For businesses of all shapes and sizes, Thanksgiving (turkey day) is one of the busiest and most lucrative times of the year–all thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday of course. That said, the holiday itself can be a time to engage your subscribers and customers outside of the regular holiday frenzy and really deliver some heartfelt sentiments.
If you’re searching for inspiration for this type of “warm and fuzzy” Thanksgiving message, we’ve got you covered in this guide that covers:
- How to write a heartfelt Thanksgiving email (with 9 examples)
- The best time to start your email campaign
- 7 top tips for writing Thanksgiving emails
How to Write a Heartfelt Thanksgiving Email (with 9 Examples)
Here are some of the best heartfelt Thanksgiving email examples we’ve come across. They demonstrate how to capitalize on the holiday spirit and warmly connect with your audience. You can use them to inspire your own Thanksgiving email campaign and use similar ideas to make your emails as engaging as possible.
(If you’d rather hire an expert eCommerce email marketing agency to do it for you, look no further than InboxArmy. We’re highly experienced at creating results-driven campaigns that increase engagement, improve open rates, and boost revenue.)
1. Sakara – Heartfelt Thanks Email
This Thanksgiving email from Sakara is a perfect example of how to tap into the spirit of gratitude during the holiday season.
Firstly, it addresses the reader as a “Sakaralite” – an endearing term the brand uses for its customers. This is a good way to make customers feel a personal connection to the brand and create the feeling of being part of a family. Then, it clearly states that the sole purpose of this email is to say thanks to its customers and everyone else who’s important to the business.
Next, it gives heartfelt thanks to the farmers who supply its produce and its chefs, staff members, and customers. It highlights the unique contributions each group makes to the success of the business. This is a great way to demonstrate that the brand is a community, not just a business focused solely on generating revenue.
At the end, the brand wishes the recipient a Happy Thanksgiving and signs off with handwritten signatures. It’s a nice touch that strengthens the personal connection between the reader and the brand, which is often an effective way to increase brand loyalty.
This type of message in your Thanksgiving email marketing campaign does really well. You could use this as the opening message of your campaign before moving on to other email series that focus on promoting your holiday sales.
2. Land O’Lakes – Highly Valuable Content Email
As well as being heartfelt, your Thanksgiving emails should provide value to the reader. This example from Land O’Lakes effectively manages to do both.
It begins with a message that perfectly captures the Thanksgiving sentiment: “For Any Celebration, For Everything You’re Grateful For”. It also includes a high-quality photo of a Thanksgiving dinner that immediately catches the eye.
The clear CTA encourages users to download the business’s Thanksgiving checklist; a highly valuable piece of free content that helps to build credibility and user trust. Plus, when users expect relevant, valuable content from your emails, they’re much more likely to open them.
Further down, it provides even more value to the reader with a recipe for pecan and pumpkin pie.
By offering highly relevant content like this, Land O’Lakes establishes itself as a trusted resource within its niche and shows users that it’s a go-to for actionable advice.
3. AfterShokz – Charitable Recommendations Email
This Thanksgiving email from AfterShokz uses a high-resolution photo to capture the feeling of relaxing and unwinding often associated with the holidays.
The email covers ways people can give back to their communities during the holiday period. This is an ideal way to tap into the warmth and togetherness that Thanksgiving brings. It also provides value to the reader by giving them useful tips and advice.
At the end of the email, AfterShokz signs off with a heartfelt message that is sure to resonate with its readers.
4. South Dakota – Livestream Invite Email
Visuals are an important part of all successful email campaigns. They capture a recipient’s attention immediately, improve engagement, and enhance readability by breaking up walls of text. It’s good to get creative with your visuals and this design of this graphic from South Dakota’s email is a great example. It’s very festive and the way the Mount Rushmore carvings are formed by the whipped cream is awesome:
The email includes an enticing CTA, encouraging readers to get involved with a Thanksgiving livestream event.
Plus, it offers readers the chance to enter a Thanksgiving-themed contest.
Adding a competition to a Thanksgiving email is an effective way to:
- Increase engagement, as users know there’s a chance of winning a prize.
- Collect customer data, as competitions often require user information upon entry.
- Generate leads who you can nurture into paying customers.
- Build brand awareness by encouraging users to share the competition on social media.
