Reading Time: 6 minutes

Compelling holiday email subject lines are what separate the emails people delete from the ones they actually open. With inboxes overflowing this time of year, vague or generic wording just doesn’t cut it.

The right subject line depends on your goal, your audience, and the kind of content you’re sending.

Some shoppers respond well to playful emojis and casual lines like “🎁 Your holiday treats are ready,” while others prefer something more refined, like “Curated holiday collection.”

Join us below as we reveal 99 of the best holiday subject lines to inspire your campaigns this festive season.

Subject lines that create urgency

1. Last hours to snag holiday steals
2. Countdown’s nearly done
3. This deal melts at midnight ❄️
4. Before the clock strikes savings
5. Almost gone: Holiday bestsellers
6. Grab your gifts before they vanish
7. Your final festive discount is slipping
8. Holiday savings hit their deadline
9. Only a few hours left to save
10. Today’s the last day to unwrap deals
11. Final day for festive steals
12. Holiday markdowns vanish tonight
13. This holiday offer won’t return
14. Prices jump after midnight
15. Your chance to save expires soon

Subject lines with personalization

16. (Name), your holiday perks just unlocked
17. (Name), your festive deal just unlocked
18. A holiday surprise made only for you
19. (City), you’re first in line this season
20. Your VIP holiday benefits await
21. (Name), unwrap your custom discount
22. Personalized holiday picks inside
23. A special treat for your wishlist
24. (City) shoppers get early access
25. (Name), your seasonal offer is ready
26. A holiday reward with your name on it
27. Your festive perks arrived ✨
28. (Name), upgrade your holidays today
29. You’ve earned this holiday bonus

Subject lines that spark curiosity

30. Find what’s behind door three
31. Your holiday reveal starts now
32. A little mystery for your season 🎁
33. Open this for a surprise twist
34. Guess what we just dropped
35. Hidden holiday savings unlocked
36. A secret deal just landed
37. This one’s too good to spoil
38. Peek at our newest festive launch
39. Your next holiday delight is waiting
40. There’s magic behind this subject line
41. You won’t believe this holiday drop
42. A surprise we couldn’t keep quiet
43. The reveal you’ve been waiting for

Subject lines with humor

44. Santa asked me to send this
45. Holiday chaos? Not on our watch
46. Your tree called. It wants presents
47. Reindeer-approved savings
48. Holiday shopping, but make it easy
49. Elves certified these deals
50. Mistletoe-free discounts
51. Sleigh bells… and cheaper carts
52. Santa’s interns went wild
53. A little festive mischief for you
54. Too much cheer? Never.
55. Brace for joyful savings
56. Holiday spirit turned up to 100

Subject lines for gift inspiration

57. Gifts that never miss 🎁
58. Holiday picks everyone wants
59. Season’s top 20 gift ideas
60. Only the best presents of 2024
61. Unwrap your gifting shortcut
62. Perfect gifts for every person
63. Trending gifts this holiday
64. Lists solved. Gifts delivered.
65. Wow-worthy presents under $50
66. Holiday favorites you’ll love
67. New finds for festive gifting
68. Gift ideas worth sharing
69. Make their holidays unforgettable
70. This year’s most-loved picks
71. Stress-free gifting starts now

Subject lines with emojis

72. 🎄 Fresh holiday magic awaits
73. 🎁 Unwrap today’s surprise
74. ✨ Festive finds just dropped
75. Something sparkling inside 🌟
76. 🎅 A cheerful delivery for you
77. ❄️ Holiday feels incoming
78. Wrapped just for your season 🎀
79. 🌠 Tonight’s festive highlight
80. 🎉 Your joyful deals are here
81. Follow the trail to savings 🦌
82. ⭐ Shop the season’s best
83. Holiday shine starts now✨
84. 🎄 A little Christmas wonder
85. 🎁 New gifts waiting for you

Subject lines for post-holiday promotions

86. Holiday deals sticking around 
87. New year, new markdowns
88. Clearance magic starts today
89. Last call for festive leftovers
90. Fresh year, fresh savings
91. Time to refresh your favorites
92. Post-holiday steals unlocked
93. Deals you missed are back
94. Holiday extras for a limited time
95. The clearance drop you need
96. Final round of seasonal savings
97. A new year of better prices
98. Time to restock your essentials
99. More deals before they’re gone

Tips for crafting effective holiday email subject lines

Create holiday email subject lines with high open rates with these seven tips:

• Use the Omnisend email subject line generator: Our subject line generator sparks creative ideas when you’re stuck. It generates five results and offers the option to generate five additional alternatives. You can also use this tool when building your campaigns. 

