Communicate through Christmas Cards
Today, there are more ways than ever to communicate with your clients, family and friends. We’ve have come up with 15 but you may think of more.
- Visit in person
- Deliver a package by courier
- Post something in the mail
- Make a Skype or video call
- Make a telephone call
- Send a fax
- Send an email
- Send an SMS
- Do a Facebook post or message
- Send a tweet
- Contact them on Linkedin
- Create a Youtube video
- Place an ad in a newspaper or magazine
- Do a radio commercial
- Create a television commercial
The question is what is going to give you the most value at Christmas time. What will be appreciated? What is within budget? What can be done easily and effectively? What is not too dear but does not look cheap either? What will be appropriate for family, friends, clients, customers, members, patients and suppliers?
You can use all 15 methods of communicating but the most effective and the best value way of contacting those important in your life is to post Christmas cards.
If you are going to the trouble of sending Christmas cards and it does take a bit of time and organising, then you will want to know that your message is being received. According to Wilson Printing, 99.9% of Christmas cards are opened.
You certainly won’t get that with an email or Christmas e-card. In fact, the open rate of emails is falling heavily. If you email your newsletter or send a marketing email, then your open rate is at best, 20%, and falling.
Many businesses prefer email communication to mail because it is cheaper but cheaper is not always best. According to the above research, if you send out 1,000 printed Christmas cards in the mail, then 999 are likely to be opened. If you send 1,000 Christmas e-cards, then about 200 are likely to be opened.
Perhaps you should be visiting your favourite clients, friends and family in person at Christmas time. If you do, besides an appropriate gift, what are you going to bring? A Christmas Card!
For those you cannot see in person, you may wish to deliver some gifts by courier. My brother lives in USA so we send gifts to Peter’s children every year. Of course, a Christmas card accompanies the gifts.
What is that makes Christmas cards so special in today’s modern world of multiple communication channels? It shows effort and time taken. You have to go to the trouble of choosing an appropriate Christmas card, write or print an inside message, address an envelope and post it. What’s even more important, unlike other forms of communication, your Christmas cards sent will be kept by the recipient for several days. It is rare for greeting cards to be discarded immediately. The same cannot be said for electronic communication.
According to The Dallas Morning News writer, David Flick, sums up the case for sending Christmas cards very eloquently indeed. “When you’re sending mass greetings by social media, your primary thought — let’s be honest here — is of your own convenience.” It treats the expression of personal affection as one more obligation to be crossed off the seasonal list. By contrast, the minute or so it takes to sign and address a card is time spent thinking of someone else.
