A regular email newsletter is a great, cost-effective way for a retailer to stay in touch and engage with their customers. It’s an opportunity to build trust through regular product or service updates and foster loyalty by sending relevant content.
And, while it’s a great way to generate leads and build awareness of your brand, it is not an excuse to spam your customers with unnecessary messages.
That said, finding a never-ending flow of inspiration for your content is no easy task––especially for something recurring like an email newsletter. Thankfully, sharing inspiration is what we do best!
Below, we’ll break down some winning newsletter examples and subject line ideas so you can start your January newsletter email on the right foot!
January newsletters by holiday
Ahhh, the new year. So full of promise and ripe with potential. Why not take advantage of this clean slate with New Year’s emails?
New Year’s Day
This is an easy one but it’s also highly celebrated! A New Year’s Day email newsletter may include:
- A greeting wishing subscribers a happy and prosperous New Year
- A summary of your brand’s accomplishments and successes in the previous year
- Information about new products or services that you’ll be offering in the coming year
- Special promotions or sales for the New Year
- A closing message thanking subscribers for their support and loyalty
This example by Serena & Lily keeps it sweet and to the point. As a “cheers to good friends and good times,” they’ve offered an easy champagne cocktail recipe for their readers to enjoy. Then, they top off their good wishes with a discount code to drive customers back to their site. Simple and effective.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
For a holiday honoring a historical figure like Martin Luther King Jr., you’ll likely want to take a less sales-y approach (unless your customers have come to expect it––more on that later). That may look like:
- A message recognizing and honoring the legacy of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement
- Information about any events or initiatives that the brand is participating in or supporting to commemorate MLK Day
- A call to action encouraging subscribers to take time to reflect on Dr. King’s teachings and how they can contribute to creating a more just and equitable society
- A closing message reaffirming the brand’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity
In this example by Parks Project, the email starts with a quote by MLK followed by a little bit about his legacy. As a call to action, they invite readers to check out blog for resources on Dr. King and how his legacy impacts us today.
Check out more examples of Martin Luther King Jr. Day emails in the MailCharts app.
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar year, whose months are moon cycles. The event as a celebration is observed by many Asian communities worldwide. A brand’s Lunar New Year email newsletter may include elements such as:
- A greeting wishing subscribers a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year, using traditional greetings and phrases in the appropriate language
- A message acknowledging the significance of the Lunar New Year and wishing good luck, health, and prosperity for the coming year.
- Information about any special promotions or sales your brand is offering to celebrate the Lunar New Year
In this example by Our Place, the brand uses the holiday as a springboard for introducing new, themed merchandise with which to celebrate the holiday. Their new colorway, Firecracker, is meant to represent “the center of a firecracker’s burst.”
Check out more examples of Lunar New Year emails here!
January newsletters by themes
Of course, another angle you can take with your email newsletter is to pick a theme. In this case, the below themes would all make sense in the context of the new year while also drawing the customer back to your site to (hopefully) complete a purchase or learn more about your products.
A 2022 retrospective
A great way to connect with customers is by offering them a look back at what you’ve accomplished together in the last year.
Gymshark shares a fun retrospective, highlighting some of their top accomplishments such as partnering with various athletes, celebrating their 10th anniversary, and even opening up a gym!
Public Goods takes a more “by-the-numbers” approach with their email. In it, they share hard data including the fact that in the last 12 months they launched over 90 new products, helped plant over 240,000 trees, saw 47,666 new members join, and launched one new website.
Allbirds keeps their email focused on the product, sharing new styles they launched in 2022. This makes it easy for their customers to keep up with the latest and, of course, make a purchase.
New year’s resolutions
Whether you love them or hate them, new year’s resolutions are a pretty ingrained part of the holiday. And some of those resolutions require products to achieve so why not lean into that as a retailer?
Vanity Planet wants to facilitate their customers’ skincare goals and make 2023 “[their customer’s] best skin year.” Coupled with a strategically placed “60 percent off sitewide” banner and product category CTAs (not to mention the option to pay over time with Afterpay), it’s hard to see how a customer wouldn’t jump at the opportunity.
In a similar vein, Good American, a brand known for its body-positive messaging, wants to help shoppers “love themselves” and also offers several products to help them do so. Whether their focus is on loving their booty, body, or other assets, that extra 50 percent markdown makes it easy for shoppers to tap in.
