A wish that gets read is a conversation that starts.
Almost every company sends business new year wishes, and almost all on the same day with the same line. That is why they rarely get read. A wish that works is personal, arrives when the recipient has time, and ends with a reason to talk in the new year.
Below: twelve example messages for clients, partners, suppliers and your own team, the timing that works best in 2027, the channel per recipient, and what EU email rules ask when you send more than a wish. If you work with clients in several countries, there are notes on that too.
The best moment in 2027
Most companies send their wish between 20 and 31 December. Inboxes are full then, and recipients are often on holiday; in Belgium the Christmas school holiday runs from Monday 21 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. What arrives in those weeks gets deleted in one go in January.
| Moment | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| Before 18 December | Read before the holidays | Feels early, competes with Christmas mail |
| 21 December to 3 January | Traditional | Full inbox, recipient often away |
| Monday 4 to Friday 15 January | Empty inbox, everyone starts the year | After mid-January it feels late |
| After mid-January | Stands out | Looks forgotten |
Our advice: a short Christmas note before 18 December if you want (twenty Christmas card business messages to copy), and the real new year wish in the first working week of January, with a concrete proposal. Put it in your marketing calendar 2027.
What a good business wish does
A wish is not an ad. It does three things: it thanks for something concrete, it wishes something that fits the recipient, and it opens a conversation for the new year. Everything else can go: the logo in three sizes, the list of your services, the general line about health and success everyone sends.
Who you write to, and how
| Recipient | Channel | Tone | Close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular client | Personal email | Warm, with a concrete project | Suggest a call in January |
| New client of 2026 | Personal email | Grateful, a bit more formal | What you could do together in 2027 |
| Partner or supplier | Email or card | Short and sincere | Thanks for one concrete moment |
| Prospect | Personal email | Light, no selling | An open door for January |
| Network | LinkedIn post | Personal, with an image | None, a post is enough |
| Own team | Card or message | Grateful and honest | A moment together in January |
- SubjectThe standard wishSeason's greetings and a happy new yearA wish that gets readWhat 2026 brought us, and a wish for 2027
- GreetingThe standard wishDear customerA wish that gets readThe person's name, or their team
- ContentThe standard wishA general line about health and successA wish that gets readOne concrete moment from the year and one concrete wish
- SenderThe standard wishinfo@ or the marketing teamA wish that gets readThe person the client knows, with a signature
- TimingThe standard wish24 December, among a hundred other emailsA wish that gets readBetween 4 and 15 January, when inboxes are empty again
- Follow-upThe standard wishNoneA wish that gets readA question or a meeting for the new year
In 2027 the first working day after the holidays in Belgium is Monday 4 January.
Email, card or LinkedIn
- Personal email
- Works forClients and partners you know well
- Watch outSend one by one, not bcc to a hundred people
- Newsletter with a wish
- Works forA larger customer list
- Watch outCommercial email rules apply
- Paper card
- Works forA handful of key relationships
- Watch outSigned by hand, or rather not at all
- LinkedIn post
- Works forYour network and visibility
- Watch outNo replacement for a wish to a client
- Video
- Works forA team that wants to show itself
- Watch outShort, your own footage, subtitled
Pick a channel per group. A personal email to twenty clients does more than a card to two hundred.
Twelve examples you can adapt
For a client you know well
"Hi Sarah, thank you for a year in which we got your new shop online together. Looking forward to its first spring. A healthy, strong 2027 to you and the team. Shall we have a call at the end of January about your plans?"
"Dear Tom, 2026 was the year of your move, and it went smoother than we both feared. Wishing you a 2027 with more calm and more customers. Speak soon."
For a client you know less well
"Dear Ms Peeters, thank you for your trust in 2026. We wish you and your team a good 2027. If there is anything we can help with in the new year, I would be glad to hear."
"Hi Ahmed, it was good to work together for the first time this year. I wish you a 2027 where everything goes to plan, and what does not, we solve together."
For a partner or supplier
"Hi Lies, without your fast deliveries we would not have made our busiest month. Thank you, and a strong 2027."
"Dear team at the print shop, thank you for every project ready on time. A good new year to you, and here is to the next one."
For your network on LinkedIn
"2026 in three lines: we grew, we learned, we had wonderful clients. Thanks to everyone who trusted us. In 2027 we do more of what works."
"The year ends, our clients' questions do not. Thanks to everyone who thought along with us. Wishing you a 2027 of good decisions."
For a prospect
"Dear Jan, we spoke in October about your website. Wishing you a good 2027, and when the project is back on the table in January, I am ready."
For your own team
"Thank you for every project, every late evening and every joke in between. 2027 will be our year. A healthy new year to you and your families."
For a client in another country
"Dear Mr Weber, thank you for the trust you gave a team two borders away. We wish you and everyone in Munich a good 2027, and we look forward to the launch in March."
"Hi Claire, a year of calls across three languages, and the site is live in all of them. Thank you for your patience with every round of translations. Here is to a calm and busy 2027."
A word in the client's own language at the start or end, such as "Gelukkig nieuwjaar" for a Flemish client or "Bonne année" for a client in Wallonia, shows you made the effort. Keep the rest in the language you normally write in.
What business owners ask us in December
When should you send business new year wishes?
Between the first working day of January and mid-January. In 2027 that is from Monday 4 January in Belgium and much of Europe. If you want to send before Christmas, do it by 18 December.
Can I email my whole customer list?
A pure wish to existing customers is usually fine. If you add an offer or a newsletter, EU rules on commercial email apply: consent, or an existing customer with an opt-out.
What about clients in other cultures?
Check which new year matters to them. Clients who celebrate Lunar New Year (6 February 2027) may value a wish at that moment more.
Is a card still worth it?
Not for everyone. For a few key relationships a handwritten card still works best, because almost nobody sends one.
What EU rules ask when you email a list
A personal wish to a client is fine. A new year email to your whole customer list with an offer or your newsletter in it is commercial communication. EU rules then require prior consent, with an exception for existing customers to whom you offer your own similar products, provided they can unsubscribe free of charge in every message. You must also make clear who the sender is. How to build a good mailing with the rules in it is in how to write a newsletter.
Clients in several countries
Write in the client's language where you can; a Belgian client in Flanders reads Dutch, in Wallonia French. New year customs differ too: Lunar New Year falls on 6 February 2027 for clients who celebrate it. And mind the holidays per country when you pick a send date; our content calendar template has holidays for four countries.
A wish that opens a strong January
January is the month of new plans and budgets. A wish with a concrete proposal or a short look back on what you did together often leads to the year's first assignment. Plan those conversations alongside posts on your LinkedIn company page, and read how the LinkedIn algorithm treats them. Want the year on one page? Use the marketing plan template, or work out your budget with the marketing budget calculator.
Before you hit send
- The name is right, and the tone matches how you address that person all year.
- One concrete moment or project from 2026 is in it.
- The sender is a person, with a signature and a phone number.
- There is a question or a proposal for the new year.
- If it goes to a list, there is an unsubscribe link and you have consent.
A wish with images
A short video of your team, a photo of your office in winter or an image of a project you are proud of makes a wish more personal than a stock photo with snow. Your own images work on social media too, and in Facebook and Instagram ads for the January restart; what a shoot day costs is in corporate video cost, and how a shoot goes in corporate photoshoot ideas. For drafting help, see ChatGPT prompts for marketing.
How VBS makes your January message
From Ghent we run social media management with our own visuals, write emails people read and make corporate video for your year-end message, in the languages of your clients. Want to start January strong? Book a call.