Volume 8

Tips for sending Christmas E-Cards

E-cards will save you time and money, but if you also want to protect your brand and your reputation, make sure that your Christmas e-card is planned and sent in a professional manner.

With the holiday season almost here many of you will be considering the best way to approach the annual ritual of sending Christmas cards. According to Hallmark, Americans alone will send over 1.9 billion Christmas cards this year. If you are anything like me, just the thought of hand-writing cards to all of your business associates and customers will make your wrists start to ache.

E-cards are a great way to save your wrists and your bottom line. E-cards can easily be personalized both with your logo and the recipient's name. E-cards are delivered instantly, have a negligible "postage" cost, and cost nothing in printing.

However, just because it's easy to send an e-card does not mean that your Christmas e-card should not be carefully planned. A badly designed e-card can reflect badly on your company and your brand. This month I'd like to offer some tips for sending an effective Christmas e-card.

Artwork and Design

  • Make sure that you incorporate your logo. You should be taking every opportunity to keep your brand in front of your customers and associates.
  • Keep the design clean and uncluttered.
  • If you use additional images, ensure that they are professional and consistent with your brand.
  • Be sensitive to those that do not celebrate Christmas.

Greeting

  • Keep your greeting short and sincere.
  • Personalise your e-card where possible.
  • Include a line or two about the progress of your company over the past year.
  • Again, be sensitive to those of other religions or cultures. Your greeting could be "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas".
  • Consider customizing your greeting for different groups of recipients. For example, you may send different greetings to customers and suppliers.

Music and Rich Media

  • If you have the resources to have a custom animation or game designed for your e-card, this can be a great way to engage customers and get noticed. However, using dancing snowmen that you downloaded from a Christmas clip art site can make your e-card look amateur.
  • When using rich media, you should also consider the likelihood that the recipient will be able to view the content of the e-card. Many corporate networks block or partially block emails that contain flash content or music. If you do choose to use rich media, always include a link to view the e-card online.

Recipients

  • Ensure that each message is individually addressed, so that recipient's names are not visible to each other.
  • Don't send your e-card to everyone you've ever met. Obey the usual rules of email marketing and only send your greeting to those who have agreed to receive communications from you.
  • As always, include an unsubscribe link.

E-cards will save you time and money, but if you also want to protect your brand and your reputation, make sure that your Christmas e-card is planned and sent in a professional manner.