Cuyana goes in a nearly opposite direction and doesn’t focus on selling at all. Instead, they focus on the self-help aspect of the holiday by offering three ideas for how one can “choose themselves” in the new year. It’s important to note that emails like this are great for establishing a connection with your customers.
It’s ok to garner goodwill simply by doing good things (and will likely come back to you in the form of future revenue and/or loyalty).
Post-holiday sales
Good wishes aside, your January newsletter is a fantastic way to share any end-of-year, post-holiday sales as most consumers are on the hunt for great deals to start their year with anyway.
If your end-of-year sales spill into the new year, be sure to add that to your January email newsletter! Here, Food52 gets straight to the point by sharing the details of their sale and curating lists of products for readers to buy. From “finds you’ll only get [with Food52]” to “flying off the shelves,” curated lists are a great way to make the online shopping experience run smoother.
Similarly to the above, Happy Socks also shares curated lists (readers can shop socks with prints like animals, food, stripes, and dots) in conjunction with sharing the details of their new year’s sale.
New year trend report
If you’re selling direct-to-consumer, there’s a high likelihood that trend reporting is a big part of your business. After all, you have to keep customers on their toes (and competitors in the rearview). So why not share your findings (and show off your expertise in the process)?
Adore Me shares their new styles as well as what’s “hot and trending” according to their customers, wrapping up each trend in a nice categorical bow. Whether “all-black everything” “flirty violets,” or “sun-kissed” gold strikes a customer’s fancy, only time will tell––but whatever they choose, they’ll be able to get their third set for free.
Pantone recently revealed 2023’s color of the year and Moda Operandi, it seems, has responded in kind. Taking a more fashion-forward approach to its email newsletter, this brand shares an “edit” of top products in the mesmerizing hue.
Open letter
Remember when we said that it was okay not to sell to your subscribers sometimes? The letter-style emails are a great example of that.
MeUndies takes a completely no-frills approach to this with a text-only “letter from the CEO.” In it, they share what’s in store for the brand in the upcoming year and how they plan to improve the overall shopping experience. They cap it off with a few words about how grateful they are to their community of shoppers.
Speaking of gratitude, Glossier’s email is just that. A giant thank-you note to their customers for their support and nothing more. While they do share a “last look” of products from their website, it’s done “below the fold,” so to speak, in a non-intrusive way.
January newsletter subject line ideas
Now that you have a ton of inspiration for what you want your January email newsletter to look like, you might be wondering how to capture your subscribers’ attention in the first place.
Subject lines are crucial as, besides the spam filter, they’re the only thing standing between your emails and your customers’ eyes. So what makes for a good newsletter subject line?
Keep it light (with emojis)
No need to be stuffy, it’s a new year! People are coming down from vacation and still in need of a little levity. Don’t be afraid to show that with a more conversational tone and strategically placed emojis.
Some of our favorites:
- Thanks for an amazing year ❤️🦈 (Gymshark)
- New! The Lunar New Year Collection 🎇 (Our Place)
- The January Trend Report 👏(Adore Me)
Keep it brief (no more than 60 characters)
It’s important to keep subject lines brief to avoid them being truncated by email clients or getting glazed over by your readers. With such little real estate, senders need to get the point across as concisely as possible.
- The 2022 Highlight Reel (Allbirds)
- Make 2023 Your BEST Skin Year Yet! (Vanity Planet)
- Top 5 Styles For The New Year (Vuori)
Keep it simple (get right to the good stuff)
Short or not, subject lines have to be enticing above all. So, don’t waste any characters on fluff or filler words––get straight to the point. Think of your subject line as a TLDR (too long; didn’t read). What information do you want your subscribers to pick up right away?
- New Year, new socks. Up to 40% off! (Happy Socks)
- Final hours for our end of year Event—really! (Food52)
- A letter from our CEO (MeUndies)
Find more inspiration for January newsletters
January can sometimes be tough for retailers––but a newsletter is low-hanging fruit ecommerce email marketing as it’s a (relatively) low-effort, cost-effective way to connect with your customers, build trust, and drive sales.
That said, regularly sending out emails that both delight and inform is no easy task. Sign up for a free MailCharts account and find a treasure trove of inspiration for your next email campaign.
