A Thanksgiving text is one of the few marketing messages people don't mind getting, as long as it reads like a thank-you and not a disguised coupon. It's short, it costs a few dollars for most small lists, and it lands in the one inbox people actually check over a long weekend.
It can still go wrong. If the message has a sales pitch bolted on, goes to people who never agreed to texts, or arrives at 7 AM on Thursday, it does more harm than good. Below are templates you can copy, plus the timing, consent and cost details that decide whether the message helps you.
Who you can text a Thanksgiving message to
Text only the people who agreed to hear from you by text. A holiday greeting is still a marketing message in the eyes of carriers and the TCPA, so "they bought from us once" doesn't count as consent on its own.
That means:
- Customers who opted in through a form, checkout box or keyword. If you're unsure your sign-up wording covers marketing texts, check it against these SMS opt-in and opt-out examples.
- Customers who texted you first and have an ongoing conversation. A reply in an existing thread is fine. Adding them to a list is a different decision and needs their agreement to marketing texts.
- Partners and vendors who already text with you. For partners you only know by email, send the thank-you by email or pick up the phone.
Every message in a campaign should name your business and include opt-out wording. On Ready, an inbound STOP is honored automatically and the opt-out carries across every campaign, so nobody who unsubscribes from the Thanksgiving text gets your Black Friday one.
Thanksgiving templates for customers
Replace the bracketed parts. Each template stays under 160 plain characters with a short business name and first name. Read the cost section before adding emoji.
1. The plain thank-you
Hi {first_name}, everyone at [Business] wants to say thank you for being with us this year. Happy Thanksgiving! Reply STOP to opt out.
2. For a service business (salon, clinic, contractor)
Happy Thanksgiving from [Business], {first_name}. We're grateful you trusted us this year. We're closed Thu-Fri and back Sat. Reply STOP to opt out.
3. Hours update with the thanks
[Business]: Thank you for a great year, {first_name}! Holiday hours: Wed 9-3, closed Thu, open Fri 10-4. Reply STOP to opt out.
4. Soft heads-up, no pitch
Hi {first_name}, thanks for shopping with [Business] this year. Our holiday sale starts Friday. We'll text you the details then. Happy Thanksgiving! Reply STOP to opt out.
5. First-year customers
{first_name}, this was your first year with [Business] and we're glad you found us. Happy Thanksgiving from our whole team. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template 4 is as far as a thank-you should go toward selling. If you want a full promo, send it as its own message later in the week. These SMS marketing templates cover the sale itself.
Thanksgiving templates for partners and vendors
Partner messages work best one-to-one from an existing thread, signed by a person.
6. Referral partner
Hi {first_name}, [Your name] at [Business]. Thanks for every referral you sent our way this year. It made a real difference. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your team.
7. Supplier or vendor
{first_name}, thank you for keeping us stocked and on schedule all year. We don't say it enough. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at [Business].
8. Agency to client contact
Happy Thanksgiving, {first_name}. Thanks for trusting [Agency] with your marketing this year. Enjoy the long weekend. We'll pick back up Monday.
Since these go one-to-one in a conversation you already have, you can leave out the STOP line. If you send the same partner message to a list, add it back.
When to send
You have three reasonable windows:
- Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. People are still checking their phones before they travel or start cooking. This works well for hours updates (template 3).
- Thursday late morning. The message is most on-theme here. Keep it to a greeting with no offer.
- Friday or the following Monday for partners. Business contacts take the day off, so there's no need to reach them on the holiday itself.
Avoid early-morning and late-evening sends. Ready enforces quiet hours based on the recipient's area: a campaign send outside permitted local hours is held and goes out later (a one-to-one or API text is held only if the window opens within about 6 hours, otherwise it is refused). That protects you if your list spans time zones, but it's still better to schedule for midday so the message arrives when you meant it to.
Send one Thanksgiving message. If Black Friday and Cyber Monday texts are coming, the thank-you is the first of three or four texts in a week, so keep it short and give people a reason to stay subscribed.
What a holiday thank-you costs
Every SMS segment is billed. A segment holds 160 plain (GSM-7) characters. Longer messages split into 153-character parts. A single emoji switches the whole message to unicode, which drops the limit to 70 characters (67 per part).
Worked example (assumptions stated): a 150-character thank-you to 1,200 opted-in customers on Ready's Standard rate of $0.0075/segment plus a $0.0045 carrier fee per segment.
- Plain text: 150 characters = 1 segment. That's 1,200 segments, so 1,200 × $0.0075 = $9, plus 1,200 × $0.0045 in carrier fees.
- Same text with one 🦃 added: 150 unicode characters needs 3 parts at 67 characters each. That's 3,600 segments, so 3,600 × $0.0075 = $27, plus 3,600 × $0.0045 in carrier fees.
One turkey emoji makes the campaign cost 3x as much.
Two other costs to plan for:
- Replies are billed like sent texts. Thank-yous get "you too!" replies. If 100 people write back with a one-segment reply, that's another 100 × ($0.0075 + $0.0045).
- Curly quotes and long dashes don't add cost on Ready. We swap them for plain characters before sending. Emoji are the only common surprise.
Ready's all-in prices per segment include the carrier fee but not screening: Scrub lists and Number validation, the two switches in Settings under Compliance, each add $0.003 per segment when switched on, shown as screening on your bill, and both are off by default. Unless you turn the opt-out footer off, the first text to each contact, and one again from time to time, also gets "Reply STOP to opt out" and your business name if the message does not already have them, so a text close to the segment limit can bill one more segment.
At an assumed 2 segments per second, which is typical of a fresh, unvetted campaign, 1,200 segments take about 10 minutes to send. 3,600 segments take about 30. For a holiday greeting, that delay doesn't matter.
Check your registration before the holiday rush
Holiday greetings go to people who signed up for marketing texts, so they belong on a registered campaign whose use case covers marketing. If you registered for reminders only, a thank-you list can get filtered. This guide explains matching your use case to what you send.
If you aren't registered yet, start now. Most approvals take 2 to 7 days, and the week of Thanksgiving is a bad time to wait. Registration on Ready runs $25/mo for registration and $2 per number, with the first month ($25) charged at submit.
One exception: if you're a nonprofit pairing your thanks with a Giving Tuesday donation appeal, email support@tryready.com before the first send and wait for our reply. Registering alone isn't enough for fundraising texts on Ready.
The practical takeaway
Pick one customer template and one partner template. Keep both under 160 characters with no emoji. Send only to people who opted in, and schedule for Wednesday afternoon or Thursday late morning. Save the sale for its own message. After the weekend, a short review request to customers who replied warmly is a natural follow-up.
If you're new to Ready, you can try it at /signup. Your first 20 texts are free one-to-one sends, so use them on your partner thank-yous before you register. To send, you add a card and get a number, which is $2 a month with the first month charged when you get it.