What to Write in a Christmas eCard: Best Tips After Watching Millions of Christmas Messages

Every Christmas, something quite interesting happens at Thankbox. Thousands of people from around the world sit down to create a Christmas eCard for someone they've shared the year with. Sometimes it's for a colleague. Sometimes it's for a manager, a client, a teacher a volunteer or a friend. Sometimes it's for an entire team. And despite every one of those relationships being different, they almost all begin in exactly the same way. With a blinking cursor.

You know exactly who you're writing to. You know you appreciate them. You know you'd like to make them smile. But somehow, turning a whole year's worth of memories into a few sentences feels much harder than it should.

What millions of messages have taught us

It's something we've thought about a lot over the years.

While we don't sit reading people's private Thankboxes, we've had the privilege of seeing millions of messages, photos, videos and GIFs come together to celebrate birthdays, weddings, retirements, new babies, farewells and, of course, Christmas. After a while you begin to notice patterns. You notice what inspires other people to write. You notice how one person's memory prompts three more. You notice that the cards people talk about afterwards aren't necessarily the ones with the longest messages, they're the ones where everyone has added a small piece of the story.

The best Christmas eCards start with the year

If there's one thing we've learned, it's that the best Christmas eCards rarely start with Christmas. They start with the year.

It's easy to think your message should begin with "Merry Christmas" or "Wishing you a wonderful New Year." There's nothing wrong with those words. They belong in almost every Christmas card. But they're rarely the part people remember.

The memorable part is usually the story that follows. It might be someone remembering the day the whole team somehow delivered a project against all odds. Another person adds the photo they'd completely forgotten about. Someone else remembers the takeaway that arrived two hours late. Before long, another contributor has uploaded the GIF that became the team's running joke for the next six months. Without anyone planning it, the card has stopped being a collection of Christmas wishes and become a snapshot of the year.

Nobody has to tell the whole story

Nobody has to tell the whole story because everybody remembers a different part of it. That's one of the things we love most about group eCards.

One person remembers the conference where everyone got lost trying to find the venue. Another remembers the customer who sent an email that made months of hard work feel worthwhile. Someone else remembers the Friday afternoon that turned into an unexpected celebration after finally launching something you'd all been working towards.

Individually they're just small moments. Together they paint a picture of what the year actually felt like.

The same thing happens whether the card is for a family, a group of friends, a sports club, a charity or a workplace. Everyone experienced the same year slightly differently, which is exactly what makes group eCards so enjoyable to read. One person mentions something you'd completely forgotten, another reminds you of a moment you didn't even realise had become memorable to someone else.

It's a bit like looking through old photographs with other people. Everyone stops at different pictures and everyone has a different story to tell about them. The best Christmas eCards tend to work in much the same way.

We remember years in terms of people

Over the years we've also noticed that the messages people write are rarely about achievements alone.

Of course, someone might mention the successful project, the record-breaking year or the milestone that was reached, but what people usually write about is how they got there. They thank the colleague who made difficult days easier, the customer who believed in them, the manager who gave them confidence or the friend who always knew how to make everyone laugh when things became stressful.

We don't seem to remember years in terms of tasks. We remember them in terms of people.

That's probably why photos and videos have become such a big part of Christmas Thankboxes too. A single photo from a summer barbecue, a team away day or a Christmas party can instantly remind people of conversations they'd forgotten. A quick video recorded on a phone often says more than a carefully written paragraph because you hear the laughter, see familiar faces and remember the atmosphere as much as the words themselves.

Then someone adds a GIF that only half the group understands, everyone else immediately does and suddenly there's another story in the card.

It's these little layers that make every Thankbox different. Some are full of photos. Some are packed with videos. Some become a collection of funny stories that get more exaggerated with every message. Others are quieter, with people reflecting on the year and thanking those who made it a little easier. None of them are right or wrong. They simply reflect the people contributing to them.

Perhaps that's the biggest lesson we've learned after seeing so many Thankboxes come together. Most people think they're sitting down to write a Christmas message. In reality, they're usually writing about the year they've just had.

• The project that everyone thought would never finish.

• The customer who made the hard work worthwhile.

• The meeting that went completely off track.

• The joke that somehow lasted until December.

• The colleague who quietly made work more enjoyable.

• The friend who was always there.

• The manager who gave someone confidence.

Those are the things that naturally find their way into a Christmas eCard because they're the moments people actually remember.

Where to begin when the card is blank

So, if you're sitting in front of a blank card wondering where to begin, don't worry too much about finding the perfect festive message. Start by thinking about the year.

• What's one moment you'll still remember in twelve months' time?

• What made you laugh?

• What challenged you?

• What are you genuinely grateful for?

The rest tends to write itself.

And if you're creating a digital Christmas card, don't feel like everything has to be written down. Add the photo that's been sitting in your camera roll since July. Record the quick video you'd normally send as a voice note. Find the GIF that perfectly sums up your relationship. Those little additions often spark more memories than words alone ever could.

No two Thankboxes ever look the same

That's probably why no two Thankboxes ever look the same. Every team, every family, every group of friends and every community finishes the year with a different collection of memories. A Christmas eCard simply gives everyone a place to bring those memories together.

Images: Cover | A couple reviewing a collection of printed photos