Thanksgiving Email: Tips to Engage With Customer Emotions and Increase Sales

thanksgiving email cover image with a person holding up a frame that says "give. thanks."

Seasonal or holiday emails with the right tone and emotional connection can do all the magic. Thanksgiving, one of the mainstream holidays in the U.S., is the perfect time to increase sales for the retail and e-commerce industry.

Thanksgiving emails ranked second for the highest number of opens and clicks, according to Campaign Monitor’s study. This holiday, followed by Black Friday, can generate better email engagement, seriously boosting your marketing revenue.

However, customers may not have the same shopping attitude each year, which can affect your profits. This year, you’ll want to be more careful while crafting Thanksgiving messages to reflect on evolving consumer mindsets and spending habits.

We’ll learn how to write the perfect Thanksgiving email and look at best practices and examples.

Before we emphasize the customers’ emotional journey during this popular holiday, let’s understand their Thanksgiving spending habits in 2024.



An Overview of Thanksgiving Spending in 2024

Consumers spend nearly $1.1 billion on Turkeys during Thanksgiving. But, that’s not the only way they spend dollars. Over 29% of Americans planned to spend $500 or more on Thanksgiving travel. It’s when e-commerce giants and retailers shape email campaigns to suit the audience’s requirements.

Although people are willing to spend on gifts, food, and travel, consumers’ spending habits have taken a downfall after the pandemic, with more of them choosing to cut down costs during the holiday season.

The table outlines the educated predictions based on previous data. It shows the ways people are willing to spend during Thanksgiving and how it affects different industries.

CategoryConsumer Habits/Trends
Food and beverages‣ Households opt for high-quality desserts, side dishes, and Turkeys
‣ Pre-cooked meals and meal kits are growing in popularity
‣ Specialty foods like gluten-free and vegan are becoming mainstream
Travel‣ Travel spending significantly increases during Thanksgiving
‣ Many people are choosing alternative methods of air travel to reduce costs during Turkey Day
Retail and shopping‣ Thanksgiving sales combined with Black Friday and Cyber Monday maximizes returns
‣ Online shopping trend continues to grow in 2024, especially during Thanksgiving
Decorations and home goods‣ Families still spend on Thanksgiving decor such as tablecloths and wall-themed decor
‣ Eco-friendly and sustainable decor has gained traction
Entertainment‣ People are willing to spend on experiences such as sports, movies, and other entertainment during Turkey Day
Charity and giving‣ Many households allocate a budget for charity during Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Spending Habits in 2024

Consumer spending habits are heavily driven by emotions such as reciprocity and favor-giving. Tapping into customer psychology is beneficial to tailor different types of emails to align with their preferences and beliefs.

This usually starts with understanding customer behavior to analyze emotional cues, which we’ll discuss in the following section.


Engaging with Customer Emotions Through Thanksgiving Emails

By touching upon the themes of gratitude, togetherness, and giving, brands can foster deeper customer connections through various emails.

Here’s how you can engage customer emotions with Thanksgiving emails:

  • Express gratitude: Expressing gratitude to customers for their loyalty is a powerful way to strengthen relationships. A simple thank-you email can raise trust and cultivate liking for your business.
  • Celebrate togetherness: Highlight the theme of togetherness and unity to make customers feel close to your brand.
  • Tap into nostalgia: Thanksgiving is about reliving warm memories each year. Use storytelling and persuasive copywriting techniques to create an emotional bridge to your brand.
  • Personalize for emotional connection: Include the recipient’s name in your email subject lines and greetings to make the emails sound more familiar.
  • Exclusive offers tied to gratitude: Offer exclusive discounts and email coupons that tap into feelings of reciprocity, encouraging purchases. Pay special attention to your VIP customers through loyalty rewards and specific previews.
  • Using emotional language and imagery: Your designs and imagery play a vital role in stirring emotions. Follow email design best practices and visual storytelling techniques to intrigue customers and improve email marketing conversions.

Not all buyers go through similar emotional journeys during Thanksgiving purchases. The stage the buyer is in determines the need for the product. For example, a customer who happens to know your brand on the surface level will need more nurturing through informative email content.

The best approach is to map emotions with each customer’s journey.


Mapping Emotions to the Customers’ Buying Journey

Emotional journey mapping can help you target customers with specific details in your emails. It’s like reading their minds even before they can raise a query or convey their needs. Addressing potential customer concerns and needs impacts your email campaign metrics, giving you solid data to refer back to.

