Paying close attention to the calendar can be an easy way for a small business to extend its customer base and create lasting professional relationships. Any nationally observed holiday or informally dedicated day is an opportunity to send celebratory or commemorative greeting cards. Customers may also appreciate receiving business thank you cards in the mail for supporting a small business. The following marketing ideas are useful for sending themed messages or timely special offers throughout the year.
Don’t Overlook National Holidays
A number of holidays are observed nationwide. A small business can check in with customers throughout the year by sending out greeting cards in advance of New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and other federal holidays.
Newer commemorative days are observed by digital marketers and social media users on platforms across the internet. Look out for dedicated days with themes that correspond to your business or products. Here are several examples of days that a small business might choose to commemorate with sales or by sending out special offers:
Employee Appreciation Day on March 6th
Fair Trade Day on May 9th
Senior Citizens Day on August 21st
Working Parents Day on September 16th
Teachers Day on October 6th
In addition to these dates, many days are dedicated to celebrating food items or commemorating historical events. Look over a calendar of national holidays that goes beyond federal and religious observances to find the most relevant dates to promote a business by sending greeting cards.
Schedule Month-Long or Daily Celebrations
Should a business choose to celebrate one or more themed months out of the year, sending greeting cards that contain discount codes can drive up purchases over longer stretches of time. Here are a few month-long observances that could be ideal for promotional cards:
New Year's Resolutions during January
Youth Art Month in March
National Pet Month in May
National Safety Month in June
National Work and Family Month in October
For the best results, stakeholders may want to select monthly themes that are related to a business’s products or services. Send out cards sufficiently in advance to notify customers of the observance. It may be possible to raise open and retention rates by including codes with limited time offers to raise awareness during a month-long promotion.
Plan Ahead With Promotional Offers
Whether you are considering sending out discount codes in business thank you cards, marketing emails or social media posts, it is important to plan ahead. Sending physical cards in the mail calls for more advance planning than running digital marketing campaigns. You will need to design cards and prepare a mailing list to send out greetings so that cards arrive in time for recipients to make use of offers.
Based on the customer data you have, you may also have the option to check in throughout the year by sending birthday or other special occasion cards. Ordering cards in bulk for particular occasions that you send out when the time is right adds an even more personal touch to greeting card promotions. Customers may also appreciate the decision to donate 20% of the cost of cards to charity, which you can indicate by adding a charity line on the inside of each card.
Greeting cards can be a cost-effective way to market a small business. Taking the right approach to promotional offers may increase your return on an investment in an order of bulk cards. You may prefer to design cards to celebrate or commemorate days or months relevant to the goods or services you sell. Other options include sending greetings at times significant to customers or showing appreciation with business thank you cards.
