A good beginning makes a good ending, so January is the best month to start the year of your email marketing strong. But while the dizziness after the winter holidays campaigns still need to wear off, it might be hard to think of ideas for your first email of 2024.
Knowing that dreadful feeling, we’ve thought in advance and prepared a January newsletter guide filled with ideas that will keep your New Year’s party going. Make a move!
January Holidays of 2024
Right from the start of the new year, the calendar gives away more than 100 good reasons to keep celebrating! We’d wait until after the National Hangover Day, but the rest of the month is up for your choice and imagination. Pick one or ten:
10 January Newsletter Ideas
You caught us. The ideas and January 2023 newsletter examples (including subject lines) below aren’t fresh – they’re at least a year old! But that’s what makes them so powerful; we’ve kept them in our cherished drawer to be able to share with you today. They’re inspiring, funny, useful, intriguing, and beautiful. A sure treat for an email marketer like you looking to make their gem:
New Year’s Resolutions Week
‘New Year, new me!” slogan accompanies most people’s January 1st. Whether exercising, traveling, learning, or simply changing for the better, a bit of motivation is always welcome in helping to reach that goal.
Show the optimistic subscribers how your products or services can serve in their betterment journey. Moment jumped right in and offered their photography-loving customers the means to enhance their skills and reach new heights for a discounted price.
Subject line: Up to 66% off Online Courses, LUTs and Presets
Why it works:
- Using the word ‘goals’ instead of ‘resolutions’ gives a positive vibe that it’s extraordinary yet achievable;
- Any level photographers are offered the courses, making the offer highly inclusive;
- ‘Most creative year yet’ is a bold and inspiring definition, further motivating the subscribers to benefit from the deal.
Subject line ideas:
- Unlock Your Full Potential in 2024
- Kickstart Your Best Year Yet
- Your Roadmap for a Remarkable 2024
- Achieve Your Goals in 2024
- Start 2024 Strong, Finish Stronger
Now that you have effective subject lines make your winter newsletter creation a breeze. Sender provides a collection of ready-to-use newsletter templates to help you effortlessly share inspiration with your subscribers throughout January.
The best part? It’s absolutely free to use, allowing you to send emails to up to 2,500 subscribers without any limits or restrictions.
Year Recap
How much you’ve achieved is never more evident than looking back from where you’ve started. And New Year’s is the perfect time to gaze at the past and show your customers what beautiful things you’ve managed to do together.
AllTrails, a fitness and travel mobile app, did just that. It showed that its user community managed fantastic feats, and the subscriber was essential to it.
Subject line: It’s that time! The 2022 Year in Review is here
Why it works:
- Rather than stealing the spotlight, AllTraills gives the merits to its community;
- The achievements are illustrated visually and with comparisons helping to understand just how huge they are;
- Each accomplishment is followed by a call-to-action (CTA), inspiring the subscribers to do even more this year.
Subject line ideas:
- 2023: A Year in Review
- Our Year Recap and Highlights
- Year Recap: Our Journey, Your Success
- The Best of 2023: Our Year Recap
- Cheers to 2023: Unveiling Our Year in Review
Diet Resolution Week
With the New Year, many people make mindful eating decisions and eat healthier food. Whether it’s for losing weight, feeling better, or getting more out of exercising, your subscribers are looking to ease their way into a healthier lifestyle.
This is an opportunity for brands to support their customers in this journey. For example, Better Brand launched and announced a new product – a better bun that allows its customers to indulge without straying from their path.
Subject line: ✨ Welcome to the Year of BETTER.
Why it works:
- Better Brand’s product is in line with everybody’s needs during this time;
- It first explains how the product was born, showing the need for such a product;
- The brand subtly includes its name in the copy, giving it a positive connotation.
Subject line ideas: :
- Jumpstart Your Year with Healthy Eating Tips!
- Achieve Your Health Goals
- Discover Delicious & Nutritious Recipes
- Revamp Your Eating Habits
- Ready to Transform? Dive in!
Celebration of Life Week
Rushing to do something great during the new year, we can forget how much we already have. Gently remind your subscribers that good things come with a heart full of gratitude. During the Celebration of Life Week, inspire them to embrace life and all its beautiful blessings.
Everyday Oil did not just that but also gave its audience the means to do it. Its carefully curated playlist is to be played when needing calm and breathing exercises, providing some feel-good for subscribers.
Subject line: ***whispers*** happy new year 🙂
Why it works:
- The brand gives helpful content instead of directly promoting their products;
- It speaks with its customers as if it’s a dialogue, creating a sense of connection and intimacy;
- Brand’s philosophy is pouring into the newsletter, making it feel more human.
Subject line ideas:
- Embrace the New Year with Gratitude
- Cheers to Life’s Blessings
- Join Us for Celebration of Life Week
- Celebrate Life’s Magic
- A Week of Thanks and Joy
Hunt for Happiness Week
After the big holiday season, feeling a small rush of winter blues is normal. It’s nice to notice more little moments of happiness to cope with this. That’s what the Hunt for Happiness Week is for.
Celebrate it with your audience by finding more little joys in life together. Everything works if it has the slightest positive impact on you or your subscribers.
For example, supplement brand Feel invited their subscribers to spend more time on mindfulness, i.e., noticing the little things around us, by sharing an informative article.
Subject line: How has your year started?
