Yes, we're publishing this post in June. Think of this as buying great Christmas decorations off season.
The end of year is a time to celebrate, review, and reflect on what you can do better next year. It's also a perfect time to thank your users for their support. Year-in-review emails can help you nurture relationships with customers, placing them at the center of your story and your brand's success.
Email is the perfect channel for this.
But how do you make it happen? Should you treat this as a newsletter, or send out custom reports?
In this post, we'll go over the best practices for writing year-in-review emails, and share relevant examples to help you get started.
Why write a year-in-review email?
On average, SaaS businesses see a 66% open rate for their targeted email campaigns. Yet, 41% of subscribers skim emails.
So providing valuable content within your emails is mission-critical.
That's what year-in-review emails are all about: recognizing your customers for what they've accomplished reminds them of how much your product or service has helped them. As a result, they'll be more driven to accomplish even more next year. This keeps them engaged with your product, which reduces churn.
Year-in-review emails also share what you've accomplished as a business. Your customers will feel as part of this success, and remember why they chose your product in the first place.
Tips for writing your year-in-review email
Here are some best practices to follow when writing your year-in-review emails.
Gather data
Collect data on how your customers interact with your product.
For example, you could track the number of purchases, total savings, or the number of hours they spend using your service. Stick to 3 to 5 key metrics to keep it focused.
You can also take data from the department that provides customer support services to understand what customers are most satisfied and dissatisfied with your product.
Use this data to create personalized milestones. Spotify Wrapped is the epitome of using customer data to boost engagement rates. So, why not follow their lead?
Show gratitude
In your year-in-review emails, always include a token of thanks to let users know you appreciate andacknowledge their loyalty and what their business means to you.
Take it a step further and offer discounts or other perks to walk the walk.
Offer a glimpse into the future
Tease upcoming features, developments, or initiatives for the new year. Build anticipation and excitement for what's to come.
It's the perfect setup for future email marketing campaigns while simultaneously building momentum for the new year and sharing pricing updates.
Include visual elements for impact
Use popular color schemes, infographics, graphs, charts, or images to help customers visualize data points. This easy-to-understand format can make your information more engaging and easier to digest.
Recap new features
Summarize any new features you introduced during the year. Show how these features benefit users to encourage them to explore and utilize them.
Encourage social sharing
Get users to share their year-in-review experiences on social media. Provide shareable content or exclusive offers to increase your SaaS brand's reach.
Tell a story
Emails that tell a story are more likely to engage customers. A remarkable brand story can generate a 20% increase in customer loyalty. The goal is to spark an emotional reaction in your customers that makes them want to take action.
Include a clear call to action (CTA)
Direct users to take a specific next step with clear CTAs. This might be to explore new features, access personalized milestones, or upgrade or renew their subscription.
Best year-in-review email examples
It can be tough to write a good year-in-review email if you don't have anything to go on. So, we've rounded up the best year-in-review emails for your inspiration.
Check out some of our favorite examples below and why we love them.
#1. Buy Me a Coffee
Subject: 2023 Wrapped Up!
Main features of the email:
- Enumerates the exciting features and improvements rolled out during the year
- Graphics make it visually appealing and easier to skim through
- Asks the reader to share their suggestions for a better product
Why we like it:
While this email mainly talks about the product's milestones, Buy Me A Coffee still thanks the reader for the support they've given to the product and the community.
We also like that it encourages readers to pitch ideas for new features and improvements for the next year.
#2. Pitch
Subject: Pitch's 2023 in review ✨ Animations, analytics, AI, and more
Main features of the email:
- Highlights the major product updates
- Has a dedicated section to thank the reader
Why we like it:
Similar to the previous example, Pitch's year-in-review email talks mostly about the major product updates during the year. But instead of simply stating the feature, Pitch talks about each one and how it has helped the user with their tasks.
We also like that it has a dedicated section to thank the user but also highlighting a major milestone of reaching 1M teams in 2023.
