The Year in Review Email: Send Every Customer Their Own Year
What to put in it, what to lead with in your industry, when to send it, and how to make one people actually save.
A year in review email is a recap a brand sends each customer as the year closes, built from that person's own activity: what they bought, played, ran, saved, gave or made. The ones that work are personal (one version per customer, not one email for everyone), lead with three to five numbers the customer would be proud of, and include something worth saving and sharing. Send in the first two weeks of December, and decide to do it by October, because a personalized version needs production time.
Also called an end of year review or a year-end recap. Spotify Wrapped and Duolingo's Year in Review are the best-known examples; this guide is about making your own.
Every December your customers get two kinds of email. Most are offers: holiday sales, last-chance shipping, a new year discount. A few are different. They are about the customer. You ran 412 miles this year. You listened to this artist more than 99% of people. You shipped your thousandth order. Those are the ones people open, screenshot and send to their friends.
That second kind is the year in review email, and it is the most reliably shared email a brand sends all year. It is also the one most brands skip, because the version that works is personalized, and personalized looks hard. This guide breaks it down so it isn't.
Two kinds of year in review
Brands use the phrase for two different emails. Both are fine. Only one of them gets shared.
The brand looks back on its own year: products launched, milestones hit, the team, a thank-you. Same email for everyone.
Easy to make. Pleasant to read. Rarely forwarded, because nothing in it is about the reader.
One email · whole list
Each customer gets their own year, told from their own data: their numbers, their favourites, their firsts.
This is the format behind every year in review campaign people post. Spotify, Strava, Duolingo, Peloton.
One version · per customer
If you can only do one, do the personal recap for your best customers and send the company recap to everyone else. If you can do both, the WHOOP model is the one to copy: a public article tells the community story, and it hands off to each member's personal review in the app. Our roundup of the best year in review campaigns covers how WHOOP, Spotify, Duolingo and others structure theirs.
What a good one looks like
Here is the shape, using a made-up seller on a live shopping marketplace. Everything above the button is that one person's data. Change the person and every number changes with them; the design stays the same.
Thanks for a big year. Your full recap is ready to save and share.
Watch your year →- Subject line with their numberTheir name plus their headline stat. The number is the hook; nobody else's inbox has that subject line.
- Preheader that teases the restName what's inside without giving it all away: their best, their first, their favourite.
- One hero numberThe single stat they'd be proudest of. Big, alone, no chart.
- Three or four supporting beatsA favourite, a best moment, a first, a growth number. Five beats total is plenty.
- Something to keepA personal video, image or carousel they can save and post. This is what travels.
- A thank-you, then a next stepGratitude first. The offer or "see you next year" comes after, and it can be quiet.
What to put in it, by industry
The rule that holds everywhere: three to five numbers, chosen because the customer would be proud to see them, not because they're easy to pull. Lead with the one that feels like an achievement. Here is a starting point for common categories.
| Industry | Numbers worth including | Lead with |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce & retail | Orders, favourite category, first purchase date, items saved for later, years as a customer | Years with you, or the first thing they ever bought |
| Marketplaces | Sales or orders, buyers reached, best day, top category, new customers found | Orders shipped for sellers, finds for buyers |
| Fitness & wellness | Sessions, distance, streaks, personal bests, favourite time of day | Personal bests over raw totals |
| Fintech & banking | Saved, round-ups, goals reached, top spending category, money sent to friends | Money saved, never money spent |
| Sports teams & leagues | Games attended, seat section, wins witnessed, years as a member, merch | Wins they saw in person |
| Nonprofits | Gifts, total impact in real units (meals, trees, hours), months giving, campaigns joined | Impact in real units, not dollars |
| Software & SaaS | Projects shipped, hours saved, teammates invited, features used first, milestones | Work they shipped with you |
| Media & creators | Hours watched or read, favourite creator or topic, comments, top percentile | Top fan percentile |
Two filters before anything goes in. Would they be proud of it? "You spent $4,100 on takeout" fails; "You tried 38 new restaurants" passes. Would it startle them? Use what a customer knowingly did with you, not anything that suggests you were watching. A good review feels made for the person, not about them. For more ideas by audience, see year in review ideas for brands.
Don't skip your one-time customers
A common objection: most of our customers only bought once, so what would their review even say? It says thank you, and it gives the one purchase a story. "The boots that started your season." "Your first order, back in March." For a one-time buyer, the year in review isn't a stats page; it's the best reason they'll get all year to come back. Give them their own version, with its own job: win the second purchase.
Subject lines that work
The best year in review subject lines carry the customer's own data, so they read like a message, not a campaign. Ten patterns, with sample values:
When to send it
The first two weeks of December is the window. December 1 itself is crowded, because the biggest apps all ship then; a week later you have more of the inbox to yourself and the year still feels fresh. January works too, framed as a "new year" look back, especially for brands whose season runs into the new year.
The part teams get wrong is the start date, not the send date. A personalized review needs a data pull, a design, a proof round and production. That makes a December send an October decision.
The full production plan is in how to build an end of year campaign.
How to measure it
Opens will be high; that's the point of putting their number in the subject line. The metrics that tell you it worked come after the open: saves and downloads of the asset, shares (every share is your brand in front of your customer's own audience, for free), and the business number, usually repeat purchase or renewal within 90 days, measured against a small holdout group that didn't receive it.
What it looked like for real
Ditto built the first ever Spotify Songwriter Wrapped in 2022. Read the case study
Building one without a data science team
The email itself is the easy part. The hard part is producing a different asset for every customer: thousands of images or videos, each with the right numbers, each on brand, each checked. That's why most brands send the company recap instead.
That production step is what Ditto does. You bring the data (a spreadsheet or an Airtable base with one row per customer) and the idea. We design it with you, show you real versions for real customers before anything goes out, then render a finished version for every person: video, stills and carousels, ready for your email platform. No generative AI and nothing invented; every number comes from your data. See year in review campaigns for formats and timing, or pricing.
FAQ
What is a year in review email?
An email a brand sends each customer at the end of the year recapping that customer's own activity: what they bought, did or achieved with the brand. The strongest versions are personalized per customer and include a shareable image or video, which is why formats like Spotify Wrapped get posted so widely.
When should I send a year in review email?
In the first two weeks of December, ideally a few days after December 1, when the largest apps send theirs. Start planning in October: a personalized review needs time for data, design, proofing and production.
What should a customer year in review include?
Three to five numbers from the customer's own year that they would be proud of, led by one headline stat, plus a favourite, a first or a best moment, a thank-you, and an asset they can save and share. Avoid anything that would surprise them or feel like tracking.
Should every customer get a personalized version?
Ideally, yes; that is what makes it worth sharing. If you have to prioritize, personalize for your most engaged customers and send a company recap to the rest. One-time customers deserve their own version too, built around their one purchase and aimed at the second.
Is a year in review the same as an end of year review?
Yes. Brands use year in review, end of year review, year-end recap and end of year campaign for the same idea: a personalized look back at each customer's year, usually sent in December. Year in review is the name most customers recognize, so it is usually the one to put in the subject line.
Do I need AI to personalize a year in review at scale?
No. Generative AI risks off-brand designs and invented details, which is the last thing you want in a message about someone's own year. Ditto renders every version from your real data and your approved design, so each one is exact. See AI-free personalization.
Every customer had a year. Send it to them.
You bring the data and the idea. Ditto makes a version for every customer, video included, on brand and checked, ready for your December send.