5. Brandless – Charitable Causes Email
This email from Brandless is a brilliant example of how to express gratitude to your customers and highlight charitable causes you support during the holidays. It’d be hard to find a greeting more heartfelt than this. They even include a hashtag to make it easier for readers to follow them on social media:
The email goes on to draw attention to the amazing work Brandless has done to donate meals to people facing food poverty:
It uses a nice combination of text, emojis, and graphics to make the content engaging. It also encourages users to make purchases by linking conversions to charitable donations. This is a super effective way to boost sales, as customers feel like they’re making a difference when buying your products.
6. Betterment – Quirky Content Email
As well as being about gratitude, Thanksgiving is also about having some fun with your friends and family. However, famously, it can also lead to some awkward conversations with family members you haven’t seen in a while. We really like the way Betterment has played with this idea by creating a Thanksgiving Convo Survival Guide email.
The email contains three awkward Thanksgiving conversation questions and weaves the brand into each answer. This is a really fun way to engage their audience and reinforces Betterment’s quirky brand identity.
It then encourages users to convert by referring a friend. It’s a great example of using humor to keep readers on the email and move them toward conversion.
7. Postmates – Open as Usual Email
As you probably know, most brick-and-mortar businesses close during Thanksgiving. So, if your business is open, you should remind your customers to ensure you still get footfall during the holiday. This type of email should be simple and concise.
You could simply wish your customers a Happy Thanksgiving and then list your holiday opening hours. Or, you could take a more humorous approach to engage your readers. The way Postmates does it in this example is really nice. It’s funny, highly relatable, and gets straight to the point.
Further down, it uses an enticing, high-quality photo of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Then, it includes a no-nonsense CTA and one final funny quip to end the email. This is an excellent blueprint for how to write a Thanksgiving opening hours email that keeps readers engaged, gives them all the info they need, and encourages them to convert.
8. Ibotta – The Friendsgiving Email
Ahh yes, Friendsgiving. Most businesses start their Black Friday sales early, but others could lean into this fun new-ish tradition as a “reason for the season.” And the case of Ibotta, Friendsgiving and referrals go together like turkey and stuffing (or dressing for you “cook-outside-the-bird” folks).
Thanksgiving Day itself is a great time to do something different, even if you’re running a promotion. You can still include a heartfelt message around the meaning of the holiday, but also play up the family and friends angle. And if it is time-sensitive, it’s a good idea to use time-sensitive language to create that urgency, as Ibotta does here:
The main aim of these emails is to remind users of the offer and to get them to convert. Ibotta does this by providing a unique referral code and a CTA button that emphasizes the value of the offer.
Emails like this are highly effective at boosting conversions and increasing the revenue generated from your sales and offers. This means they should be an important part of all Thanksgiving email marketing campaigns.
9. Rover – Heartfelt Pet-Sitter Email
Focusing on pets is a guaranteed way to pull on users’ heartstrings. Since Rover is a dog-sitting business, it manages to connect the Thanksgiving spirit of gratitude with the act of caring for its customers’ furry friends.
It addresses a common pain point among its audience during the holiday period – finding someone to look after their pets while they’re away. Then, it lists the benefits of the service it provides and lays out the different options users can choose from.
It finishes with a CTA encouraging users to convert by searching for local sitters. Plus, it doesn’t miss the opportunity to include a nice graphic of a Thanksgiving turkey!
When is the Best Time to Start Your Thanksgiving Email Campaign?
Generally, Thanksgiving emails and Black Friday/Cyber Monday emails are one and the same when it comes to marketing campaigns. If you’re looking at the day of the holiday itself for a heartfelt message, and you’re likely going to kick off your Black Friday sale either the night of Thanksgiving or first-thing Friday morning, send early.
If you’re not doing Black Friday, you can perhaps send a little later in the day.
The one thing you can look at avoiding is mailing on the day before Thanksgiving. It’s a huge travel day, people are busy. You may not see the results you want.
5 Top Tips For Writing Thanksgiving Emails
Thanksgiving email campaigns should form a key part of most brands’ overall email marketing strategy. Yet, they can be tricky to get right and it’s sometimes hard to know where to begin. Here are seven tips you can follow to ensure you craft heartfelt and effective Thanksgiving messages for your customers.