We’ll discuss the impact of emotional triggers and strategies to convince your customers.

Buyer’s stage Emotional triggersStrategies
Awareness‣ Curiosity
‣ Intrigue
‣ Certainty
‣ Informative content about Thanksgiving to pique customer interest
‣ Engaging Turkey Day visuals to capture attention
‣ Social proof to build credibility
Consideration‣ Doubt
‣ Indecision
‣ Anxiety
‣ Personalized Thanksgiving recommendations to address specific needs
‣ Testimonials and case studies to alleviate doubts
‣ Free trials and demos to experiment
Decision‣ Excitement
‣ Relief
‣ Anticipation
‣ Clear and compelling CTA
‣ Limited time Thanksgiving discounts and deals
‣ Excellent customer service to strengthen the decision
Loyalty‣ Satisfaction
‣ Loyalty
‣ Trust
‣ Personalized Thanksgiving rewards and programs
‣ Exclusive access to new products
‣ Proactive customer support to encourage loyalty
Mapping Customer Emotions to Buying Stages

If you’re worried about accurately understanding emotions, create emotional personas to represent different customer segments. While you’re curious to comprehend their behavior and characteristics, it’s equally important to respect their privacy and avoid exploitative practices.

The basics of any email marketing campaign start with transparency and trust. That’s why it’s crucial to craft Thanksgiving emails the right way.


How to Write a Thanksgiving Email for Higher Conversions

It’s normal to think that thanking customers is the only way to keep your brand top of mind. Some of the highest email conversions happen when you balance it with discounts, stories, and event marketing emails.

Here’s how to write a convincing Thanksgiving email to garner attention.

Start with a Warm, Gratitude-focused Opening

Thanksgiving is about expressing gratitude for customers’ loyalty and support. Make consumers feel valued by recalling a positive interaction with your brand or a milestone you recently shared.

Address the recipients by name and express sincere gratitude for their support to your business.

Here are example opening lines for your Thanksgiving email:

  • “This Thanksgiving, we want to thank you for being a valuable customer.”
  • “As we gather around the table, we remember what we’re grateful the most – You.”

Incorporate Storytelling and Emotions

This is the perfect opportunity to tell customers how your brand prioritizes togetherness and teamwork. Highlight company values or share heartwarming stories and anecdotes from your organization.

You can also write a brief history of your organization, the motive behind the brand, and the founder’s thoughts. This will enhance personal connections and help you build solid email branding

Offer a Special Thanksgiving Promotion

Sending promotional emails on regular days can help you retain more customer interest, and it’s no different for Thanksgiving. Most shoppers scour through social media deals and promo codes to save more during the holiday season.

In a study by Statista, 27% of respondents switched their decisions because of clearance sales and discounts, and 29% purchased items based on Facebook ads.

This data shows the powerful role of Thanksgiving coupons and discounts — high-percentage discounts influence where customers shop. Including time-sensitive offers and exclusive deals that’s not available to the general public can create a sense of honor.

With Campaign Refinery, clients can easily include a countdown timer to emphasize a sense of urgency. These last-minute deals can often have higher email open rates and click-through rates.

Design for Engagement During Thanksgiving

Email design is a vital component, driving people to take a specific action. When your Thanksgiving emails are more legible and good to look at, the more the recipients will want to read them.

Use the best fonts for email, eye-catching design, and a clean email campaign template. Ensure your email layouts are optimized for mobiles and look great on all devices.

Additionally, incorporate Thanksgiving-themed colors such as orange, gold, and brown. Include festive visuals such as pumpkins, turkeys, or cozy dinner settings.

Include a Personalized Thanksgiving Touch

Personalization shows how well you understand your customers and can impact the way people perceive your brand. Use dynamic email content to recommend tailored products based on customer behavior and preferences.

Dividing consumers based on the above factors will help you define your email marketing strategies. From there, you can implement other personalization techniques, such as including handwritten Thanksgiving notes or product images to make the emails feel more personal.

Demonstrate Social Proof

People are usually excited to share their food, gifts, and wishes during Turkey Day. If someone finds a valuable gift at a nominal price point, they are likely bound to share this information with their friends and family.

Sometimes, recipients tend to forward your Thanksgiving emails to introduce their circle to your brand. This word of mouth adds credibility to your brand, increasing exposure and eventually, revenue.

You could also include testimonials and reviews to instill trust and show potential customers why others have invested in your brand.

Close with Warmth and Gratitude

The closing line is as crucial as the opening line. Keep your email tone genuine and thank the subscribers again for their support.