#3. Bear
Subject: 🐻🎉 Celebrating 2023 with a big new feature: Quick Open
Main features of the email:
- Major feature announcement
- Copy talks about the holidays
Why we like it:
Instead of the usual feature and milestone roundup, Bear's year-in-review email doubles as a feature announcement email.
This email talks about their new major feature, Quick Open, and how this will help the user easily navigate between their notes and tags.
#4. Netlify
Subject: New dev report, features, and integrations
Main features of the email:
- Gives the user brief summary about the report
- Clear CTA
- Teases the user about their predictions for the next year
Why we like it:
Instead of putting all the highlights in the email body, Netlify's year-in-review email gives the reader a brief summary of their State of Web Development report. Should the reader want to read the whole thing, they can easily download a copy through the CTAs.
As a bonus, Netlify also includes a link to their predictions for the upcoming year.
#5. Travelpayouts
Main features of the email:
- Shares Travelpayouts' accomplishments with key figures
- Major changes to Travelpayouts
- Includes holiday-themed graphics
- A clear, compelling CTA
Why we like it:
We like Travelpayouts' year-in-review email because it shares the company's achievements in a visually appealing way that represents the holidays, marking the end of the year.
The email also includes key figures (e.g., $14M, 250K, 60K) to illustrate Travelpayouts' success in helping partners increase bookings and generate revenue.
This reminds users about the platform's benefits and reinforces why they chose Travelpayouts in the first place. They also highlight major changes to the platform, including a URL shortener, an antibot filter, and an improved referral program.
The email content encourages customers to visit the Travelpayouts website to read more about the changes.
#6. CoSchedule
Main features of the email:
- Builds excitement and anticipation
- Shares new features and updates
- Encourages users to take action
Why we like it:
One thing we like about CoSchedule's year-in-review email is that it's short and to the point. People don't want to read through a long email just for a recap of the year. The fact that this email gets the job done in just a few words makes it more likely to engage readers.
Plus, the language is highly engaging to make users feel excited about the year to come.
Then, it gets straight to the meat of the message: new social integrations. That's what people use the platform for, so they're eager to see what's changed and why they should stick around.
CoSchedule ends the email with a CTA that compels users to integrate more social platforms.
#7. Grammarly
Main features of the email:
- Incorporates striking visuals (e.g., graphs) and figures (e.g., writing sounded 43% less confident) to illustrate key points
- Shares how the customers' usage of Grammarly changed because of the pandemic
- Includes messaging that's relevant to the times (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic)
Why we like it:
No year is the same, which is why year-in-review emails are important. They recap the key moments of each year, whether it's a milestone or event.
Grammarly did this effortlessly, providing a look back at writing in 2020. It offers visuals and figures to highlight shifts in the way Grammarly users wrote during the start of the pandemic.
#8. SiteGround
Main features of the email:
- Shares SiteGround's milestones
- Includes a simple CTA
Why we like it:
Even though it's simple and brief, SiteGround's email is a prime example of how to update users without a long, complicated email.
It mentions how much the company has accomplished with high-performing hosting services.
The email creates a sense of momentum with the CTA, "Start."
#9. Jasper
Main features of the email:
- Uses figures to show the growth of the Jasper platform
- Includes insights into how the customer used Jasper
- Shares a message from the CEO for impact
- Creates a personal connection
- Recaps new features
- Includes a clear CTA
Why we like it:
In this year-in-review email, Jasper's CEO introduces himself in the first line, which creates an immediate personal connection.
Then, he talks about the number of customers Jasper has gained and shares how many words the subscriber wrote using Jasper (e.g., 15+ billion).
The email is also effective because it recaps the new features they introduced during the year and shares a sneak peek of what's to come. It includes a CTA to upgrade to the annual plan to save money on the subscription.
