Why?
Sending Christmas cards to clients and associates is a marketing activity. Thus it should pass the marketing activity test.
All marketing activities should do at least one of the following things well. And it should do it better than the competition. Your competition is more than just your competitors. Your competition is anyone or anything that competes for the attention, time and money of your prospects and clients. At Christmas time you have a lot of competition.
Your marketing criteria:
Grab Attention
Demonstrate value
Build relationships
That’s what your marketing should do – at least one of those things better than your competition.
If you are thinking of sending Christmas cards then what will you do to out Sham Wow the competition?
The other important criterion is return on investment – ROI. If you spend $1 then you should expect to receive at least $2 in return.
I just received a Christmas card from Tom Beakbane, president of Beakbane Retail Connections, a marketing firm that specializes in helping retail firms sell more.
Why am I excited by this Christmas card?
Because it’s different, creative and playful – all words that fit with the style and service of Beakbane.
This Christmas card was delivered by email (which I’m not a fan of). However it’s different because the webpage is a Christmas tree with several links that lead to seasonal interests. For example: Roast a perfect turkey, Sinful chocolate recipes, Show shoveling tips to save your back, Top ten cocktails to put you in the festive mood, and several more.
Look at the Beakbane Christmas card.
And best of all, the ROI is strong because the cost of creating the webpage and distributing the link by email is minimal.
I’m impressed and not surprised by Tom Beakbane and Beakbane Retail Connections.
Don't send Christmas cards unless...
George Torok
Marketing Speaker
Marketing Expert & Author
PS: Tom Beakbane was a recent guest on my radio show, Business in Motion.
2 comments:
George, thanks for your kind comment about our "Appy Christmas" e-card. We agree with your advice. If you are going to send something, send something that reflects who you are and what you stand for. Every year we try and create an original, topical and amusing message and judging by the feedback it is appreciated. (We did get a few panicked calls warning us about the typo... "appy". Damn we forgot that H!)
Best for 2010
Tom Beakbane
Tom,
I thought the "appy" was just your accent.
And considering the mobile device aps that you linked to - it seemed appy-propriate.
All the best to you in 2010
George
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