• Stick to 40 characters or less: Most email platforms have a subject line cut-off of around 50 characters. Some small devices show less than 40 characters. Use our free subject line tester to check your character count and refine your subject line. 
• Personalize your messaging: Personalize your holiday email subject lines with customer names, wishlist items, or past purchases. Personalization creates a more intimate experience that can boost open rates and the likelihood of sales.
• Use authentic urgency: Craft subject lines that communicate time-sensitive opportunities without lying or being manipulative. Use real data and genuine offers in your subject lines, maintain your brand voice, and use stock counters to build trust. 
• Spark curiosity: Spark intrigue that makes readers want to discover more. Hint at something valuable without revealing everything, compelling subscribers to open and explore your holiday offerings. For example, you could say, “Our top perfume revealed🥇.”
• Create emotional triggers: Your subscribers will respond best to subject lines that trigger an emotion. Skip the generic buzzwords and zero in on compelling emotional hooks like gifting anxiety, family connection, hobbies, pastimes, and good cheer to encourage open rates. 
• Get seasonal: Rather than using generic “holidays” phrasing, create subject lines for Thanksgiving and other occasions like Christmas. Getting specific will improve relevance and differentiate your emails from less observant retailers. 

How Omnisend helps elevate your email marketing

Omnisend helps you create, design, target, and automate holiday email campaigns with an intuitive interface that requires no training. The free plan lets you send 500 emails/month to 250 contacts and includes $1 in bonus SMS to try.

Here’s how you can use it to create winning holiday campaigns:

Create professional holiday emails effortlessly

Build holiday emails without coding knowledge using the drag-and-drop email builder and template library. Customizing your email templates to match your brand’s visual identity takes only a few seconds. Plus, you can add dynamic product displays, discount codes, and more. 

Save your best-performing email layouts and content blocks as reusable templates, making future campaign creation even faster.

Automate workflows

Omnisend’s pre-built workflows for welcome series, cart abandonment, and order confirmations save you time and enhance deliverability. You can customize message sequences and timing with an intuitive visual automation editor.

There’s also an option to combine email, SMS, and web push notifications in automations, helping you reach customers wherever they are. 

A/B test your emails

Test two different email subject lines, templates, and holiday offers on a small group of your subscribers to see what works best.

Omnisend can send your winning holiday email version to the rest of your audience based on which variant drives the most opens or clicks.

Segment with precision 

Target holiday shoppers based on their buying patterns, average order values, and purchase history using Omnisend’s ecommerce-focused filters.

Use segmentation to create personalized campaigns, from weekly deals for engaged customers to win-back campaigns for lapsed shoppers.

Your segments also update in real time based on a specific condition (e.g., placed order, clicked campaign link) to keep your targeting on point.

Track performance

Track your holiday campaign performance through the Omnisend dashboard, including revenue metrics, sales from campaigns and automations, and audience growth across channels.

Compare orders, revenue, and subscriber engagement changes, and use that data to optimize your email marketing strategy.

Build your subscriber base 

Capture new email subscribers with customizable, compliance-friendly forms and interactive elements like the Wheel of Fortune. Place your signup forms anywhere on your site, from popups to landing pages, giving visitors multiple chances to join your marketing list.

Your forms connect directly to automation workflows for immediate customer engagement and conversion opportunities.

Conclusion

The holidays are a fantastic opportunity to grow your sales via email, and the first step to success is to create a subject line that encourages open rates. 

Personalization (using customer names or preferences), urgency (“24-hour flash sale”), and exclusivity (“VIP members only”) are proven tactics to stand out in crowded inboxes. You could also add an emoji to make your subject line more impactful. 

It’s helpful to test different formats to see what works, and the same goes for your email’s content and design. Use Omnisend’s split-testing feature to compare subject lines, interactive elements, and content to find your winning formula. 

FAQ