Holiday greetings with a thank you for being a subscriber or customer are not so bad occasionally. Thank you emails can be offered at other times though to avoid offending anyone who doesn’t recognize the holiday.I do dislike the thinly disguised holiday greetings that are an obvious pitch though.Thanks for pointing out that something even with good intentions, if not done with thought, can backfire.

Thanks for the tip. Great suggestion.

I’m SO glad that someone finally made this point!

Call me cynical, but most of those holiday greetings seem to be sent as just another opportunity to get product exposure.

I believe that if you’re doing email marketing correctly, holiday greetings and other messages of appreciation can and should be included with your regular (weekly) newsletter.

First time here.

Thanx a million for your great tips
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Yourcompany email for an AWeber test-drive was a blessing in disguise, and it came just when I was about to send out thankyou and Happy …….messages to my top insurance customers.

It’s a good thing that I decided to visit your blog for ideas after reading the email.

Now I know why nobodybothered to call me last Christmas.

Best wishes to you and all your readers in their marketing campaigns.during the hollidays and beyond.

I think that probably depends on how you’re going to promote it and who is going to be getting that information.

What I mean is, if you’re going to be promoting it as related/value-added content to current subscribers, by letting them know about it via email, then you may want to wait until after the holidays, when their inboxes are a bit less "noisy."

If on the other hand you’re expecting a significant portion of your subscribers to this to be new ones (not on another campaign/list currently), then I wouldn’t consider the holidays to be (in and of themselves) a good reason to delay the campaign, especially if people are going to be able to sign up at any time after you launch (not just during a fixed/finite number of days).

If someone is coming and seeking you out/signing up for the first time, that’s when their interest level is highest and when they’re going to be most likely to open/read/engage with your emails. In my opinion, the holidays wouldn’t affect that quite so much.

I can’t believe I’m just discovering this blog now, after being a customer for all this time. Great stuff! You make a very valid point about clogging people’s inboxes. This is why I FREQUENTLY recommend to my audience that they set up an alternate email address meant for ezines, e-courses and other "recreational" pursuits.

I know it’s an unpopular suggestion - everyone wants the primary email address of their future clients and customers. But, my feeling is that when the prospect is finally serious about working with us, we’ll have earned the right to their work email and we won’t have to ask for it.

I myself sign up for other people’s mails using a Yahoo address. Email marketers fear that their mails are less likely to be opened and read in this case, but it’s not true. I habitually check mine nearly every day. It’s my "wind-down ritual." As a result, my work email is far more manageable, and I’m far less stressed.

I also get the joy of having my "leisure reading material" all in one place. That means I’m less impulsive about which lists I subscribe to.

If we really want our readers to be happy and to give our mails a welcome reception when they come in, then I say that the new trend in email marketing is to suggest to your audience, as I have, that they open a new account reserved for this purpose.

I don’t want my subscribers feeling harried and aggravated when they get my mails. I want them to feel relaxed and ready to settle in with some good, quality reading.

How about you?

I don’t have a specific length that I shoot for, and I find that among the blogs I read that post length varies widely.

If you’re looking for more viewpoints, Darren at Problogger addresses this in a couple of posts.