1. Craft Engaging Subject Lines
The subject line is the first thing your recipients read when they receive your emails. This means they’re a vital feature of every type of email marketing, and Thanksgiving email campaigns are no different.
Emails with well-crafted subject lines are 22% more likely to be opened than those without. This means that optimized subject lines are one of the best ways to increase your open rates. To write effective Thanksgiving email subject lines, you should:
- Express gratitude to your customers – the holiday season is all about appreciation.
- Keep them concise. Ideally, they should be around four to 15 characters.
- Ask questions like “Are you ready for the feast?” to intrigue your readers.
- Keep them light-hearted by using puns, humor, and emojis.
- Use time-sensitive language to describe offers and discounts, creating a sense of urgency.
2. Make Your Emails Heartfelt And Genuine
During the holiday season, subscribers receive plenty of bland and generic emails from brands simply pushing their products. To make your emails stand out, craft a genuine Thanksgiving message that helps readers connect with your brand on a personal level.
Of course, you should start off by wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving, but you should go deeper than this. Write from the heart and tell your customers what they truly mean to your business and how much you appreciate them.
At the end of the day, customers are the most important part of any business, and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to communicate this!
3. Write About Relevant Topics
Your email content should also discuss topics that are related to Thanksgiving, especially if you have a newsletter. Users are much more likely to engage with your emails if they focus on interesting topics related to Thanksgiving, your niche, and user interests.
To find relevant topics, you can use free keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends. Plus, you can research community forums like Reddit to identify the subjects your audience is talking about. Some topic ideas for a Thanksgiving email newsletter include:
- “10 Unusual Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes You Need To Try”
- “Top Tips For A Stress-Free Thanksgiving”
- “Fun Thanksgiving Facts To Share With Your Family”
- “The Ultimate Thanksgiving Prep Checklist”
- “How To Make A Difference This Thanksgiving”
4. Reward Loyal Customers
We already mentioned showing gratitude to your customers, but you should also reward those most loyal to your brand.
To do this, you need to identify customers who have made previous purchases and send them a Thanksgiving email that gives them access to exclusive offers and discounts. This is a great way to make them feel valued and should increase conversions among your loyal customer base.
Additionally, when users feel appreciated and like they’re part of an exclusive club, they’re more likely to remain loyal to your brand, which leads to improved customer retention.
5. Mention Charitable Causes
The holiday season is a time when communities pull together and try to make a positive difference. If you run a non-profit organization, it’s vital to demonstrate how you’ll contribute to the charitable spirit during Thanksgiving. Or, if you run a for-profit business, highlight any donations you’ll make to charitable causes.
For non-profits, it’s a good idea to devote a newsletter to how your organization will support a particular cause and highlight the specific positive impacts. This should inspire your readers to donate and even volunteer to help out during the holidays.
For businesses, you could include a section at the end of your Thanksgiving emails that focuses on your charitable activities. This is a great way to show customers how your brand makes a positive difference which can increase customer loyalty.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are plenty of different ways to approach Thanksgiving emails. You might want to remind users of ongoing offers, draw attention to your charitable activities, or simply show gratitude to your customers for supporting you throughout the year.
Whichever type of Thanksgiving email you send, your message should be heartfelt and genuine. Focus on crafting engaging subject lines, rewarding loyal customers, and writing about relevant topics. This way, you’ll create engaging emails that exude the holiday spirit and boost your conversions.
(If you’d like to avoid the hassle and let InboxArmy do all the hard work for you. Our email campaign management team provides an end-to-end service to optimize your campaign from start to finish. We’ll plan and execute an effective strategy that includes Thanksgiving emails designed to increase revenue.)
FAQs
How do I measure the success of my Thanksgiving emails?
To measure the success of your Thanksgiving email campaign, you should track the same metrics you would for any other type of campaign. This includes:
- Open rates
- Conversion rates
- Click-through rates
- Unsubscribe rates
- Bounce rates
- Spam complaint rates
By tracking these key metrics, you can analyze your campaign’s performance and make any necessary adjustments.
Should I send an email after Thanksgiving?
Have you heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Yes, you should. That said, the inbox that weekend is, well, insane. If you do not have an offer that can compete with other Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers, sit the weekend out. Compete when you can compete.
