A good business holiday card is three lines long: the person's name, one thing you did together this year, and a warm wish that fits everyone who reads it. Sign it with your own first name, not just the company's. Post it so it lands in the first half of December. Below are 21 messages for clients, customers, partners and staff, and the timing and wording choices behind them.
What should a business holiday card say?
Three things. First, their name, spelled right. Second, one specific thing from the year: the project you shipped, the order they placed every month, the time they rang to warn you about a supplier. Third, a short wish for the season and the year ahead. Leave the sales pitch out. A holiday card is the one letter a client opens expecting nothing to be asked of them.
Sign it by hand, even if the company name is printed. "From all of us at Ridgeway" is a company. "Sam, and all of us at Ridgeway" is a person with a team behind them. The same rule runs through our small business thank-you guide.
Why send a paper holiday card at all?
Because people still value them, and most of your competitors have switched to email.
The Greeting Card Association estimates Americans buy about 1.3 billion Christmas cards a year, and 75 per cent of people who send holiday cards say they do it because they know how good it feels to receive one. The same fact sheet reports that 60 per cent say mail "means more to me" than an email (Greeting Card Association).
Touch matters too. Royal Mail MarketReach found that people value things they can touch 24 per cent more highly than things they can only see (MarketReach). It is also cheap next to the alternative: acquiring a new customer costs five to 25 times more than keeping one (Harvard Business Review). And the worry that a card will seem awkward is mostly in the writer's head: Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley found that people who write thank-you letters underestimate how pleased the recipient will be (Chicago Booth).
Should a business card say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"?
Say "Happy Holidays" or "Season's greetings" unless you know the person celebrates Christmas. Pew Research found that nine in ten Americans celebrate Christmas in some way, but 52 per cent say it does not matter how a business greets them, and 32 per cent prefer "Merry Christmas" (Pew Research Center). If you know a client well, use their holiday.
For clients you know celebrate something else, send for that instead: Diwali, Hanukkah, Lunar New Year or Eid. A card that arrives on the right holiday shows you listened.
When should you send business holiday cards?
Aim for the card to arrive between the first and the fifteenth of December. That is early enough to be on the shelf all month and late enough to feel seasonal. If you miss that window, send a New Year card that arrives in the first week of January instead. It will face almost no competition in the post.
Thanksgiving cards are another way to stand apart. The Greeting Card Association counts about 16 million Thanksgiving cards a year against 1.3 billion for Christmas, so a thank-you in late November is rarely one of many.
Holiday card messages for clients
Dear Priya, thank you for a year of good work together. The spring launch still makes me smile. Wishing you a restful holiday and a strong start to the new year. Sam
Hi Marcus, three projects this year and not one missed deadline on your side. Thank you. Enjoy the break with your family. Happy holidays. Leena
Dear Ms Alvarez, thank you for trusting us with the audit this year. I know it was not the easy option. Season's greetings from all of us. David
Hi Chen, thank you for being our first client in Singapore. We learned a lot from you this year. Happy Lunar New Year when it comes. Ana
Dear the team at Hollis, thank you for the calm emails in a busy year. They were noticed. Warm wishes for the holidays. Raj and everyone at Northbeam
Holiday card messages for loyal customers
Hi Ellie, you ordered from us every month this year. Thank you. The shop closes on the 23rd and reopens on the 3rd. Happy holidays. Jo
Dear Mr Osei, thank you for choosing a small bakery for your office orders. The Friday croissants were our favourite delivery. Merry Christmas. Grace
Hi Aisha, thank you for five years of haircuts and good conversation. See you in January. Happy holidays. Léa
Dear Ravi, thank you for recommending us to three of your friends this year. That is the best gift a small business can get. Season's greetings. Anita
Holiday card messages for partners and suppliers
Dear Tomasz, thank you for finding us a truck in the August heatwave. We would have lost the order without you. Happy holidays. Nina
Hi Laura, thank you for being the supplier who picks up the phone. That matters more than any discount. Enjoy the holidays. Ben
Dear Mr Fischer, thank you for another year of printing our labels on time and in the right colour. Season's greetings from the whole team. Kit
Hi Omar, thank you for sending clients our way this year. We will keep returning the favour. Happy holidays. Sara
Holiday card messages for staff
Dear Jess, thank you for covering the front desk through the busiest October we have had. I noticed. Enjoy every day of the break. Maya
Hi Leo, your first year with us, and already the person everyone asks. Thank you. Happy holidays to you and Sophie. Dan
Dear Ahmed, thank you for twelve years. You have seen this team through more changes than anyone. Wishing you a peaceful holiday. Grace
Hi team, thank you for this year. Every order, every late night, every kind word to a customer. Rest well. Sam
Messages for other holidays and the new year
Dear Anjali, happy Diwali. Thank you for your trust this year. May the new year bring light and good work. Raj
Hi Rachel, happy Hanukkah. Thank you for being such a good partner this year. Leena
Dear Mr Kim, happy Lunar New Year. Thank you for a year of steady partnership. Wishing you health and good fortune. Ana
Hi Sophie, happy new year. We missed the December rush on purpose, so this card could say thank you in peace. Here is to next year. Jo
How do you send business holiday cards at scale?
Write one message with the name and the specific line as fields, then let the writing happen per person. That is what MailMyCard does. A real pen writes every card, and it is posted from Bangalore the day it is ordered.
One card is $14.99 with delivery included. Business volumes start at $8.99 a card for a pilot of 50 and go down to $3.49 a card at 5,000 or more.
- HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Attio, monday.com, Keap and Close: one-click connections, so your client list is already there.
- Shopify and WooCommerce: one-click connections for sending to customers who ordered this year.
- Zapier, Make and n8n: a card from a spreadsheet row or any other trigger.
- Schedules: a card every year on a date you choose, such as 5 December. We work out the posting day so it arrives in time.
- An API and an MCP server: for anything else.
See the For business page for volume pricing. Every card is addressed from your records, so the country formats in our postcard addressing guide are handled for you.
What should a business holiday card leave out?
Leave out anything that turns a greeting into an advert. A holiday card that asks for something reads like a flyer in a nicer envelope.
- A discount code. Save it for January.
- "Dear Valued Client." If you do not know the name, do not send the card.
- A year-in-review paragraph about your company. One line about them beats ten about you.
- Religious wording for people you do not know. Keep it to "happy holidays" until you do.
- A printed signature with nothing written. It tells them nobody touched it.
Sources
- Greeting Card Association, "Greeting Cards: Facts and Info to Know" (September 2020): greetingcard.org
- Pew Research Center, "5 facts about Christmas in America" (2017): pewresearch.org
- Royal Mail MarketReach, The Private Life of Mail: marketreach.co.uk
- Gallo, A. (2014), "The Value of Keeping the Right Customers", Harvard Business Review: hbr.org
- Kumar, A. and Epley, N. (2018), "Undervaluing Gratitude", Psychological Science, via Chicago Booth
