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A good Christmas SMS for customers thanks them for the year, names your business, and gives one clear piece of information or one offer, in 160 characters or fewer.
This guide has 14 Christmas and New Year SMS templates for Ghanaian businesses, each counted to fit in one SMS, plus a December 2026 sending calendar that keeps promotions inside the NCA's rules.
At a glance
- Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday and Boxing Day a Saturday. The Sundays in December are the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th, and the NCA's consumer guidance says promotional messages should not arrive on a Sunday.
- Send promotions between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday, with a free way to opt out.
- Leave out the Christmas tree emoji. One emoji switches the whole message to Unicode: a 151-character message then needs three SMS instead of one.
- Three or four messages across the season is plenty: an early offer, a practical notice, a greeting and a New Year message.
- Schedule everything in November, so your messages go out on time while your team is busy with the Christmas rush.
What should a Christmas SMS to customers say?
A Christmas SMS should do one job: thank, inform or sell. Messages that try to do all three run long, split into two SMS and get skimmed.
Every Christmas message needs four things:
- Your business name first, so the customer knows who is writing before they read on.
- One point: a greeting, a date, an opening time or an offer.
- One action, if there is one: book, order by, visit, call.
- An opt-out route on anything promotional, such as "Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX".
Keep greetings and offers apart. A pure season's greeting reads as a thank-you; the same greeting with "20% off" attached reads as an advert, and becomes a promotional message that has to follow the sending rules.
14 Christmas and New Year SMS templates you can copy
Every template below is in standard characters and fits in one SMS (160 characters). Replace the business details with your own and keep a similar length. "0XX XXX XXXX" stands for your contact or opt-out number, and the prices and dates are examples.
| # | Use | Template | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Early offer, salon | Nhyira Salon: book your Christmas hair and nails before Sat 19 Dec and get 15% off. Call 0XX XXX XXXX to book. Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX | 145 |
| 2 | Hamper pre-orders, shop | Asante Mart: Christmas hampers from GHS 250 are ready to pre-order. Order by Fri 18 Dec for collection. Call 0XX XXX XXXX. Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX | 157 |
| 3 | Event booking, restaurant | Chop Bar 233: book your office Christmas party for 10 or more and get free drinks for the table. Call 0XX XXX XXXX. Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX | 150 |
| 4 | Delivery cut-off, online shop | Kente Kloset: order by Mon 21 Dec for delivery in Accra before Christmas. Orders after that will arrive from Tue 29 Dec. Thank you for shopping with us. | 152 |
| 5 | Christmas opening hours | Kumasi Home Supplies: Christmas hours. Thu 24 Dec: 8am to 2pm. Fri 25 and Sat 26 Dec: closed. We reopen Tue 29 Dec at 8am. Merry Christmas from all of us. | 154 |
| 6 | Payment reminder, school | Bright Stars School: second term fees are due by Mon 11 Jan 2027. Pay by MoMo to 0XX XXX XXXX with your child's name. Thank you, and Merry Christmas. | 149 |
| 7 | School vacation notice | Bright Stars School: school closes for the Christmas break on Fri 18 Dec at 12 noon. Second term begins Mon 11 Jan 2027. Merry Christmas to all our families. | 157 |
| 8 | Church service times | Grace Assembly: join us for Christmas Eve service on Thu 24 Dec at 7pm and Christmas Day service on Fri 25 Dec at 9am. Bring a friend. God bless you. | 149 |
| 9 | Greeting, any business | Merry Christmas from all of us at Asante Pharmacy. Thank you for trusting us with your health this year. Wishing you and your family a blessed season. | 150 |
| 10 | Greeting, supplier to trade customers | Thank you for your business in 2026. Everyone at Tema Auto Parts wishes you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We look forward to serving you. | 152 |
| 11 | Twi greeting | Afehyia pa! Everyone at Nhyira Salon thanks you for choosing us this year. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year with your loved ones. | 147 |
| 12 | Christmas Eve last-day sale | Last day! Asante Mart Christmas sale ends today at 6pm. Up to 30% off drinks, rice and hampers at our Adum shop. Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX | 147 |
| 13 | New Year greeting | Happy New Year from Kasoa Water! Thank you for being with us in 2026. We look forward to serving you even better in 2027. | 121 |
| 14 | New Year reopening and offer | Chop Bar 233 is open again from Sat 2 Jan. Start 2027 with 10% off any meal this week. See you soon! Opt out: text STOP to 0XX XXX XXXX | 135 |
Templates with an offer include an opt-out route, because an offer makes the message promotional.