#10. Loom
Main features of the email:
- Reveals how users brought their team closer together, which is the goal of using the service
- Shows users what they achieved using Loom
- Encourages people to share their story
Why we like it:
Loom's email is more of a report, but it still gives users a glimpse into the year's accomplishments.
It shares how many meetings the user eliminated, how many videos they created, how many hours they saved, and more.
The email concludes with a CTA that encourages social sharing (e.g., "Share your story").
#11. AllTrails
Main features of the email:
- Uses numbers to illustrate accomplishments (e.g., 170 million miles)
- Builds a sense of unity with language (e.g., "Together, we…")
- Shows growth (e.g., grew to 46 million members)
- Includes personalized CTAs
Why we like it:
AllTrails hits the mark with its year-in-review email because it makes customers feel a part of the company's achievements by showing them how many miles they've traveled and reminding them that they're members of a huge outdoor community.
It also includes personalized CTAs for different users (e.g., "Record with Navigator" for people who aren't recording their trail time and "File trail-goers like you" for people who want to connect with others).
#12. Webflow
Main features of the email:
- Teases the user and entices them to click the CTA to learn more
- Visually pleasing
Why we like it:
It may sound counterintuitive, but Webflow hits the mark with its year-in-review email because the email doesn't include more details and only teases about the roundup.
This encourages subscribers to click the CTA (e.g., "A look back at 2022") so that they don't miss out on what happened during the year. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is what makes the email so effective.
#13. Product Hunt
Main features of the email:
- Teases the user and instills FOMO
- Includes a compelling CTA
Why we like it:
Product Hunt's email is very similar to Webflow because it encourages users to click the CTA to look at the previous year's Product Hunt Rewind by downloading their mobile apps.
#14. Coda
Main features of the email:
- Features customer success stories and each one's personal stats on the platform
- CTAs to encourage the reader to try out a feature
- CTA to register for their virtual event
- A dedicated thank you section to end the email
Why we like it:
Coda creatively used their customer success stories to highlight how certain features have helped each one. After the end of each story, it encourages the reader to try out the feature themselves.
We like that the email ends with a section that thanks the reader for their support and invites them to a virtual event to get a sneak peek of what's to come in the next year.
#15. Wise
Subject: Here's how we wrapped up 2023
Main features of the email:
- Highlights the major updates and improvements of the quarter
- Gallery-type layout that makes it easy to skim
Why we like it:
Wise sent this end-of-year roundup for the last quarter of 2023. It features all the major updates and improvements they rolled out during the period. Because it's presented in a gallery-type layout, it makes it easily skimmable.
Should the reader want to read more about their updates for the quarter, the CTA leads them to the report on their website.
And here's their year-in-review email that focuses more on customer milestones.
Subject: Here's how your 2023 adds up
Main features of the email:
- Highlights customer milestones for the year (i.e. £147 saved in fees)
- A clear CTA section
Why we like it:
This email is composed of short but sweet sections that highlight customer milestones. By doing so, Wise reminds the user of their platform's value and how it compares to other forms of international money transfers.
They nicely wrap up the email with a clear and well written CTA section that encourages the user to save even more in the coming year.
Honorable mention: Airtable
Main features of the email:
- Directs users to the Airtable website to read the year-in-review post
- Highlights new product features
- Includes a video embed
Why we like it:
Airtable introduces its year-in-review email by discussing how members of the Airtable community continued to achieve their goals despite a year of uncertainty.
The email also includes a video embed showing users a look back at everything they brought to Airtable in 2022 and some of the changes to the platform.
The email also directs traffic to the Airtable website by encouraging users to read about the company's achievements, all thanks to them.
Time to write your own year-in-review
SaaS is all about providing value. That's exactly what year-in-review emails aim to do.
When you recap the year with key product updates, new features, and striking visuals that show and don't tell, you boost customer engagement with your product and re-activate interest in inactive users.
So show gratitude to your loyal customers, highlight their milestones, and showcase how they're a big part of your achievements in your own year-in-review emails.
