Four Fun Ways to Make Business Holiday Cards Unique and Memorable for Your Clients

Tis the season! It’s officially November, and soon the decorations will be up and the holiday spirit will be in the air. It’s also time for one of my favorite marketing seasons of the year — holiday card season.

Do you need to send holiday cards for your business?

In a word — abso-fricken-lutely. In fact, sending holiday cards has become an essential part of my marketing plan every year. I design really cool ones and send them to everyone I want to stay in touch with - old clients, new clients, fresh leads who may have passed on a project for now but whom I’m still hoping to convert, vendors, current business contacts, past business contacts and colleagues.

Why?

Holiday cards are a natural way to send a friendly marketing “touch” - and the nature of the season means you can send good wishes AND stay top of mind with your contacts.

How do you make your holiday cards stand out from the pack? Here are four unique ideas.

Brand your holiday cards — and make them really cool.

Skip the box of 25 you can pick up at any random Target. Your holiday cards MUST be branded! Not just with your logo but with fonts, colors, and a message that is true to your brand.

And skip the boring, generic photo cards that everyone and their mother sends. My advice? Do the coolest print method your budget allows for. I’m a fan of die cut shapes, metallic foil (perf for the holiday season), bold fonts, custom illustrations, anything that’ll make your card stand out among the pack.

Great envelopes are another way - last year, I used vellum envelopes for my business, which did a great job making mine look cooler than anything else in the mailbox.

Your cards shouldn’t break the bank, but it’s worth investing in something nicer to make sure people notice it. My graphic design clients get my wholesale prices on printing, which helps a lot!

It’s okay to send holiday cards after the New Year

As long as it’s very soon afterwards! Wait too long and you might as well send a Valentine’s Day card. Once the holiday cheer has worn off and everyone’s back in the office the first week of January, a beautifully designed “Best Wishes for the New Year” card will feel like a breath of fresh air when it arrives in the mailbox. It’s also a good way to smoothly skip over any religious holiday affiliations.

Think of some cool add-ins to put in the envelope

This is my favorite part, and one of the best ways to set your message above and beyond the rest. Last year, I designed four different custom gift tags and popped two into each envelope with the card. People went NUTS for them!

I’ve also designed custom branded stickers for clients - a great, inexpensive way to give a “freebie” to recipients. This year, I’m toying with the idea of popping in a beautiful mini foil print with my cards.

Leave a space for a personal message

When designing cards, I always leave a little bit of white space somewhere so you can write a brief message to personalize each card. It’s just another way to give a nice little “touch” to your contacts.

Other Business Holiday Card Tips:

Address the envelope directly to your contact, not just to the office. You don’t want . an intern opening your card and your decision maker not seeing it!
Stamps matter - they complete the package. Skip the generic American flag ones and choose one of the pretty holiday options.
If you’re getting custom cards, order them early! November goes fast and you don’t want a time crunch.