Every year before Christmas, many businesses think about having corporate Christmas cards made along with matching envelopes in order that they can send a greeting out to each member of their customer database. Very often the design of the card may be a photograph of the company’s best selling product, or perhaps they will use a product that they are trying to promote at the time.
From a company image point of view it is of paramount importance that the presentation is good and that the overall look of the greeting card and envelope is that of class but not opulence. Several things can be done to improve the appearance, for example the company logo could be printed onto the envelopes or even the use of an envelope seal carrying the corporate image would be a suitable alternative.
It is most important that the planning for such a greeting card should be done well in advance, say around July or August. All to often the corporate Christmas card tends to be overlooked and then at the last minute in November, there is a mad panic to get the cards printed, the envelopes addressed and finally posted out. This will obviously make for a shabby presentation and to be frank, it would be better not to send at all than do a bad job.
Who will you send the card to? Never address the card just to the company name. Choose an individual who either makes buying decisions within the firm, or someone who is a mover and shaker within the organisation and put their name in larger letters than the address on the front of the envelope; this will make them feel good if they open the envelope themselves, but to make that more likely, mark the front of the envelope as ‘private’.
Finally the wording of the card needs to be eye catching but don’t use this for promoting a hard sell, subtlety is normally a far better approach.