13 Powerful End-of-Year Email Examples

End-of-year emails are a strategic way to engage your audience, showcase accomplishments and express gratitude for their continued support.

Whether a heartfelt thank you, a roundup of the year’s highlights or a sneak peek into upcoming projects, end-of-year emails strengthen customer relationships and set a positive tone for the year ahead.

In this article, you’ll explore 13 powerful end-of-year email examples and learn how to craft the most effective campaigns ahead of a new year.

13 inspiring end-of-year email examples

End-of-year emails can reflect on accomplishments, share thanks or engage audiences with a year recap. These messages nurture customer relationships and excite your audience as they enter the new year.

Here’s a list of 13 end-of-year email examples to consider as ideas for your business.

Show gratitude with a thank you email

End-of-year thank you emails are thoughtful gestures that acknowledge the support you’ve received throughout the year. Typically sent to customers or collaborators, they show gratitude and reinforce positive experiences as the year comes to a close.

Thank you emails remind customers of how much your company values them – and since they evoke goodwill, they often stand out in inboxes.

Example 1: Athletic Brewing

In this example, Athletic Brewing combines a thank you email with a year-in-review.

The initial email page starts by expressing “an enormous amount of gratitude”, creating a heartfelt connection from the outset and making recipients feel valued.

Replacing the “0” in “2023” with a can of their beer integrates the product into the email design. It reinforces the brand story, enhancing recognition while creating a pleasing look.

Showcasing impressive milestones on the second email page reinforces the brand’s credibility and engages the audience by making them part of the success story.

Creative phrases like “2023 in Rebrew” instead of “2023 in Review” add personality and charm, making the email more memorable.

The brand’s message works because it:

Example 2: Adùn

Adùn sells ready-to-eat African meals and recipes. Its thank you email includes user-generated content (UGC) to highlight its community and share thanks.

The brand’s end-of-year email is effective because it:

• Cleverly expresses gratitude. The playful pun “hearty gratitude for you” ties into the food-based brand identity. The copy underscores the importance of its customers by saying the community tops the list of what it’s grateful for.

• Highlights user-generated content. The photos and stories feature African-style dishes prepared by customers using Adùn’s recipes. These celebrate their creative content and build a sense of community.

• Reinforces its brand mission. Adùn thanks recipients for letting it share “the flavors of Africa”, emphasizing the brand’s core values and passion.

Example 3: Readdle

Like Athletic Brewing, Readdle combines gratitude with an engaging year recap. It expresses thanks for an incredible year and highlights global innovations like backflipping robots and flying cars. This intriguing start sets a lively tone, encouraging recipients to keep reading.

The email then highlights new apps, features and achievements, stating, “And we did it all for you!” This email strategy creates a sense of shared success, making customers feel appreciated.

The email concludes with a clear call to action (CTA), offering a gift for readers who click the link. Keeping the reward a surprise drives curiosity, encouraging email click-throughs.

Readdle’s email excels because it:

• Captures attention with impressive recent events

• Makes accomplishments customer-centric

• Offers a token of appreciation

Engage customers with a personalized recap

Personalized end-of-year recap emails summarize unique customer experiences with your brand throughout the last year. They highlight key milestones, like purchase history or engagement metrics, making each recipient feel part of the brand’s story.

Example 4: Spotify

The end-of-year recap trend became popular with Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign. Users who click the email CTA see an interactive summary of their listening habits with shareable visuals and insights.

Spotify’s year-end email works because it:

• Engages customers with personalized facts. Listening to music is a deeply personal experience. Providing interesting facts about a user’s listening habits lets them reflect on artists they enjoyed and how their tastes changed throughout the year.

• Drives clicks through curiosity. The question “But which will be your #1?” alongside a CTA entices recipients to discover more. Wanting to find out which song they listened to the most compels users to click through and explore more highlights.

• Encourages social media sharing. With shareable insights, Spotify motivates users to share wrapped results on social media platforms. Sharing listening habits helps subscribers celebrate their favorite tunes while boosting Spotify’s brand visibility and reach.

Example 5: Duolingo

Following Spotify’s success, Duolingo began tailoring personalized customer recaps towards the year’s wrap-up to strengthen relationships.

Duolingo’s email is effective because it:

• Provides clear CTAs. Like Spotify, Duolingo inspires curiosity by hinting at the individual user’s statistics, such as “minutes spent learning” and “words studied”. Two clear CTAs encourage users to follow the link and learn more about their year in review.

• Encourages continued learning. Providing yearly stats gives users a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Seeing how far they’ve come on their learning journey, they’ll be more likely to continue their subscription the following year.

