Marketing & Branding Advice

Pros & Cons of Holiday Print Cards vs. Animated Cards in 2020

Holiday Cards Or Ecards Alt

2020 has certainly been a strange and difficult year. When it comes to marketing your firm, priorities have shifted wildly. Regular activities may get overlooked. Is your firm considering sending a holiday card this year? If so, what type of card should you send, animated, or printed? Read on to learn more.

Animated Holiday e-Cards

Pros:

  • Simplified Sending. With so many of your employees and clients working remotely, the ease of coordinating sending an electronic card can be a huge benefit this year. Sending out the eCard via an email blasting platform (like Mailchimp, ConstantContact, etc.) will automatically merge/purge all your contact lists, so you don’t have to worry about a client getting the card more than once.
  • Broader Reach. With more people spending time on social sites, sharing the eCard on the firm’s social media channels will be seen by more eyes. Encouraging individuals at the firm to share the eCard on their personal social media accounts can exponentially increase those views.
  • Cost-Savings for Large Quantities. If your firm is sending out thousands of holiday cards, sending an eCard can be significantly less expensive than a printed card.

Cons:

  • Email Overload. We all get so many emails every day, and even more so this year with the influx of pandemic and political email. Recipients may not open your email or click through to watch the animation.
  • Impersonal. It is very difficult and often impossible to add a personalized note to an eCard, especially if you use an email blasting application. Given the lack of human contact with social distancing, a personal touch of any kind will be highly appreciated this year.
  • Possible Delivery Issues. Email servers are more likely to block email that comes via blasting applications. So, there’s a chance your eCard may end up in a client’s spam folder.

Printed Holiday Cards

Pros:

  • Personalization. We are all missing handshakes, hugs, and face-to-face interaction. Printed cards can offer a bit of human closeness with a simple handwritten note. (It is a huge missed opportunity if your firm sends printed cards without a note or at least a signature.)
  • Get noticed. Fewer firms are sending printed cards, so you can stand out from the pack and be remembered by sending a real, tactile holiday card. Plus, it’s nice to get snail-mail  😉
  • Thoughtful. A traditional paper card sends a more intimate, thoughtful message. It’s like a little present!

Cons:

  • Time-Consuming. Hand signing cards is a commitment. It will take a significant amount of time and coordination to sign and mail out the cards, especially if multiple people at your firm plan to sign the same card for a specific person. That may be a logistical nightmare if everyone at your firm is working from home.
  • Difficult to Manage. Merging lists can be tricky, but it’s crucial to avoid sending multiple cards to the same client.
  • Possible Delivery Issues. In addition to needing accurate mailing address information for everyone on the mailing list, we now face potential USPS mail delays. Also, if you do not have home addresses, cards may be delivered to empty offices.
  • Expensive. Printing costs and postage add up quickly.

In Summary

In this time of social distancing, when we can’t interact with our clients as personally as we normally would, it’s important they don’t feel forgotten. Especially during the holidays. Whenever possible, we recommend sending both a printed card and an eCard to reach the widest audience. Send the animated card to your firm’s full contact list and personalized, printed cards to your top clients.

If that is not an option, weigh the pros and cons of printed cards and eCards carefully to determine what will be the best option for your firm.

  • Does your firm already have a tradition of sending a printed card and/or an eCard? Are people open to trying something different?
  • How many cards will the firm send out? What makes the most sense for your budget?
  • Will people make time to hand sign printed cards?
  • Will/can people come into the office to sign printed cards? Or, can batches be shipped to employees’ homes to sign?
  • Do you have accurate contact information (email and/or mailing addresses)?

Need Help?

Contact us! We specialize in creating custom printed and animated cards in keeping with your firm’s brand standards.

Related Posts:

Watch 7 Custom Holiday eCards from 2019
Animated Holiday Cards: FAQs
Winter is Coming: ’Tis the Start of Holiday Card Season

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