It’s hard to believe but the holidays will be here before you know it and you should start planning your holiday card as well as your distribution strategy for the card.

Holiday cards are still an important touchpoint with your clients and prospects that you should incorporate into your marketing strategy.

I recommend sending out an e-card – it’s easier (as long as you have a targeted mailing list), cheaper and more direct especially with many people now working from home on a full time or hybrid basis.

The most important part of this project is to make sure that you have the right people on your list.

I recommend making categories of people who should receive your holiday card – current clients, former clients, prospects, recruiters, friends of the firm and alumni. Use your CRM to help you with this and start now – there is no time like the present to update your contacts.

Once you have that list think about the card’s creative concept – do something unique and authentic to your organization.

I love the idea of getting your people involved – ask them to share their favorite holiday recipes and include them in a recipe book with the heading “eat drink and be merry.”

Another idea is to ask the kids of your employees to draw a picture of what the holidays mean to them.

You could also include photos of your employees’ holiday memories or their favorite holiday tradition.

Another way to stand out is to include photos from the past year of your people. I know this may be hard this year with the pandemic limiting activities but file this away for next year.

I love the idea of dressing up your employees’ pets in their holiday best and making that the theme of your card.

Making a donation to charity is also something you can make a focal point of your card. Clients want to see their law firms and other vendors doing good things for the world.

These are the kinds of greetings that will really stand out. They are more impactful because your people are helping to tell the story.

Your goal with holiday cards is to invoke warm, positive feelings that help to create stronger connections. You certainly don’t want to come off as every other corporate organization.

Softer content like this helps to humanize and showcase your brand. It also breaks up the self-promotional content so many brands post on a daily basis about its news, events and accomplishments.

Whatever you do, try not to include generic holiday images such as a snowman, a snowflake or happy holidays in various languages where you have offices. That’s been overdone.

To recap – here are some creative ideas for your holiday card:

• Ask your employees to contribute their favorite holiday recipes with downloadable recipe cards. The theme could be something like “from our table to yours” or “eat, drink and be merry.”
• Get your employees’ kids involved and ask them to draw a picture of what the holidays mean to them. Compile the images you receive into an animated card.
• Include photos of employees’ holiday memories or their favorite holiday tradition.
• Include photos from the past year of your people at events.
• Feature employees’ pets in holiday attire.
• Feature employees in ugly holiday sweaters.
• Ask employees’ for their favorite holiday movies.
• Create a playlist of employees’ top seasonal songs.
• Make a donation to local charities the focal point of the card.

Your holiday card gives you an opportunity to remind your audience about what makes you unique. It’s an important strategic touchpoint in your marketing toolkit.

Don’t forget to post your holiday card on your web site as well as social media channels. It’s another way to repurpose it and send a general holiday message to everyone who follows you on your social channels.