64 Cliche-Free Holiday Copywriting Ideas & Examples

guide to cliche free holiday copywriting: the seven principles of kwanzaaYou may also be able to come up with some funny or compelling marketing copy by looking more closely at popular song lyrics. Likecliche-free holiday copywriting tips: greeting cardThis card reads: “May your heart be full..and your inbox empty.”This someecard reads: “This holiday season, in lieu of gifts, I’ve decided to give everyone my opinion.”tweet about the 12 days of christmasTake Kwanzaa, for example.Image sourceThis Facebook ad says: “Time travel. Talking babies. Old man yelling at clouds. Just another day in adult animation. See it on Hulu for .99/month.”

Ideas:

  • Sign up for our holiday rewards program. We’ll keep track of your deals.
  • Why wait for post-holiday clearance when you can get great bargains now?
  • Prices so low you’ll think time has flashed forward and you’re in holiday clearance land.

Perhaps one of the quintessential pain points of the holidays. A picture of tangled Christmas lights and the word “nope.”

2. Look at holiday greeting cards

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Let’s talk for a minute about the cards in the bottom row of any greeting card aisle. There is no good way to browse these cards without having to hold a squat for several minutes. And who’s going to do that? Indeed, this row is the greeting card page two of search results and something needs to be done.

Example #4

This is a Tweet that says: “The twelve days of christmas is completely unrealistic there is no way that you’re still accepting gifts from someone after four days of birds.”
This card shows how simple and easy it can be to make your holiday messaging more inclusive and diverse. Think about the icons, colors, and examples you use in your designs and content. The smallest details can send big messages—so make sure yours is positive.
First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

  • May your heart be full…and your wallet, too.
  • May your heart be full, and your ads clicked too.
  • May your heart be full, but not your head! Use these X sanity-saving holiday tips.

Example #5

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

  • Display an image like this with copy like “Does tracking your marketing campaigns feel like this?” And then show your product with neatly strewn lights.
  • Juxtapose an image like this and “NOPE” with an image of your product/happy customers and “YUP.”
  • [Applicable problem] is like a set of cheap finicky Christmas lights…one goes out and they all do.

Example #6

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Idea:

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Idea:

  • The holiday season is on its way and we know it can be difficult for some. If you’d prefer not to get our holiday correspondence, opt out by clicking the button below and we’ll take care of it. We’ll still keep you updated about everything else!
  • We know that the holidays can be a sensitive time for some of us. If you’d rather not receive holiday-related emails from us, just let us know by opting out. It’s important to make sure you’re only seeing things that put a smile on your face. Don’t worry, if you opt out, you’ll still receive all of the other emails, like normal.

5. Use forgotten song lyrics

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

  • Let’s say your target audience is parents.
    • “Where the treetops glisten, and children listen…”
      Sorry Bing, did you just say children LISTEN?!
      Yes, he did. And our latest guide has X parenting tips so you can experience this miracle. 
  • Or maybe you’re an ecard company:
    • “With every Christmas card I write…”
      Spare yourself the carpal tunnel…try [Company Name] for ecards with handmade feel.

Example #13

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

  • “I don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree.”
    • Sure you don’t, but your credit card does!
    • Neither do we… but we DO care about [and off you go].
    • Let’s face it, you do…lead into great gift ideas from your business.

Example #15

First, I plugged “Hanukkah” into Shopify’s slogan generator. Like I said, prepare for a lot of hilariously unusable taglines, but I was able to extract some copywriting potential.

Ideas:

A good slogan is not going to come from a formula or slogan generator, but that’s not to say that formulaic results can’t inspire creative ideas!

  • Unity
  • Self-determination
  • Collective work and responsibility
  • Cooperative economics
  • Purpose
  • Creativity
  • Faith

7. Look at someecards

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Example #17:

Don’t forget Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song.”
In this post, I’m going to share 60+ examples and ideas to help you write cliche-free copy for your ads, landing pages, emails, social posts, and more this holiday season. I’m also sharing the strategies behind these examples, so get ready to expand your creative copywriting toolkit for ideas all year round!

Ideas:

  • Event planners can use this meme to talk about throwing office people actually want to go to.
  • B2B companies can focus their ad copy around saving enough money to have a four office holiday parties a year.

Example #18

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This card has different mittens to represent different cultures and says “happy everything.”

Ideas:

  • [Product name]: The world’s first regiftable gift that everyone wants.
  • Finish the holidays with a clear conscious this year
  • 10 Things to Do Before You Give In and Regift

Example #19:

Twitter has its pros and cons, and can get ugly sometimes, but it is a great source of inspiration for funny and relatable content—holidays or not. You can also post fun questions to your own account and see if your followers can come up with anything good.
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Ideas:

  • Spare your family, check out our gift guide!
  • Use this meme in an email asking for reviews.
    We actually want your opinion!

8. Exclude “holiday” from your idea searches

What makes Twitter such a great resource for cliche-free copywriting is that [good] Tweets are relatable and satisfyingly succinct. And isn’t that how all great copy should be? Some Tweets will give you ideas for your own relatable ad copy while others you’ll need to include right in your content for context (like in a gift guide).
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This Tweet reads: “For a Hanukkah gift, I’m gonna assemble my son’s birthday present from July.”
Just be sure to get permission and give credit where it’s due. And also, check the user’s account to make sure other Tweets they post are appropriate. To find holiday Tweets:
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Example #20:

BUT…
One of the best ways to get jumpstart your copywriting creativity is to Google around for examples.

Ideas:

  • [Your target audience persona]s without [your product] is like
    • Santa without Rudolph.
    • Eggnog without brandy.
    • A menorah without candles.
  • [Your target audience persona]s need [pain point] like
    • Your Christmas display needs a blown fuse.
    • A menorah needs a fire extinguisher.
    • Kids need the holiday armadillo.

Example #21:

Plus, top pages for “best holiday marketing campaigns” almost invariably include the same list of 10 or so YouTube videos of commercials from big brands. These are entertaining and inspiring, but hardly useful for copywriting, and often not adaptable for small businesses (but this list is!).
cliche free holiday copywriting tips- slogan generator results