It’s that time of year when the seasonal greetings you send to customers and suppliers lets them know how much you appreciate them. Yet, with so much to do in the run-up to the festive break, sending those cards and emails can be a last-minute rush. Fortunately, personal and effective messages of good cheer needn’t be a headache. A communications management solution streamlines putting together and sending those seasonal messages, leaving you more time to tie up loose ends and have another mince pie!
It’s estimated that the British send almost a billion Christmas cards a year. Your choice may be for traditional cards sent through the post, or perhaps you lean more towards e-cards. Chances are, you’ll use a mix of both to say, “Happy holidays!” Whichever way you choose, here are our top tips for your seasonal greetings:
- Work from one list
Santa gets Christmas lists from children all around the globe but even he must put it all together in one master list. It’s a pity if your carefully crafted, beautiful seasonal message doesn’t even find its mark because you have an out-of-date address.
By centralising communications, your festive greetings draw on the latest data so that your recipients’ details are up to date. What’s more, working in this way ensures you don’t duplicate effort, or spend more than you need to, from multiple departments sending to the same contact.
- Be unique
This is a chance to let your brand shine through a unique, engaging message that perfectly represents your company. No doubt you’ve sent out branded messages all year long in the form of letters, invoices, quotes and more. Your seasonal greetings shouldn’t let the side down; they should clearly reflect your brand image and personality. By ensuring your festive messages align with the corporate brand, they will be instantly recognisable and contribute to a key communications goal of building brand awareness.
- Say it with a (e)card
Christmas is a time of traditions, and you may favour a traditional card through the post. Indeed, many of your recipients may have a fondness for physical cards too, after all, the sending and receiving of cards at Christmas has endured for over 175 years. The first was way back in 1843 when only 1,000 were printed; now Royal Mail delivers millions every festive season.
Some prefer to say it with an e-card though. Maybe you’ve reduced your paper use or know that some of the businesses you’re sending to have green agendas of their own. Ideally, you’ll choose the channel that works best taking account of all considerations, including receiver preferences, and that means you’ll likely send some messages by post and some by email or other means.
In which case, getting those festive greetings together and issuing them can be a complex business. A single communications management platform brings together contact names and address details, channel preferences, and your seasonal messages and passes final communications to preferred channels for sending. Many tasks, such as addressing, are automated and applied across channels to reduce errors and save time.
- Make it personal
Your festive communication should address your recipient by name and include a tailored message. You can decide on a range of personal messages and assign them to the relevant contacts on your list. Maybe you’ll thank new customers for coming on board in 2021; perhaps you’ll thank suppliers you’ve worked with for more than a couple of years for their continued support; you might want to thank long-standing customers for their loyalty over the years. You could even choose to provide a snapshot of what’s coming up in 2022.
However, you choose to tailor your messages, your recipients will appreciate it. Even if it’s just including their name, it’s that personal touch that goes a long way. Personalising your communications doesn’t have to add time or effort to getting those festive messages out either, through automation and centralisation the right message goes to the right person for the best results.
To ensure your seasonal greetings make their mark, avoid the time and complexity of manually preparing and sending each message. Multichannel communications management software centralises communications for tailored, accurate messages that reach recipients in their preferred way. To find out more, take a look at what an intelligent communications management platform can do.