The greeting, notice and reminder templates do not need one, but adding one does no harm.
Can you send a Christmas SMS in Twi?
Yes, as long as the words use plain letters. "Afehyia pa" is written in standard characters, so the Twi greeting above costs the same as English.
Words that use the Twi letters ɛ or ɔ switch the whole message to Unicode, which holds only 70 characters, so a full message would need two or three SMS. For a longer greeting in Twi, Ga, Ewe or Dagbani, a recorded voice message is often the better choice.
When should you send Christmas SMS in Ghana?
Send your main Christmas offer in the first half of December, practical notices in the week before Christmas, and greetings on Christmas Eve, Monday to Saturday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. That timing reaches customers while they are still planning, and avoids the Sundays when promotional messages should not be sent.
Your December 2026 sending calendar
| Date | Day | What to send | Promotions allowed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 4 Dec | Farmers' Day (public holiday) | Nothing promotional; customers are off work | Yes, but low attention |
| Mon 7 to Sat 12 Dec | Weekdays and Saturday | Main Christmas offer, hamper pre-orders, event bookings | Yes, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Sun 13 Dec | Sunday | Nothing promotional | No |
| Mon 14 to Sat 19 Dec | Weekdays and Saturday | Reminder of the offer; school vacation notices; delivery cut-offs | Yes, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Sun 20 Dec | Sunday | Nothing promotional | No |
| Mon 21 to Wed 23 Dec | Weekdays | Christmas opening hours; last order dates; payment reminders | Yes, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Thu 24 Dec | Christmas Eve | Season's greetings; "last day" sale message before 7 p.m. | Yes, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day (public holiday) | Nothing; greetings should already have arrived | Avoid |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day (public holiday) | Nothing, or a short reopening notice | Yes, but avoid |
| Sun 27 Dec | Sunday | Nothing promotional | No |
| Mon 28 Dec | Possible holiday in lieu of Boxing Day | Check for a government announcement first | Check first |
| Thu 31 Dec | New Year's Eve | New Year greeting before 7 p.m. | Yes, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day (public holiday) | Nothing; reopening notices from 4 Jan | Avoid |
Public holiday dates follow Ghana's statutory holidays: Farmers' Day is the first Friday in December, and when a holiday falls at a weekend the following Monday is often declared a holiday. Check for an official announcement before you schedule anything for Monday 28 December.
Schedule it in November
December is the busiest month for most businesses, which is when campaigns get forgotten or rushed. Write your messages in November and schedule them in advance.
BMS Africa (by mNotify) lets you set the date and time of each campaign ahead, so the 7 December offer and the 24 December greeting go out on time while your team is serving customers.
How many Christmas messages should you send?
Three or four messages over the season is enough for most businesses: one offer, one reminder or practical notice, one greeting and one New Year message. More than that, and customers who looked forward to your greeting start reaching for STOP.
Split your list if you can. Customers who bought from you this year can get the offer; a church congregation or school parents need the service times or vacation dates, not a sales message. Sending the right message to each group keeps opt-outs down.
How much will your Christmas campaign cost?
Your campaign uses one SMS of credit for each part, for each recipient, for each message. The formula is: recipients × parts × messages = SMS used.
| Plan | Recipients | Parts per message | Messages | SMS used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four messages, all in one SMS | 1,500 | 1 | 4 | 6,000 |
| Same plan, one message runs to 2 parts | 1,500 | 1, 1, 1 and 2 | 4 | 7,500 |
| Same plan, a 🎄 in every message | 1,500 | 3 | 4 | 18,000 |
The last row is why the emoji matters. Multiply the SMS used by your rate for the season's budget; current rates are on the BMS Africa pricing page. BMS credits do not expire, so you can buy for the whole season at once and use what is left in January.
