30 New Year Messages for Clients (Without the Sales Pitch)

New Year messages to clients have an advantage over December cards: they arrive when the inbox is quieter and people are in a forward-looking mood. They also have a trap. Forward-looking slides very easily into let’s discuss your plans for the year, and then the card is a sales email. The ones that work do two small things: thank the client for one real thing from last year, and wish them well for this one. Below are 30 New Year messages for clients and customers, by relationship, plus short professional versions and a note on timing.

Thanking them for the year that’s ended

1. Thank you for last year. It was a good one to work on together. Wishing you a great start to this one.
2. Happy New Year! Thank you for the trust, the clear briefs and the patience in between.
3. Last year was busier than any of us planned. Thank you for being such a good partner through it. Happy New Year.
4. Thank you for a year of good work and good conversations. All the best for the new one.
5. We looked back over last year and so many of our favourite projects were yours. Thank you, and Happy New Year.

For a new client

6. Our first new year working together. Thank you for choosing us. Here’s to a good one.
7. Happy New Year! We’re glad last year ended with you as a client.
8. Thank you for starting the year with us. We hope it’s a great one for you and your team.
9. A short time together so far, and a good one. Happy New Year, and thank you.

For a long-standing client

10. Another year begins and we’re still working together, which says a lot. Thank you, and Happy New Year.
11. Happy New Year to one of our longest-standing clients and favourite people to work with.
12. Thank you for another year of trust. We don’t take it for granted. Wishing you a great one.
13. Years in, and it still feels like a good partnership. Happy New Year, and thank you.

After a difficult year

14. Last year asked a lot of everyone. We hope this one is kinder to you. Thank you for your patience through it.
15. Thank you for staying with us through a hard year. Wishing you a calmer, easier one ahead.
16. Here’s to a new year with fewer surprises than the last. Thank you for working through it with us.
17. It wasn’t an easy year, and you made it easier. Happy New Year.

From the whole team

18. Happy New Year from all of us who worked with you last year. Thank you.
19. The whole team wanted to wish you a great year ahead. Thank you for last year.
20. From everyone on your account: Happy New Year, and thank you for a good one.

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Formal and professional

21. With thanks for your partnership last year, and best wishes for the year ahead.
22. Wishing you and your colleagues a successful and healthy New Year.
23. Thank you for your continued trust. We wish you every success this year.
24. Season’s greetings and best wishes for the New Year, with our thanks.
25. With appreciation for a productive year together, and warm wishes for the next.

Short ones

26. Happy New Year, and thank you.
27. Wishing you a great year ahead.
28. Thank you for last year. Here’s to this one.
29. All the best for the New Year.
30. Happy New Year from all of us.

When to send

The first two weeks of January. People are back, the inbox is quieter and the year actually feels new. A card on 31 December competes with every other end-of-year message; one on 6 January has the room to itself.

Instead of a December card, not as well as one. If you’ve already sent a holiday card, a New Year card two weeks later is one too many. The New Year card is the right choice if you missed December, if the client’s year-end is their busiest season, or if they mark a different new year.

For a different new year, on their date. Lunar New Year, Nowruz, Rosh Hashanah and others fall at other times. A card on the right date for a client who marks it says you paid attention, but only send one if you’re sure. Getting it wrong is worse than not sending.

What makes these work

One real reference to last year. “So many of our favourite projects were yours” or “the patience in between”. A specific memory is what makes a wish feel written rather than merged.

A wish, not a plan. “Here’s to a good year” is a wish. “Let’s make this our biggest year yet” is a target, and nobody wants a target in a card.

Brevity. A New Year message is read in seconds. Two sentences that sound like you beat a paragraph that sounds like a brochure.

What to avoid

• Next year’s pitch. No “we’d love to discuss your plans”, no new service launches, no offers. Send that in its own email, a week later.
• Predictions. “This will be our best year yet together” promises something you can’t guarantee.
• Resolutions on the client’s behalf. “Here’s to growing your revenue this year!” assumes a lot about their goals.
• Mail-merge greetings. “Dear [Company Name] team” is worse than no card. If you can’t write a line for each client, write fewer cards.

Frequently asked questions

What do you write in a New Year message to a client? Thank them for one specific thing from last year, wish them a good year, and stop.

When should you send it? In the first two weeks of January, once people are back.

Holiday card and New Year card? Usually one or the other, not both.

Can you mention next year’s work? As a general wish, yes. As a request for a meeting, no.

Related: holiday messages for clients · thank you messages for clients · holiday messages for employees · group holiday cards