• Drives app usage through competition. Encouraging users to compare themselves with other learners for “XP earned” creates a sense of friendly competition through gamification. They’re likely to see that others have outdone them, inspiring them to try harder in the coming year.

Highlight achievements with a review of the year’s successes

Sharing your company’s accomplishments is a refreshing way to engage stakeholders and customers. You remind them of the progress and milestones they were a part of, creating a sense of shared success and anticipation for the future.

Example 6: Wirex

In this example, Wirex provides a timeline of its achievements in 2020, its most successful year.

The email is strategic because it:

• Demonstrates transparency. Wirex openly shares its progress and developments, like earning £3.7 million in crowdfunding. Transparency like this builds trust and credibility with investors, customers and employees.

• Attracts beneficial partnerships. Featuring achievements and strategic partnerships enhances Wirex’s reputation in the market. It showcases its industry recognition and growth potential, attracting new partners interested in aligning with a successful company.

Example 7: Vimeo

Vimeo’s end-of-year email speaks to its customers as a community, sharing highlights from the year. Each highlight offers a CTA to learn more, showing customers new features, achievements and statistics they may have missed throughout the year.

Vimeo shares new features like Creator Spotlight and Vimeo Essentials, encouraging readers to try them. This approach engages customers and leads to potential upsells of new services.

Advertising the new professional marketplace for hiring creative talent positions Vimeo as a resource for creators and businesses. It enhances appeal as a platform for professional networking, potentially increasing subscriptions.

Celebrating the “Best of the Year Awards” provides shareable content users can promote. It extends Vimeo’s reach and serves as organic promotion, attracting new users interested in creating or discovering high-quality content.

Vimeo’s email works because it:

• Drives brand exploration and feature adoption

• Positions the brand as a creative hub

• Encourages sharing and visibility

Example 8: Cequens

Cequens’ email connects with its customers, shares thanks and showcases the year’s highlights. Introducing new features, like chatbots and secure payment options, shows how Cequens commits to improvement. Sharing these upgrades encourages existing clients and prospects to leverage new solutions, leading to business growth.

After a brief thanks, Cequens shares its main achievements for the closing year. Each includes a description and a clear CTA to visit the website and learn more, improving outreach efforts.

Sharing its involvement in a housing revitalization project shows Cequens’ commitment to corporate responsibility. It enhances the brand’s reputation and increases loyalty among customers who value ethically-minded companies.

Overall, Cequens’ email is effective because it:

• Puts innovation and growth first

• Has a simple yet effective design

• Reinforces corporate values

Encourage purchases with an end-of-year sale

Offering special end-of-year promotions creates a sense of urgency, prompting readers to take advantage of exclusive offers before the year ends. End-of-year sale emails often tap into the festive spirit, encouraging users to wrap up loose ends and set the stage for a solid start to the new year.

Example 9: YouWorkForThem

YouWorkForThem sells fonts, graphics, stock photos and other digital assets online. The above email keeps it simple, offering 50% off various items from Cyber Monday until the end of the year. It’s a straightforward, no-fluff sales email with a clean design and a clear CTA.

Example 10: aerie

Aerie’s end-of-year sales email offers 25% off for a single day – the first day of the New Year. It offers free shipping, an obvious CTA and a code to apply the limited-time discount. Creating a sense of urgency and clearly explaining which products are on offer drives interested customers to purchase.

Get customers excited for the new year

Teaser-filled end-of-year emails share what’s on the horizon for the new year. They spark anticipation by hinting at exciting new products, features and events. This approach makes each recipient feel like an insider, keen to explore what your brand unfolds next.

Beyond announcements, future-looking emails can rev customers up for the new year with actionable advice, especially for brands focused on wellness and well-being. These emails offer practical tips and strategies to help people start the year on a positive note.

Example 11: Fitbit

Fitbit’s email energizes customers for the upcoming year, emphasizing health and wellness. Its message urges users to kick-start the new year with fresh goals, creating a positive mindset.

The email highlights new features and shows customers how the Fitbit app can help them achieve these resolutions, increasing product usage and satisfaction.

The email transitions from an inspirational message to the app’s key features and their practical benefits. Clear CTAs direct users to explore these features, encouraging continued interaction with the app.

Introducing the new app at the end of the email reinforces Fitbit’s commitment to evolving and meeting user needs. It attracts new users and strengthens existing loyalty as customers see Fitbit’s dedication to supporting their wellness journey.

Fitbit’s end-of-year email is effective because it:

• Encourages proactive goal-setting

• Has a user-friendly design

• Promotes continuous innovation

Example 12: Flaus

Flaus, a company that sells dental hygiene and flossing products, takes a different approach to Fitbit. It motivates customers to prioritize dental wellness in the new year, using strategic messaging focused on healthy habits.

