If you have ever hiked uphill, you probably know the epic feeling of finally being able to look down from the peak it took you hours to reach. It’s that overwhelming sense of accomplishment mixed with the realization that the sweaty and bumpy way up was absolutely worth the view.
Reflecting on the past year provides a similar sense of completion, allowing us to process all the accumulated experiences and emotions. It helps us make sense of successes and setbacks in the context of a larger journey and mentally prepare for a fresh start — this is valid for individuals and businesses alike.
Eager to celebrate your wins and, potentially, reflect on your lows together with your audience? Keep on reading. We’ll show you how to craft impactful, genuine year-in-review emails that capture the authentic story of your progress.
Content:
What are year-in-review emails?
Year-in-review emails, also known as end-of-year emails, are newsletters sent by brands, organizations, or individuals at the end of the calendar year or early into the new year. These emails typically serve as a reflective summary — they highlight achievements, milestones, or memorable moments from the past year. These messages tend to be celebratory and grateful as their goal is to finish the year on a high note.
In other words, end-of-year emails turn an abstract span of time into a concrete, meaningful success story. Businesses use them as another opportunity to connect with their audience and express appreciation for the shared past as well as anticipation for what’s to come next.
While these emails sound rather philosophical, they often have very down-to-earth objectives, like encouraging participation in loyalty programs, promoting end-of-year sales, or staying connected through subscriptions.
Year-in-review emails can be tailored to various audiences:
- For customers and clients, they highlight how their support contributed to the brand’s success, fostering loyalty and emotional connection.
- Employees and team members get internal end-of-year reports that reflect on shared milestones, build pride, and motivate for the coming year.
- Stakeholders and investors receive more detailed accounts of financial, operational, or strategic achievements to maintain transparency and trust.
- Loyal fans are treated to insights into the brand’s highlights or key moments, creating a sense of community and shared experiences.
Year-in-review emails are usually handled by marketing or PR teams, but, in smaller organizations or startups, founders or CEOs themselves might personally write these messages to add authenticity and a personal touch.
What should a proper year-in-review email include?
A proper year-in-review email is supposed to celebrate achievements and set the stage for continued engagement in the year ahead. You can strike that perfect balance with the help of the following elements:
- Friendly, warm opening. It can be as simple as “Thank you for being with us in 2024! Let’s take a look back at what we’ve achieved together.” This sets a positive tone right away and puts the recipient in a reflective mood.
- Summary of key moments and successes from the past year. Make sure to prioritize the most significant events, both for your brand and your audience. These may include new product launches, awards, company growth, or viral collaborations.
- Emphasis on the tangible results. Tailor the email to make the recipient feel valued. Use their name or reference their specific contributions if possible. For instance, “Thanks to you, we donated $50,000 to environmental causes this year!”
- Words of gratitude. Express appreciation for the recipient’s support and input, whether they are customers, employees, or stakeholders. “This incredible year wouldn’t have been possible without your participation.”
- Call to action (CTA). Encourage readers to take the next step, such as shopping at an end-of-year-clearance sale, signing up for a new course, raising money for a Christmas-related charity initiative, or joining an exclusive member club. “As our loyal subscriber, you get 20% off our brand-new program.”
- Reason to act now. Add a strong argument in favor of your offer to invoke a sense of urgency and help the reader prioritize your ask and act on it before the calendar page turns. This element is optional — some CTAs may need it more than others.
- Fresh perspective. Take a look ahead and share your plans for the upcoming year to create excitement and a sense of continuity. “In 2025, we’re opening three more groups based on your feedback.”
- Signature. By having your email come directly from your team or founder, you’ll make it feel more significant and personal.
These emails are usually intended to be year-at-a-glance summaries rather than in-depth reports, so there’s no need for excessive data. Keeping it concise and engaging, with some conversational elements, is the best way to stand out from generic mass emails.
Year-in-review email best practices and tips
When creating end-of-year emails, the goal is to blend reflection, gratitude, and storytelling with visually engaging design. Here are some recommendations on how to make that happen.
Nail your timing
The rule of thumb is to avoid sending such emails during the holidays as they may go unnoticed — customers already receive piles of emails and promotions in that period. The first half of December, on weekdays, is usually the sweet spot for sending these reviews. Sending yearly recap emails in January is considered late, but still acceptable. Anything sent past that period is less likely to have an impact.
If you want to make sure your year-in-review summary is seen and appreciated, consider sending a gentle reminder during the last week of the year if the user hasn’t opened it yet. Being proactive is even more crucial if you’re trying to raise money for a social or environmental cause.
Use visuals to tell your progress story
Amidst the pre-holiday chaos, no one has the capacity to read multi-page year-in-review reports unless their job requires them to do so. To ensure your summary email won’t get tossed into the trash folder, go easy on wordy paragraphs and opt for photos, graphs, charts, or timelines to represent achievements like sales growth, customer milestones, or other major events.
Infographics allow the reader to grasp the key points quickly and lend more attention to the call to action. When relevant, make sure to include high-quality images of your products, team, or events to bring the story to life. For a little zing, consider adding GIFs, animations, or clickable elements like carousels to keep it engaging.
Acknowledge but do not dwell on your setbacks
Addressing challenges shows honesty and transparency, making your end-of-year message more credible and relatable. It demonstrates that you’re not glossing over difficulties and are willing to share both highs and lows.
If you do choose to mention your setbacks or failures, make sure they’re framed positively as lessons learned and highlight the effort and resilience it took to overcome them. This way, you’ll end up with an inspiring, well-balanced narrative.
Give it a sleek yet firm structure
By dividing the email into clear sections, you’ll achieve easy readability and ensure the most important elements won’t be missed. Start off with a warm greeting and let your story unfold step by step, culminating in an irresistible CTA.