Since Thanksgiving is followed by holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, give readers a sneak peek into the deals for those days. In fact, your Thanksgiving conclusion emails can act as your Black Friday introductory email campaigns.

To increase email responses, post intriguing questions or Thanksgiving facts in your email sign-offs.

The above steps will help you create resonating Thanksgiving emails. However, to ensure your emails promptly address consumer concerns, it’s critical to follow best practices such as planning email sending in advance.


Best Practices to Write Thanksgiving Emails

Aligning your email campaigns with common best practices can help you reduce customers’ email fatigue and elevate marketing results. Consumers likely receive tons of Thanksgiving emails, so to make your brand stand out, follow the steps below.

1. Plan Your Timing

The holiday period in 2024 is relatively short, with just 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas for promotions. Use this timing wisely to capture customer attention before other brands can.

Here are tips to find the best time to send emails:

  • Send in advance: Plan your email content calendar in advance — send emails a few days before Thanksgiving to give your audience time to engage. 2 weeks in advance is the ideal time to capture and retain customer attention.
  • Send multiple messages: Send a series of emails from pre-Thanksgiving to follow-up emails to close more deals.

2. Focus on Emotional Storytelling

While thanking customers can make them feel valued, sharing emotional anecdotes emphasizes community interaction. Consumers feel like a part of your brand, and enjoy the experience because it partly evokes fond memories of their Thanksgiving traditions.

You can include the following elements in your Thanksgiving emails:

  • Share heartwarming stories: Tell a personal story from your company to keep up with the spirit of Thanksgiving.
  • Use collective language: Incorporate themes of togetherness and gratitude.
  • Create a nostalgic tone: Take people on an emotional journey, back to their childhood, celebrating Turkey Day.

3. Segment Your Audience

A new customer will have a different outlook and needs than an existing customer. Segmenting your email list will help you send relevant offers and content to each audience group. For example, you can send loyalty discounts to existing customers and attract new ones with a welcome bonus.

4. Bundle Offers During Thanksgiving

Seasonal and holiday emails are the perfect places for cross selling and post-purchase upsell activities. Create holiday gift bundles reflecting Thanksgiving themes. You can offer different product categories to make it easier for customers to choose.

5. Engage with a Strong Call-to-Action

Your CTA guides customers toward the next steps. Use emotionally driven CTAs such as “Feel the gratitude” or “Join us in celebrating.”

You may also create urgency but keep it light with phrases such as “Thanksgiving special — only for a limited time” or “Shop now and enjoy 15% off.”

6. Keep Thanksgiving Emails Mobile-Friendly

Various studies suggest that shoppers increasingly purchase through mobile phones. This trend is typically higher during the holiday season. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, about 44.2% of people opened emails on their mobiles.

Ensure responsive design and keep the email content short and engaging. Check if your menus and buttons are optimized for smaller screens and are in tandem with touch phone scrolling or clicking mechanisms.

There’s no better way to analyze your Thanksgiving emails than to continuously A/B test and refine them. Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to understand what resonates with your audience.

As you send more emails, it becomes easier to collect and track email performance. Let’s examine the different types of emails you can send during Thanksgiving and beyond.


Email Types to Send Thanksgiving Messages

Thanksgiving emails can be one-off messages or campaigns that are a series of messages with the aim to convert email marketing subscribers. Choosing between the two depends on your marketing goals and customer profiles, including their purchase history and engagement levels.

Remember to keep your Thanksgiving email subject lines straightforward and warm to encourage more opens.

You can send a mix of these emails to nurture and retain consumer interest.

Email TypePurposeKey ElementsSubject Line Example
Thanksgiving greetingTo express gratitude and build customer relationships‣ Warm greetings
‣ Festive images
‣ No sales messages
“Thank you for being a part of our family this Thanksgiving”
Holiday sale announcementPromote special discounts during Thanksgiving and Black Friday‣ Limited-time offers
‣ Create urgency and scarcity
‣ Compelling CTAs
“Thanksgiving sale: Don’t miss out on the big savings”
Customer appreciationHighlight loyalty and show appreciation‣ Personalized content
‣ Exclusive offers
‣ Thankful tone
“Thank you, here’s an exclusive offer just for you”
Seasonal product highlightShowcase holiday-themed or relevant products‣ Product recommendations
‣ Benefits of using each product
“Get Thanksgiving-ready with our essentials”
Gift guidesBundle products or gifts to give customers an idea of what to purchase‣ Showcase relevant products
‣ Provide discounts on the bundles
“Shop your favorites at 10% off”
Abandoned cart reminderRemind customers to checkout products in their carts before Thanksgiving‣ Friendly reminder
‣ Thanksgiving offers
“Your cart is waiting: checkout our Thanksgiving deals”
Thanksgiving charityTo encourage customers to share their resources during Thanksgiving season‣ Highlight your brand’s charitable initiatives
‣ Implement emotional storytelling
‣ Call for charity with strong CTAs
“This Thanksgiving, help us give back to those in need”
Types of Emails to Send During Thanksgiving

