Stop Eggnogging Around: 4 Holiday Outreach Templates That Land Links

2025 is almost over and you’re just trying to get ahead of the game. Anyway, you know what happens: the entire link building world seems to slow to a glacial creep. It’s like everyone just decides to put on a fuzzy sweater, grab a cup of—you guessed it—eggnog, and forget that their inbox exists until January 2nd. It’s annoying, but thankfully, it’s temporary.

The holiday slump is real, sure, but it’s mostly just an excuse. People are still publishing content. Editors are frantically trying to hit those last-minute, end-of-year quotas. You know they are. Your competitors? They’ve probably checked out, which means you’ve just been handed a massive, sparkly opportunity.

The secret? You have to ditch the generic “Happy Holidays!” emails and swap them out for something that respects the recipient’s current seasonal priorities. You need outreach that slots right into their publishing calendar, not just another piece of content they might get to eventually.

If you tailor your pitch to what they are literally working on right now—like “Best of 2025” roundups or gift guides—you can land a handful of high-converting links while everyone else is, well, eggnogging around.

Ready to see how? Let’s look at four templates that cut through the festive noise because they offer genuine, timely value.

1. The “Best of the Year” Inclusion Template

By late November or early December, every publication, from the tiniest niche blog to the biggest industry news site, is assembling its annual review content. They’re publishing content with titles like “The 10 Best Productivity Tools of the Year” or “25 SEO Wins We Loved in 2025.” This content is super valuable and it needs links to function.

The key here is being hyper-specific. Don’t just point them to your homepage. Direct them to a pillar piece that legitimately deserves to be on their “best of” list. Maybe your company released an incredible, in-depth guide on creating accessible content in April, and you see they’re putting together a list of the year’s top marketing resources. You have to make the connection for them.

Here’s how you might phrase that outreach. Notice how quick and simple it is? Nobody has time for a rambling essay right now.

Template Focus: Helping them finish their high-authority listicle.

Subject: Quick idea for your upcoming ‘Best of 2025’ roundup

Hi [Name],

Hope the end of the year isn’t completely swamping you!

I saw on LinkedIn that your team is gearing up for your “Best [Niche] Resources of 2025” piece, and it immediately made me think of the comprehensive guide we published back in [Month] on [Specific Topic].

We tracked the data on it all year, and it’s actually helped over 500 small businesses [achieve a specific, quantifiable result, e.g., cut their planning time by 20%].

I genuinely think it could be a great resource for your readers, especially since it covers [mention a specific section they might be missing].

Here’s the link to make it easy: [Your URL]

No worries if it’s not a fit, of course, but just wanted to share.

Cheers,

[Your Name]

2. The Niche Gift Guide Glory Template

So many people assume gift guides are only for physical products like jewelry or coffee mugs. But what about B2B companies? You can totally pitch a gift guide if you have a service, a course, or maybe even a high-value subscription. It just needs to be framed as a gift.

Think about it: who is buying a gift for a “boss babe who has everything,” as one PR expert suggested? A person looking for a unique, experience-based present. Maybe you sell a three-month course on mastering data analytics. Pitch it as “The Gift of a Promotion” to a publication writing a guide for professional development.

What you’re really doing here is proving your product fits a specific, non-obvious category they’re creating, like “Gifts for the Newly Remote Manager” or “Presents for the Person Who Always Says ‘I’m Fine.'”

Template Focus: Pitching a unique product/service angle that fills a themed category in their guide.

Subject: Gift Guide Idea: [Your Product/Service] for the [Niche Persona, e.g., “Burned-Out Entrepreneur”]

Hi [Name],

I know you’re probably neck-deep in press releases for scarves and artisanal cheeses right now—it’s a tough job!

I’m reaching out about your annual holiday gift guide, specifically the section you usually run for [mention the specific section, e.g., “Experience Gifts”].

Our product is called [Product Name]. It’s a [briefly describe, e.g., customizable software solution] that lets busy professionals [state the specific benefit, e.g., automate their quarterly reports].

The gift card option is huge for us this time of year because people buy it for their partners or friends who are struggling with [mention the pain point]. I think it would be a perfect, thoughtful addition to your guide.

We have high-res lifestyle shots available, and if you’d like to test the platform yourself before recommending it, I’m happy to send over a complimentary access code.

