Holiday Card Best Practices

It’s that time of year! This always reminds me of one of my first years in the CRM world.  It was mid-December and the marketing manager of one of our customers called crying. For real crying.  She had been trying to pull her Christmas card list for hours.  I felt a bit like Santa when we made a few database customization changes, a few Edit > Replace values and pulled her list and printed her labels.  Are you ready to send your company’s holiday greetings?

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your holly jolly send:

1. Define your list – Will you send your holiday card to Customers & Prospects?  Should you include your vendors and contractors?  In your CRM, create a lookup or query to easily pull your list and prepare labels or send your email holiday card.
2. Avoid the temptation to sell – Your holiday card or email is not the time to solicit business.  Stick to your holiday greeting.  It’s an opportunity to thank those that support your business and a nice engagement point to ensure you are remembered in the New Year, when business does come up.  Be sure to include your company name, contact info and prominently displayed logo, but do not make it a sales pitch.
3. Mind your timing – If you are sending a physical card, make sure to send them early, especially this year with mail moving a little slower than usual.  If you go the e-card route, prep your list early, create your email template and schedule your send.  Allowing time for prep, proofreading and double checking can help avoid potential blunders.  You should aim to get your cards to your list before the end of the year, if not earlier. Since a lot of people take vacation around the holidays, plan to get them out prior to everyone being off.
4. Don’t get too personal – A personal touch can be endearing and add a bit of heartfelt connection, but if you don’t know your Contacts well enough to be personal in real life, leave it out of your holiday greeting too.  For some businesses and demographics, it may be best to avoid religious affiliation in your greeting.
5. Check it twice – Double check that your CRM or Contact list is up-to-date with Contact types, correct addresses and name spellings.  Pull your lookup ahead of time and review it.  Take the time to delete any records that should be removed (or update them to a value that will exclude them from your list) and add any new records. Proof your email template, if going the electronic route and have a second set of eyes review as well.

It’s a great time to spread some joy and merry.  Holiday greetings are also a great way to connect with your Contacts.