How to send personalized holiday cards to customers & clients

Our mailboxes get fuller and fuller as we near the holidays. As each corporation we’ve interacted with over the past year or two suddenly remembers we exist and scrambles to send over their legally-sanitized (and no doubt market tested) version of season’s greetings. But before you place that order, let’s take a look at which businesses should consider sending a holiday card and best practices for business holiday cards.

What types of business should send holiday cards?

Consider one question - how strongly do direct customer relationships drive your success?

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For many business owners, you likely immediately know the answer. If not, the easiest way to figure this out is by looking at how you sell & support customers.

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If you can operate smoothly by playing musical chairs with your employees & customers - swapping out agents and then back for the next two weeks - then the answer to the first question is honestly, not very much.

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If on the other hand, you primarily sign up or serve clients directly or in person, or otherwise need to build rapport with your customers, then you have a business that thrives on trust & human connection. And despite our earlier jab, this isn’t specific to the size of the business - any customer-centric businesses fits this bill.

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Great businesses can be built either way, but if you have a business built on trust & connection, that’s a perfect reason to consider a holiday card.

What are the do’s and don’ts when sending business holiday cards?

Do’s

Personalize: address recipients by name and include a memorable anecdote from the past year. If nothing comes to mind, share sincere appreciation for their partnership.
Handwrite your message: you’ll immediately stand out from the pack of generic printed mailers with a genuine handwritten note inside your card. Of course, handwriting messages takes time - that’s where PenPals can help out.
Use appropriate stationary: ensure you’re using a design that jives with your relationship to recipients. If you’re sending holiday cards to clients, a tasteful logo with company colors is a perfect combination for a professional touch.
Send to the right folks: if you’re sending holiday cards to individual clients, one per family is the right approach. When sending to business customers or other companies like vendors, make sure to send a card to each contact within the organization (better to send an extra card than not).
Plan ahead: the holiday rush approaches more quickly each year. Get ahead of the madness by pulling together your contact lists early, and aim to get cards in the mail by the 15th of December. That leaves plenty of time for cards to reach your contacts. If you’re sending cards to contacts at their place of work, consider sending a week earlier to ensure you catch them in case they’re taking off for the holidays.

Don’ts

Send a generic card: while we’ve all been guilty of sending the occasional bulk card, you’re not doing yourself or your business any favors. Your customers likely chose you in part because of the unique relationship & ethos you bring to the table - a generic holiday card is an unfortunate way to reflect that back.
Send an ecard: ecards are okay if you’re looking to reach millions of customers (and are fine with hitting spam filters). But for most businesses, opt for a physical card.
Include an invoice: if you’re waiting on a payment before year-end, we feel your pain. But opt for a phone call, rather than sticking a receipt in the mail.
Skimp on quality: it might be tempting, but trust us - it isn’t worth cutting the corners to save a few pennies. Opt for high quality card stock & printing, with a seasonally-themed first class stamp - you’ll hear from your contacts how much they appreciated hearing from you.
Send late: things happen. We’re not fans of sending belated Christmas cards, but never fear. If you’ve missed your target send date, you can always send best wishes for the New Year well into January.

How can PenPals help me send personalized holiday cards to my customers & clients?

PenPals helps people-first businesses run personalized handwritten outreach. We’re happy to handle the heavy lift of sending your end-of-year holiday cards - complete with genuine ballpoint pen & ink, branded stationery, and first-class postage. Just click 'Start Writing' above to see our collection.