December 21 was e-blast carpet bombing day.
About every 15 minutes I received a message wishing me a
happy holidays, season’s greetings, Merry Christmas, happy new year, and other warm thoughts. While I appreciate the sentiments, most quickly ended up in Outlook’s
trash without a second thought.
On the other hand, I also have received about two dozen
holiday cards through the snail mail during the past month. I have proudly
displayed these in my office, and each captured my attention for at least 30
seconds.
There’s a valuable marketing lesson to be learned from these
greetings. Happy holidays e-blasts with a picture of a serene winter landscape
are not likely to accomplish much. If your goal is to thank an
important customer or impress a prospect, a mailed piece will be more effective—if
it’s personalized. I’m dismayed by the number of cards I receive with a blanket
“From the staff at …” inside and no personal signature or note. Considering the
expense involved in purchasing and mailing cards, I’m surprised these companies
even bother if they’re not planning to personalize them (Signatures applied by the printer do not count!).
Although some say there’s no harm done from sending a happy
holidays e-blast, I disagree. E-mail marketing is indeed a tactical science,
and each e-blast should be considered for its potential value to the recipients—and
the potential harm to the sender. That is, if the material delivered to
clients, prospects, stakeholders, etc., is not valuable, receivers will be
conditioned to dismiss your messages or even unsubscribe. A happy holidays
message paired with a special discount code, news about an expansion in the new
year, and so on at least provides the reader with something valuable. Although
mailed cards often don’t have any messaging beyond the greeting, they do stand out (especially as fewer people
send cards) and when done properly (i.e., personalized) convey a warm and fuzzy
feeling you’ll likely never convey through an e-blast.
I do believe a happy holidays e-mail can be
effective if it is genuine. A well-crafted and sincere thank you and well
wishes certainly will warm any heart. The point is that it is personalized, not just stock art without
much thought, and hence not an e-blast. Yet to ensure your message isn’t lost
in an in-box, I recommend sending it through the mail.
We all want to impress our customers and prospects, and we
all do want them to have a joyous holiday season. Yet to stand out in the
holiday hustle and bustle, not to mention the onslaught of year-end budgeting
and reporting, I suggest conveying your warm wishes in a way that
ensures you stand out from the crowd.
