Today’s technologies have made it easier to connect with customers through social media, apps, and news feeds. Personal forms of communication, like greeting cards, seem to have fallen by the wayside. But are they really a thing of the past? Not likely.
Keeping in touch with your customers
Greeting cards are an excellent way to let your customers know that you are still around when they need your services again. It strengthens your bond with them and increases your chances of repeat business and referrals. Something as simple as a quality greeting card shows your customers that you want to maintain a relationship. Here are some options:
- Send customers a greeting card (at least) twice a year to keep your business firmly in their minds.
- The obvious choice is sending a card during the holiday seasons, at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s.
- A better choice, so that you don’t get lost among all the other greeting cards your customers or clients are receiving, is sending them on holidays such as Easter, Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, or a card associated with the change in seasons, such as a card that celebrates spring.
- Get creative and find a lesser known “holiday” that matches your business. For example, if you sell bicycles you might send a card to celebrate “Bike to Work Day.”
Greeting cards are personal
Don’t just send a generic card that has your business name and contact information stamped to the bottom of it. Personally sign your name, and if your staff is small, have everyone sign each card. Computer-generated address labels and postage also look very impersonal, so it is better to hand write your customers’ addresses and use stamps on the envelopes. If your contact list is long, consider having multiple people hand write the address labels.
Greeting cards are also a personal way to keep your customers aware of events and changes in your business. This is an opportunity to let them know about an anniversary, new locations, or new partnerships. You are telling your customers that you care about them enough to keep them up to date with your business.
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Greeting cards aren’t about marketing. They’re about social currency!
A greeting card is more likely to be opened and read than a piece of advertising. So don’t disappoint your customers by including a sales promotion. You are not trying to sell something here. You are simply letting customers know that they are important.
Because of its personal nature, greeting cards are a form of social currency that is more tactile than an email, social media post, or tweet. While you have the option to send electronic greeting cards, these versions lose a lot of their personal flavor. Mailing a greeting card implies that that you took the time to sign the card, stamp it, and mail it. It required more than choosing an image and pressing the “send” or “post” button.
Gratitude is a trigger
Mental triggers are powerful influencers on how consumers make decisions. Gratitude is one of those emotional triggers that affect customer attitudes. Use greeting cards to show your gratitude, thanking customers for choosing your business and letting them know you want to continue that relationship.
Customers don’t want to be thought of as an open wallet. Treat customers like people, and they will be more likely to respond with more business. Giving them something personal like a greeting card is a great way to send the message that they matter to you and your business.
Print your own greeting cards
Because your greeting card is an extension of your business, you might want to purchase your cards from a bulk printer that specializes in custom cards. Vistaprint or CardsDirect offer a wide range of personalized holiday cards, and you can create your own custom cards to match your message with your own artwork or photography.
Save time with a greeting card service like SendOut Cards
If you are short on time, a service like SendOutCards allows you to develop a database of clients and dates to help you select and personalize your greeting cards, They’ll do the sending and free you from the pressure to remember when and where to send them. With Send Out Cards, you have the option of adding your signature as well as using your own handwriting. If you want to get creative, you can even cram multiple signatures in a single ‘signature box.’
As it turns out, greeting cards are not a thing of the past. They are an underutilized tool of communication that keeps people in touch on a very personal level. Use them to maintain your business relationships. Let your customers know they are important and thank them for their support.
If you’d like us to design a line of beautiful and effective greeting cards, contact us.
If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out these:
Social Networks: The Key To Business Growth
Rookie Social Networking Failures and How to Avoid Making Them
Growing Your Business Through Email Marketing
4 Ways Business Blogging Helps Build Trust In Your Business
Everything You Need to Know About Mobile Advertising
10 Surprising Social Media Statistics [Infographic]
15 Statistics That Prove You Need Mobile Email Optimization
This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising, graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering, Now what do we do?” We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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17 Comments:
By Debi 09 Sep 2014
Personally, I find it extremely exciting when I receive a card in the mail. Because of how they make me feel, I keep a stash of my own handy for sending out. I personally hope cards stay around forever.
By Bruce 10 Sep 2014
I believe that having that personal touch does set you apart in this day and age of all electronic communication. Greeting cards around the Christmas holiday are still used quite a bit in the industrial industry.