When working on your layout, keep it mobile-friendly, as many people check emails on their phones. Short paragraphs, bullet points, and large tappable buttons make navigation smooth and enjoyable.
Choose a festive, on-brand design theme
Ideally, an annual summary email should feel more like a postcard than a dry formal report. One way to achieve the celebratory mood is by adding festive tones like gold, silver, or warm hues to evoke celebration. The year-in-review email design doesn’t have to be overly Christmasy, but it has to be fancier than your average-day newsletters.
End-of-year emails call for gorgeous, elegant fonts for headings and simple, readable fonts for the body text. Subtle decorative elements like confetti, stars, or ribbons can add a cheery touch without overwhelming the design.
Make your subject lines catchy and intriguing
A well-crafted subject line not only grabs attention but also sets the tone and encourages the recipient to open the email. This is a good opportunity to put them in a nostalgic mood and prepare for a trip down memory lane, as seen in these examples.
- Here’s Your Year With Us at a Glance
- Buckle Up as We Look Back at [Year]
- Thanks for Being Part of Our Journey
- Your Year with Us: 15 Purchases and 5 Discoveries!
- Our [Year] Highlights + Sneak Peek at What’s Ahead
- [Year] Has Been a Blast, Thanks to You
- Let’s Take a Look Back Together
- We’ve Grown By 20% — All Thanks To You
- Here’s What We’ve Achieved With Your Support
- Wrap Up [Year] With Our Annual Review
- How You Helped Us Achieve X in [Year]
- You Helped Us Plant 50,000 Trees in [Year]!
- This Year Zoomed By Fast, Right?
- Your Impact in [Year]: A Special Thank You!
- Let’s Keep Growing Together
- Your [Year] Wrapped is Here
- Time Sure Flies! Looking Back at [Year]
- What a Ride This Has Been
- Your [Year] in Facts and Stats
In short, a subject line that conveys gratitude or excitement is more likely to resonate emotionally with readers. Numbers in particular can add specificity and catch the reader’s eye while keeping the subject line nice and short, under 50 characters.
Emphasize what’s been made possible
It’s not enough to simply list your past achievements — you need to connect them to your future plans to demonstrate that the reader is an integral part of your success. When reading your report, they should feel valued and involved in what’s ahead.
When talking about upcoming launches, plans, or goals for the next year, mention how the past actions of your audience paved the road for future achievements. Consider including the recipient’s name or tailor content to reflect their interactions with your brand. For example, “Jane, your love for our recycled cotton collection helped save 10,000 liters of water this year! Next year, we will launch our first fully recycled shoe line — we promise you’ll love it, too!”
3 epic end-of-year email examples
There’s no such thing as too much inspiration — that’s why we’ve gathered a few more stunning year-in-review email examples for you.
Rebel Rabbit
This yearly recap email is bright and practically bursting with flavor, thanks to the vivid product images. The design itself is rather simple, but it serves its purpose, telling the reader what their favorite seltzer brand has been up to.
Bold, popping side stats act as visual anchors, helping skim the content. There’s also a nice touch of personalization, which helps the recipient feel related to the brand’s successes.
The email finishes strong — the vibrant, thirst-inducing images naturally lead to a CTA inviting the user to stock up on their favorite seltzers and enter the new year prepared.
Stark
Moving on to more serious and data-rich year-in-review emails, this example strikes the perfect balance between informative and digestible. Even though there’s a lot to unpack, each highlight is presented in an approachable fashion, with an option to take a deeper dive into the subject.
Here, big chunks of text alternate with tidy bullet lists, which also improves the overall readability. The images expand each feature while the concise descriptions ensure the reader grasps all the key details without getting bored.
The report itself is very customer-centric, educating the reader on the significance of the updates and changes their favorite tool has undergone. The highlights are there not to brag but to help the user extract the most value out of their toolkit in the upcoming year. While the email sounds professional, it’s by no means bland — the signature along with a warm, friendly tone creates a strong positive impression.
Shift Robotics
If you’re looking for a more minimalistic, effortless end-of-year email example, this one’s for you. It ticks all the boxes, featuring a heartfelt greeting, an expression of gratitude, and an exciting promise for the future.
For smaller brands, this is a good way to reconnect with their audiences at the end of the year without having to prepare drawn-out summaries, for which they may not even have enough data.
How to create a powerful year-in-review email with SendPulse
Our email platform provides you with all the tools you need to create and send pixel-perfect year-in-review emails in a hands-off manner. To get started, you just need to log in or register and go to the “Email” tab.
There, you can upload your contact list and browse through our email template gallery, where you can pick the design you see most fitting for your end-of-year summary. It’s also possible to build a custom layout from scratch.
Our drag-and-drop builder along with the built-in AI assistant makes editing your email a breeze. Features like videos, galleries, and payment buttons are there to add more interactivity and conversion opportunities.
It’s possible to customize your email by adding your logo, colors, and images as well as adjusting the appearance of each building block. After your campaign goes live, you’ll be able to track its performance directly from your SendPulse account.
SendPulse has a basic free plan with up to 15,000 monthly emails. To get a bigger sending volume along with more advanced features, choose one of our pricing plans starting at $10 a month, billed monthly. Paying annually saves you up to 20%.
Ready for more?
Feel free to recreate and improve upon our end-of-year email examples with SendPulse — and to supercharge your customer communications in general. Our platform comes with email automation, a CRM system, a chatbot builder, a website builder, pop-ups, push notifications, and an online course builder. This is the ultimate toolkit for building and nurturing relationships with your audience throughout the year, across multiple platforms.
Get your free account today and give it a test run!
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