Make your corporate holiday card useful

Posted by on Dec 21, 2008 in Marketing, Video | 5 comments

I can’t begin to tell you how many holiday cards, videos, photo greetings, slide shows, and more I’ve received from nearly every company I’ve done business with over the past two weeks. Many of them were tasteful and well made, a few were silly, some clever, and one or two just missed the mark.

Not one of them was useful – useful in the sense that the holiday card made my life or my work better beyond the entertainment factor. (not counting personal gifts from dedicated partners)

Here’s the thing. If you’re going to invest time and money, especially these days, in a holiday greeting that’s as well produced as many of the greetings have been, invest some time and energy into making the greeting even more powerful by making it useful. Include a link to a free eBook, audiobook, or other media that accompanies the greeting so that the recipient gets some additional value. Did you present at a conference? Share the video of your talk.

It doesn’t even have to be anything epic – a simple video like this one of popcorn is enough:

YouTube Preview Image

Heck, it doesn’t even have to be your own stuff – add a link in to a video from a PodCamp or your favorite TED talk of the year if you don’t have any inventory of your own handy, and just write up a personal note saying, this video made a difference in my life and work this year, and I hope it will do the same for you in the coming year.

Whatever you do for a holiday greeting, make the recipient’s life better in some way by sharing something useful with them. Their holidays may be happy, but with your shared insight, their year ahead will be better, more productive, and more powerful because of it.

Think about it this way – when you’re sending out this kind of corporate communication, do you want to be remembered as funny, snarky, witty, silly, etc. – or do you want your customers, clients, and prospects to remember you as useful, helpful, and insightful?

A very happy holiday season to you.

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  • http://www.camprunapup.com Katybeth Jensen

    This post has inspired me to find away to make my holiday card not only visually fun but to make it helpful. In fact, its a good question to ask myself, every time I send something out…is it helpful not only from my point of view, but from the point of view of the receiver.
    Thanks for being helpful!

  • http://www.camprunapup.com Katybeth Jensen

    This post has inspired me to find away to make my holiday card not only visually fun but to make it helpful. In fact, its a good question to ask myself, every time I send something out…is it helpful not only from my point of view, but from the point of view of the receiver.
    Thanks for being helpful!

  • sawinkler

    As always, a helpful and real post from you.

    I'm a loyal reader, and being an admirer tagged in this “7 things” meme going around have decided to tag you. As far as I can tell, (surprisingly) you have not been tagged before. Would love to see your list if you feel like playing along.

    Otherwise, I'll continue to enjoy reading your perspectives here.

    Here's the link: http://groomingtheavatar.blogspot.com/2008/12/7…

  • http://newbdad.wordpress.com/ sawinkler

    As always, a helpful and real post from you.

    I'm a loyal reader, and being an admirer tagged in this “7 things” meme going around have decided to tag you. As far as I can tell, (surprisingly) you have not been tagged before. Would love to see your list if you feel like playing along.

    Otherwise, I'll continue to enjoy reading your perspectives here.

    Here's the link: http://groomingtheavatar.blogspot.com/2008/12/7…

  • http://newbdad.wordpress.com/ sawinkler

    As always, a helpful and real post from you.

    I'm a loyal reader, and being an admirer tagged in this “7 things” meme going around have decided to tag you. As far as I can tell, (surprisingly) you have not been tagged before. Would love to see your list if you feel like playing along.

    Otherwise, I'll continue to enjoy reading your perspectives here.

    Here's the link: http://groomingtheavatar.blogspot.com/2008/12/7…