Encouraging a New Year’s resolution to floss more targets a common health goal with attainable outcomes. Recommending realistic goals helps users feel inspired, motivating them to commit to healthier habits with Flaus.

Next, the email offers a flossing guide and actionable tips on maintaining the habit, giving users concrete strategies to add flossing to their routine. It builds trust and positions Flaus as a supportive partner in their wellness journey, encouraging follow-through.

The CTA to “Start with Flaus” simplifies the decision-making process and inspires action. The email aims to convert interest into tangible sales by guiding users to explore Flaus’ products.

This brand’s email works because it:

• Addresses achievable self-improvement

• Provides valuable guidance

• Promotes engagement with a clear CTA

Leverage holiday generosity and encourage nonprofit donations

End-of-year emails are also an opportunity to leverage the spirit of generosity and encourage donations to your nonprofit organization. Your message can inspire recipients by highlighting impactful causes and explaining how contributions can make a difference.

Example 13: International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee’s end-of-year fundraising email example is compelling because it:

• Leverages urgency and impact. The fundraising email uses urgency and the opportunity to double the impact of donations, motivating immediate action by wealthy donors likely to contribute the most to its cause.

• Highlights the benefit to donors. Clearly stating that donations are tax-deductible above a strategically placed CTA simplifies the process and shows how donating can benefit both donors and the charity.

• Outlines tangible benefits. The message explains how donations support efforts in the Syria crisis and assist refugee resettlement in 26 US cities, clearly noting how contributions will make a real difference.

6 ideas to boost end-of-year email conversions

Here are six email ideas to increase end-of-year email engagement rates and drive marketing conversions:

1. Personalize your end-of-year emails

Tailor your emails to each customer using their name, purchase history and behavior to inform content. Personalization increases your audience’s engagement by showing that you understand their needs and preferences.

Here’s how to personalize the different types of emails:

2. Create clear and attractive CTAs and subject lines

Every email should have a purposeful and noticeable CTA guiding customers towards an action, like learning more about a new product or taking advantage of a sales promotion. A clear CTA helps convert interest into meaningful customer actions, boosting your email campaign’s effectiveness.

Make sure your CTA stands out visually – a bold color or prominent call-to-action button will do the trick. It’s also crucial to align the CTA with your email intent. For instance, if you introduce new features, link a button with “Explore Now” or “Join Us for More”.

3. Focus on visual appeal and branding

Design emails that are easy on the eyes and have a clean, easy-to-follow layout. Use engaging imagery, consistent branding elements and eye-catching product visuals to illustrate your message effectively.

Here are some design ideas to incorporate into your end-of-year emails:

4. Offer incentives to engage customers

Encourage customer participation with exclusive discounts, early access to sales or thank-you gifts. This strategy gets customers to interact with your brand, particularly during competitive holiday shopping periods like Christmas and the New Year.

For instance, you could send a holiday email like “New Year, New Deals”, featuring a limited-time code for loyal subscribers. Last-minute incentives boost sales, motivating customers to choose your brand over others.

5. Encourage interaction and feedback

Ask customers to share their thoughts, participate in surveys or engage on social media to generate two-way communication. This involvement provides valuable insights and makes customers feel valued.

You could ask questions like, “What was your favorite product this year?” or “How can we improve your experience next year?” You could also include social media links and invite them to tag you in their “New Year’s journey” posts using your products, boosting brand visibility.

6. Leverage powerful customer relationship management (CRM) software

Crafting engaging end-of-year emails is critical to capturing your audience’s attention. Top CRMs with email marketing functionality centralize customer data and automate your campaigns, helping you target messages based on customer behavior.

Pipedrive’s powerful CRM tool can enhance your end-of-year email marketing efforts with comprehensive features that streamline campaign planning, execution and analysis.

Pipedrive’s contact management capabilities help you segment audiences based on previous interactions, purchase history and demographic data. With all information in one place, you can easily tailor messages to meet different customer groups’ specific needs and interests.

Pipedrive’s email marketing tool, Campaigns, comes with an intuitive drag-and-drop email builder, automation and email analytics. It lets you track open rates, click-through rates and other key email marketing metrics for real-time insights into campaign performance.

Pipedrive also features an extensive integrations Marketplace. Popular apps include industry-leading email marketing tools for designing and scheduling email campaigns directly from the CRM.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re crafting an end-of-year recap, year-in-review or a New Year sale, compelling end-of-year emails can drive sales and customer engagement as part of your creative content marketing efforts.

If you want to streamline the email creation process and maximize your campaign’s potential, consider Pipedrive.