What catches people out at Christmas?
These are the mistakes that turn a Christmas campaign into wasted credit or annoyed customers.
- Emoji and the cedi sign. 🎄, 🎁 and ₵ all switch the message to Unicode. Write "GHS 250", not "₵250", and leave the decorations out.
- Curly quotes from Word. "Season's greetings" typed in Word often gets a curly apostrophe, which switches to Unicode too. Type messages directly in the platform.
- Sunday sends. A scheduled offer that slips to Sunday 20 December breaks the NCA's guidance. Check the day as well as the time.
- Greetings that arrive on Boxing Day. A Christmas greeting scheduled too late lands after the moment has passed. Send greetings by Christmas Eve.
- Forgetting the holiday Monday. If 28 December is declared a holiday, an "open as normal" message sent for that day will send customers to a closed door.
- Old lists. Christmas tempts businesses to text everyone they have ever met. Under Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), section 40, direct marketing needs prior written consent. Send only to customers who agreed to hear from you.
Christmas campaign checklist
- ☐ Messages written and scheduled in November
- ☐ No promotional sends on Sundays 6, 13, 20 or 27 December
- ☐ Every promotional send between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
- ☐ Each message in one SMS, with no emoji, ₵ or curly quotes
- ☐ Offers include a free way to opt out
- ☐ Greetings scheduled to arrive by Christmas Eve
- ☐ Opening hours and delivery cut-offs checked against public holidays
- ☐ Enough credit for recipients × parts × messages
- ☐ Each message tested on a staff phone first
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in a Christmas SMS to customers?
Name your business first, thank the customer or give one piece of useful information, and add one clear action if there is one. Keep it to 160 standard characters so it sends as one SMS. If the message includes an offer, add a free way to opt out, such as "Opt out: text STOP to" your number.
When should I send Christmas SMS in Ghana?
Send offers in the first half of December, practical notices the week before Christmas, and greetings by Christmas Eve. Under the NCA's consumer guidance, promotional messages should arrive between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and not on Sundays, which in December 2026 are the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th.
Can I send promotional SMS on Christmas Day?
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, so the NCA's Sunday rule does not apply, but a sales message on Christmas Day is likely to annoy more customers than it persuades. Send offers earlier in December and let Christmas Day carry only a greeting, ideally one that arrived the day before.
Can I use emoji in a Christmas SMS?
You can, but each emoji switches the whole message to Unicode, which holds only 70 characters per SMS, or 67 per part in a longer message. A 151-character message with one Christmas tree emoji needs three SMS instead of one. For a large list, plain text keeps the cost down.
How many Christmas messages should a business send?
Three or four across the season is enough for most businesses: an offer, a reminder or practical notice, a greeting and a New Year message. Send different messages to different groups where you can, so customers only receive what is relevant to them.
How do I schedule Christmas SMS in advance?
Write your messages in November, choose the group and sender ID for each, and set the send date and time in your SMS platform. BMS Africa lets you schedule each campaign for a future date and time, so December messages go out on time even when your team is busy.
Plan your Christmas messages this month
Christmas SMS works when it is planned early, kept short and sent at the right time. Pick three or four messages from the templates above, adapt them to your business, check each one fits in a single SMS, and schedule them against the December calendar before the rush begins.
For the rules and habits behind every campaign, read our complete guide to SMS marketing in Ghana, and our step-by-step guide to sending bulk SMS in Ghana. Create a free BMS Africa account to schedule your Christmas campaign today. The same contact list can keep working after the holidays: our guide to automated birthday SMS shows how to greet each customer on their own day, every year.
Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions, National Communications Authority, accessed 2 October 2026
- Public holidays in Ghana, Wikipedia, accessed 2 October 2026
- Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), GhaLII
- BMS Africa pricing, accessed 2 October 2026