Each email type allows you to connect with your audience and increase festive spirit. You can get as creative as you want, but ensure to follow email security best practices to keep your brand reputation in place.

Let’s review successful Thanksgiving email examples to help you craft your own.


Compelling Thanksgiving Email Examples

These brands have mastered email marketing psychology and persuasion techniques, making the below examples a great source of inspiration.

1. Thanksgiving Email Example #1: Astro West

Thanksgiving example _1
Thanksgiving Email Example – Astro West – Source

Astro West’s Thanksgiving email subtly expresses gratitude while offering seasonal discounts to loyal customers. Their email copywriting taps into customer emotions, encouraging action.

2. Thanksgiving Email Example #2: The 8AM Creative

thanksgiving example _2
Thanksgiving Email Example – 8AM Creative – Source

The 8AM Creative sends a funny and light-hearted Thanksgiving email, making it stand out from the crowd.

Similar to the above examples, you can craft funny, emotional, or intriguing Thanksgiving emails based on your customer profiles and brand identity. You can also gamify your emails or create interactive experiences to step up your game.

Sometimes, regardless of the inspiration, you might need to start somewhere to grab customers’ attention. We’ve compiled outstanding Thanksgiving email templates to help you get started.


Thanksgiving Email Templates

Adapt the following email templates to suit your specific needs.

Thanksgiving Email Template #1: General Gratitude

Dear [Customer Name],

Your business means the world to us. We’re so thankful for your continued support and loyalty.

[Brand Name] wishes you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with joy, gratitude, and delicious food.

Best,

[Brand name]

Thanksgiving Email Template #2: Special Offer

Dear [Customer Name]

Happy Thanksgiving! As a token of appreciation, we would like to offer you a discount of 10% on all orders placed between [Start date] and [End date].

Simply use the code [Discount code] at checkout.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Best,

[Your Brand Name]

Thanksgiving Email Template #3: Customer Story

Hi [Customer Name]

This Thanksgiving, we want to share the inspiring story of [Customer name].

[Briefly share the customer story and how they benefited from your products].

We hope you have similar joyful experiences using our products. Share your story to get featured in our next email series.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Best,

[Your name and brand name]

As a brand, you cannot ignore your teammates during Turkey Day. You’ll be expected to send Thanksgiving wishes and coupons in your work emails, too.

Below are email templates to wish your co-workers and boss without overwhelming them.


How to Say Happy Thanksgiving in Work Email

Here are ways to say “Happy Thanksgiving” with a warm tone that is appropriate for professional context.

TypeMessage
Simple and professional“As we approach Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for your hardwork and support”
Team-oriented“On this Thanksgiving, I want to express how grateful I am for each of you. Your dedication and positivity made all the difference”
Client/partner focused“This Thanksgiving, I want to express my sincere gratitude for your trust in our business. We are truly delighted to work with you”
Professional Thanksgiving Messages

Whether you send Thanksgiving emails to colleagues, clients, or customers, you must ensure they reach their primary inboxes.

Email deliverability plays a critical role in this — the best way to stay in tune is to use a reliable email marketing platform like Campaign Refinery.


Reach More Customers this Thanksgiving With Campaign Refinery

From tailored marketing strategies, data-driven insights, to offering the highest inbox placement rates, Campaign Refinery is the finest end-to-end solution for all types of businesses.

We follow email marketing best practices and use strict authentication protocols to ensure all your emails reach subscribers’ inboxes. You can focus on crafting the best Thanksgiving emails using our campaign library, while our automatic email list cleaning tool removes unwanted email addresses, maintaining your email list health.

The result is a clean and verified list of subscribers who are ready to convert and maximize your ROI.

If you don’t already have an email list, you can still build one and send Thanksgiving emails — our Lead Magnet Multiplier Course is a one-stop shop for attracting leads and converting them, with a whopping 756% increase in click rates.

Reach more people and make more sales this Thanksgiving!

Apply to become our client now.

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