Let me know if that sounds like something your readers might enjoy!

Best,

[Your Name]

3. The Year-End Data Hook Template

This is perhaps the highest quality link you can land right now, but it requires you to actually do some work. You know those huge industry reports that journalists love to cite? You can create your own, smaller version based on your company’s proprietary data.

Think about what unique data points you collected over the last 12 months. Did you notice, for instance, that 75% of your retail clients saw their highest conversion rate after 9 PM? That’s gold. No one else has that statistic.

You need to publish that data point on your own blog first, maybe as a headline fact within a short post like, “Our 2025 Retailing Trends Summary.” Then, you pitch that single, shocking, or surprising stat to an editor who is writing a “Year in Review” article. You’re not asking them to read a 50-page PDF. You’re giving them a perfect, verifiable citation that saves them hours of research.

Template Focus: Giving them a fresh, undeniable statistic for their summary coverage.

Subject: Exclusive Data: [Industry Stat] from our 2025 Year-End Summary

Hi [Name],

I know you’re working on that comprehensive piece about the [Industry Name] landscape in 2025. I was reading your breakdown on [mention a sub-topic they covered, e.g., the shifting market share]. It’s really spot-on.

I thought you might find this one unexpected finding from our internal 2025 client data interesting: We found that [State the shocking stat, e.g., 68% of new SaaS signups happened in Q4 alone, completely defying seasonal expectations].

That data comes straight from our Year-End Summary—a report we just published this week.

If you need a fresh, timely stat to illustrate the massive market shift you were discussing, I think that number is quite compelling.

Summary link: [Link to your data post]

Hopefully, this helps!

Regards,

[Your Name]

4. The “Broken Link Winter Refresh” Template

Look, sometimes you just need a tactical win that’s easy for the editor to implement. Broken link building is an old-school technique, but the seasonal tie-in makes it feel helpful, not spammy.

You target posts that were popular last holiday season but haven’t been updated since January 2025. This is especially true for gift guides, seasonal tips, or posts that mention specific dates or events from the prior year.

You use a tool to find a broken link within their 2024 holiday article (or outdated statistics). Then, you politely reach out and frame it as a “winter maintenance” check. You’re giving them a heads-up that a visitor might hit a 404, and oh, by the way, your fantastic, newly updated resource can fix the problem. You’re basically their friendly tech support for five minutes. Who doesn’t appreciate that?

Template Focus: Offering a helpful maintenance check and providing a necessary replacement link.

Subject: Quick fix needed on your ‘Holiday [Keyword] Tips’ post?

Hi [Name],

I was re-reading your post from last year—”[Title of Their Old Post]”—because I remember it being really helpful for my team’s planning.

Anyway, I noticed one of the links seems to have broken or gone stale. It’s the one referencing [mention the specific broken content or anchor text, e.g., “the 2024 industry stats graphic”]. I think that link is probably leading readers to a 404 error now.

We actually just published an exhaustive resource that updates all of that content for 2025. It’s a perfect replacement for that broken URL.

Here’s where to find it: [Your Updated URL]

Feel free to drop it in whenever you have a second. It just seemed like a quick maintenance win for you!

All the best for the end of the year,

[Your Name]

Stop Waiting for January

The holiday rush is a real thing, but you shouldn’t let it freeze your outreach efforts. It actually creates new, time-sensitive link opportunities that aren’t there the rest of the year. You don’t need to try and maintain an articulate and upbeat tone across every email; just be human, direct, and show them exactly why your link is a simple solution to one of their seasonal problems.

Now go grab those links. And hey, maybe then you can actually justify that second mug of eggnog.

Have you ever landed a link because you pitched a holiday-themed idea? Drop your experience in the comments below! We’d love to know what worked for you. And if you found these templates useful, follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), or LinkedIn—we’re always talking about how to make outreach less painful.

Before you leave, here are 5 must-do website audits before 2026 to fix your SEO. Also, learn a few hacks to get some high-DA backlinks before the end of 2025.

Sources

• www.prcouture.com/holiday-gift-guide-press-tips/
• www.needmylink.com/content-for-link-building/
• www.uptickmarketing.com/learning-center/link-building-strategies/
• www.searchenginejournal.com/top-link-building-strategies/435147/