You hear a lot of salutations during the holiday season. However, the two that get the most use are, of course, “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays.” Some people say the latter is more preferred because it encompasses everyone and their various beliefs, traditions and customs during the season.
But is “Happy Holidays” necessarily that best thing to say if you’re trying to run a business this time of year? A recent article in a New York Times blog says “Merry Christmas” is infinitely more popular than “Happy Holidays,” at least as far as printed media goes. What’s more, it’s been that way since at least 1800.
Does that trend continue when the merry wishing is meant for commercial purposes? The folks at Conversion Voodoo decided to find out. Using a 100,000+ customer list for one of their clients, they tested three different Email headlines on December 21. Each subject headline was sent to an equal number of people on the mailing list:
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
The Results:
“Merry Christmas” was far and away the front runner, garnering over 1800 clicks. That’s nearly twice what “Happy Holidays” or the combination greeting was able to generate.
Why “Merry Christmas” is so much more popular is open to conjecture. It could be that it simply sounds more exciting to be wished a happy single even rather than a pleasant group of days. Regardless, make a note now. If you used “Happy Holidays” this year, you missed out on sales. And if you used “Merry Christmas,” don’t change it. It’s been working like a charm for at least 200 years.
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