Why it works:
- Intriguing and helpful content gives value to the subscriber;
- What the subscriber will get after clicking the link is clearly communicated; ;
- The newsletter is minimal, supporting the idea of mindfulness.
Subject line ideas:
- Join the Hunt for Happiness
- Beat the Winter Blues
- Let’s Make Winter Brighter!
- Warm Up Your Winter with Hunt for Happiness Week!
- Celebrate Life’s Little Joys
Universal Letter Writing Week
In this digital age, analog can evoke a deeper connection. After all, receiving a physical letter is a nice way to show that someone put in thought when communicating with you. And then the thrill of receiving a handwritten letter in the mail… Nothing can beat it. That’s how the Universal Letter Writing Week started.
But before your hands fall off writing letters to your customers, consider commemorating this week in another way – writing an email as you’d do a letter.
That’s precisely what Humble did. They wrote a sincere letter to their audience about last year’s achievements. Starting with ‘Dear friends’, it already promises to be a treat for the eyes.
Subject line: A Most Humble Year: 2021 in Review
Why it works:
- There’s a lot of text, but it’s well-considered and meaningful;
- The body copy is well-structured, making it easy to read;
- The brand represents its year in review as storytelling.
Subject line ideas:
- Rediscover the Joy of Handwritten Letters
- Time to Put Pen to Paper
- Sending Love in Every Stroke
- Write from the Heart
- Make Their Day with a Handwritten Letter
National Hobby Month
The period after the New Year is traditionally more peaceful. When the days are still dark, and there aren’t many places to go, taking up a hobby looks like bliss.
The Sill took on this challenge and offered its green thumb subscribers to start growing orchids. And just in case they aren’t sure if it’s the plant for them, an expert also answered beginners’ questions to motivate them to at least try.
Subject line: Our Plant Expert Answers Your Orchid Questions ✍️
Why it works:
- The brand proved through Q&A’s that growing an orchid is a good hobby, too;
- It also proved that it’s simple and shared tricks to make it more enjoyable;
- By answering subscribers’ questions, the brand created a dialogue with its audience and, as a result, a stronger connection.
Here are some subject line ideas for your National Hobby Month newsletter:
- Some Hobby Inspiration Inside
- Get Crafty With Our Special Hobby Issue!
- National Hobby Month Inspiration Inside!
- Rediscover the Joy of Hobbies
- Explore, Create, Enjoy
Chinese New Year
Chinese or Lunar New Year falls between the end of January and February and marks the year moving under the sign of one of 12 animals. The celebrations are often spectacular, so this holiday has spread over the walls and borders in recent decades.
On this day, celebrate with your customers and promote a special offer embellished with a lot of bright red, gold, and white.
In the spirit of the Year of the Rabbit, Apple sent out a gift guide. For those exchanging gifts during the Lunar Year, it eases the choosing process.
Subject line: Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with great gifts from Apple. 🐰
Why it works:
- The occasion behind the newsletter is recognized immediately;
- The brand has also refurbished its well-known logo with a rabbit;
- Sending a gift guide for more particular celebrations increases the chances of sales.
Subject line ideas:
- Our Exclusive Chinese New Year Deals!
- Ring in the Year of the Tiger with Special Savings!
- Gong Xi Fa Cai! Exclusive Offers Inside
- Discover the Best Gifts for Lunar Year!
- Embrace Good Fortune!
Braille Literacy Month
January is all about Braille! Not only does the world celebrate Braille Day on the 4th of January (it’s Louis Braille’s, the inventor of the Braille alphabet, birthday), but the whole month is dedicated to Braille literacy.
It’s time to spread awareness about braille and other accessible forms of communication used by millions of blind and partially sighted people.
Yet it would be best if you thought about it when creating your emails for the whole year:
- Are you using alt text that accessibility apps can read?
- Are buttons easy to find and click?
- How does your content look in dark mode?
Subject line: World Braille Day
Why it works:
- Contrasting colors make the text easy to read;
- The author used a recognizable element of the visually impaired – dark glasses;
- The text is written in both Latin and braille letters.
Subject line ideas:
- Empowering Minds, One Dot at a Time
- January is Braille Literacy Month – Join the Celebration!
- Reading by Touch: Braille Literacy Month Newsletter Inside
- Discover the Beauty of Braille
- Reading Beyond Sight
National Storytelling Week
Storytelling is as old as speech, so no wonder there’s a whole week dedicated to sharing stories.
lil BUCKS shared its founder’s and the brand’s story: how the idea was born and why it matters. The story is well told, motivating to try out the result – healthy and filling food.
Subject line: The buck wild story behind this biz ⚡
Why it works:
- The story is told personally, making the newsletter look more humane;
- The founder explains the history and the idea in a simple yet captivating way;
- She has also sprinkled her story with the benefits of the product.
Here are some subject line ideas for your National Storytelling Week newsletter:
- Unleash the Power of Storytelling
- Once Upon a Time… It’s National Storytelling Week!
- Stories That Inspire
- Join the Tale-telling Fun
- Captivate Your Audience with Storytelling
Wrap-Up
Here you have it! Wonderful ideas to include in your January newsletter and celebrate the beginning of the new year with your audience. The best part is that each idea is highly inspiring, so you won’t be left hanging with a white sheet.
We’ve also compiled a list of 100+ February newsletter ideas, but here are 18 best email marketing examples by different campaign types, that can work for any occasion.
Happy upcoming New Year and captivating emailing!
