By Nicki Schuh, President, and Elaine Pan, Customer Service for Heartfelt Charity Cards, which is a marketing services company that uses charity greeting cards to build repeat and referral business for their clients. See www.CharityCards.com. 10% of the sale of cards benefits a nationally recognized charity.   

How to create a distinctive holiday card 

What if your company spent hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars and hours selecting, signing and mailing its holiday cards … and nobody read them? No one remarking on your business relationship. No one remembering to make that call. No one keeping you in mind. That’s the risk you run with cards that play it safe on both the outside and in.

What first gets a holiday card noticed? The artwork. While traditional is handsome and business conservative, it is hardly distinctive. Remember, when dozens of cards are displayed together, is it the blue and gold card that stands out, or the one that may have a distinct message, sense of whimsy or different point of view? Instead of selecting a card based on the image you want to project, choose a card that will interest the recipient. With more than 30 exclusive designs ranging in style from eye-catching to elegant and peaceful to playful, Heartfelt Charity Cards has the artwork and perspectives that will differentiate your card from the pack.

Once you attract your audience’s attention, you have to keep it. After they open your unique and distinctive card, will they remember that it was YOU who sent it and not someone else? A generic “Happy Holidays”-type greeting inside the card may be standard – but why not raise the bar and have your audience remember YOU doing it? A custom-written greeting – perhaps thanking them for their business or anticipating future transactions – does just that: It truly represents how you value the relationship and distinguishes your message from the dozens of “Happy Holidays” out there. Other ways to take advantage of a Heartfelt-customized greeting:

• Utilize a team approach – Broaden your audience with a message from your “entire organization.”
• Imprint your company’s logo – These are not generic cards from the nearest office supply warehouse. The use of a color logo enhances not only your card’s distinctiveness but brand recognition as well.  In 2006, 50% of Heartfelt’s clients incorporate their company logo.  Another 28% included their logo and a signature. 
• Imprint multiple scanned signatures – The latest trend is having company employees’ signatures imprinted in multiple colors on the inside of cards. This colorful and lively personal touch will not go unnoticed by your customers and clients.  Last year, 22% of Heartfelt’s personalized cards had multiple signatures imprinted with a company name or logo; only a handful of such cards were ordered the previous year.

As the global economy expands and our world view grows more intimate, more companies are thinking beyond the bottom line. Heartfelt Charity Cards not only embodies this commitment to corporate social responsibility, but promotes it with your selected charity’s mission statement printed inside each card. In addition, every Heartfelt card notes that 10% of its sale goes to the designated charity. This message is clear and distinct – further distinguishing your card to the recipient.

So how do you get your holiday cards noticed and remembered? With distinctive artwork, a customized greeting, personalization that’s truly unique (and personal) and a social commitment your customers and clients will appreciate.