse every month. Every price is on our pricing page.
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Frequently asked questions
When should I send a December newsletter? +
In the first or second week of December. That is late enough to feel seasonal and early enough to give customers your Christmas opening hours before they need them. Later in the month, inboxes are crowded with promotions, people are travelling and fewer emails get read. A short reminder about hours can follow nearer the break.
Should a December newsletter include an offer? +
Only if it suits your business, and then just one. Lead with useful information such as opening hours, a seasonal tip and January booking details, then add a single clearly marked offer with its terms and end date. A newsletter that is all promotion tends to raise unsubscribes at the time of year people are most impatient.
Can I send a Christmas newsletter to all my past customers? +
Only to those who have agreed to receive marketing, or who qualify for the soft opt-in the ICO describes: people who bought from you, were given a chance to opt out when you collected their details, and are hearing about similar services. Every email must include a simple way to unsubscribe.
