Giving Formal Advertising a Casual Flair
charen smith
Todays consumers are inundated with advertisements. They receive flyers in their mailboxes on a regular basis, most of which end up in the garbage can. DVR has made it possible for them to ignore television commercials. Print advertisements and online ads are also ignored. One way to get your name out there in a professional, yet casual manner is through business greeting cards.
Before you order business greeting card printing for your business, you should know a little about the etiquette of using these advertising materials. You need to strike a balance between formal and casual with this type of marketing. First, business greeting cards should not look like advertisements. Yes, you are using greeting cards as a chance to market your business and remind your clients that you are there to serve them, but you need to make the card look personal.
One way to make the card look personal is to sign it yourself. Yes, this takes time, but a personal signature will mean much more to your customer than a generic printed greeting. Also, handwrite the address or have your secretary do this for you. A piece of mail with a handwritten address is more likely to be opened by the recipient. Be sure that you are spelling your customers name correctly, as a misspelled name can turn someone away from your business.
You can send business greeting cards for a variety of occasions. If your business is such that you know your customers birthdays, use this as an opportunity to send out a personal greeting. You can also send personal thank you cards to clients after important purchases or meetings.
Do not forget about sending holiday cards. When you do send holiday cards, be sensitive to the fact that your customers may not all celebrate the same holiday. Try to find a card that is generic without looking cheap and unfeeling. Most of your customers will celebrate some holiday during the winter months, so a generic holiday wish is definitely appropriate. If you know of a customer who does not celebrate holidays, you may want to avoid sending a card to that individual.
If you have access to the persons home address, use it when mailing the business greeting card. Even if you usually use the individuals business address for all other correspondences, a personal greeting should be sent to the home if possible. If not, use the business address, but do not include your customers spouses name if the spouse is not an employee of the business.
Business greeting cards can serve as gentle reminders to your customers about the services you have provided in the past. You will probably find that several customers you have not heard from in a while give you a call after receiving a greeting card from your business. After all, you have sent them a personal reminder that you are still available to meet their needs!
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