By Liz Cezat 11 Sep 2014
Sending greeting cards is ideal for a personal connection. I send USPS-delivered thank you cards and birthday cards to my family and friends. It’s a tradition. For my business, I had a graphic designer create some cool seasonal cards with a promotional message. I do believe, when properly branded, these types of cards can be great tools for promoting your business. Have a graphic designer create them so they are unique to your brand.
By Karl Egenberger 11 Sep 2014
I would say if everyone is doing it, stop doing it right away. Conversely, if everyone stops doing it, start doing it right away. To stand out from the crowd, be a contrarian. Personalized notes and cards will go a long way because someone took the trouble and time to write and send them.
By Ken Rauch Davis 11 Sep 2014
Agree with all here that a personal hand written note/card goes a long way for customer relations. The more the person receiving the communication feels like it was written for them and not some kind of form letter, the better.
By Karl Egenberger 12 Sep 2014
To take my previous comment a step further, I would argue that one should enclose a brief hand written note with every sample sent to customers, reiterating the expected benefits the product will provide, also including a line to thank them for the opportunity. This will go a long way to insure the sample is evaluated in a timely fashion as well as well as enhancing rapport.
Although such a note is better if it is hand written on a regular piece of paper, nevertheless it is a form of written communication.
By Len Schiefer 12 Sep 2014
My mom, who died last year at 97, started the practice many years ago of the birthday phone call, and many in the family follow her example. So birthday cards are fewer in our family than they once were.
By Gerry Rye 12 Sep 2014
I love to receive a written card of thanks and I think I am poor at it, when I do a party I have certain people that always send a card, bringing this back into the work place is a great idea. I agree whole heatedly.
By Andrew Lowe 13 Sep 2014
Traditional greetings cards through the post say, “I care about your business”
Electronic greetings cards at Christmas etc, to me are worse than not bothering at all – they are so impersonal and as much as a traditional greetings card says, “I care”, to me an electronic greetings card says, “you’re just a name on my email list, and I can’t even be bothered to sign a card for you.”
Keep electronic communication for special offers etc.
By Nancy Sabato 15 Sep 2014
Greeting Cards are personal and these days that’s hard to find with everything electronic. There is also a sense of detachment when you send electronic, I just love finding the card physically and writing my own personal note inside and people love to open cards themselves!
By Gabrielle Tomasko 15 Sep 2014
Not at all! I love getting mail. Correction: I love getting mail that does not try to convince me to get a credit card or new insurance. I like thoughtful cards, and even some direct mail if it’s clever and original. I even like receiving free Christmas cards from some charities that feature illustrations.
Anything personalized (but not exactly personalization from a database that picks up your first name) is better than a standard ad. It’s like forming a conversation versus shouting a monologue and hoping everyone hears it.
By Miriam Hara 23 Sep 2014
Absolutely not! We were just talking about that during our meeting. We were planning for Christmas (yes already!). I do believe there will alway be a place for cards. Here’s an associated link to this topic. It’s a video from IKEA. I love it!
By Cameron 01 Oct 2014
Great article, and I certainly agree that greeting cards are a good way to strengthen the personal bond with your customers. It makes people feel special and important when they receive a birthday card from their doctor or dentist.
The article also states that you should never try to market promotions in the greeting cards, which can not be more true. The greeting card itself is your marketing collateral.
By John Mathew 29 Oct 2014
We are so used to receive Greetings by e mail, social media, text messages, etc., that it is so refreshing and great to receive a meaningful card with a personal message. It also tempts the receiver to read it again while on the desk. Its also really joyful to bring the postman also into use. Great article!
By Sandra Patterson 12 Jun 2019
I like the comment that you made about using greeting cards to show gratitude to a customer for choosing to go to your business. My sister has been wanting to find better ways to have more customer retention at her shop that she is building up. I will be sure to forward this article to her, I think this would be a very effective way to go about showing appreciation. https://www.oldmanartist.com/
By Kate Hansen 21 Oct 2019
I loved how you mentioned that it can strengthen your bond with customers! My husband was telling me last night about how he wanted to do more for his customers. I’ll make sure to pass this information along to him so he can look into using greeting cards. https://alicekcreations.com
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