The holiday season is getting nearer and if your business is practically B2B which is a type of business that is conducted mainly between companies rather than individual consumers, it is essential that you are keeping a constant stream of communication with your clients. One best way to do this is by giving out themed cards during the holidays, like construction Christmas cards. By way of giving out construction Christmas cards, this will give your business a great reason to touch base and do some business relationship maintenance.
Create stellar Construction Christmas Cards
Here is a start-to-finish guide on what you need to do to create striking construction Christmas cards:
Step 1: Determine the estimated cost
In making your construction Christmas cards, there are three basic costs which are associated with such. These are the costs for the design, printing and postage. If your business is practically a design and print service then you can generally save with the printing costs. However, if you are not into the design and printing business, then you will have to allocate a reasonable amount for it. In every card, you can expect to spend an amount ranging from $1.50 to $2.25. This will depend on the kind of card that you will get – that is if it’s a folded card, or a post card, or whatever you plan it to be. This also includes the cost of about $0.49 of forever stamp. So, when it comes to figuring out what your approximate cost is, you can do it as simply as counting the number of B2B contacts that you want to send construction Christmas cards to and then multiply it by as low as $1.50 for your low-end estimate and as high as $2.25 for your high-end estimate.
Say for example, if you have 150 B2B contacts, for your low-end estimate you will incur an estimated amount of $225, or, if you choose the high-end estimate, you will incur an estimated amount of around $337.50.
If you have determined the budgeted amount already, then you can still easily allocate it that is whether you choose to give them all the low-end budgeted card, or the high-end budgeted card, or a mix of low-end and high-end budgeted cards.
Step 2: Decide what the purpose of your card is going to be
An important first step is to also decide on what you want to accomplish with your cards. This will be of significant help especially if you are narrowing down your list and working on your message and card design. There are of course various reasons for your business to send out a card, and you can also certainly accomplish more than one purpose at a time. However, it is essential that you have an overall focus which will help the process moving forward as you design your construction Christmas cards, putting together your contact list, and sending out the cards.
Below are some specific purposes which you may find applicable to your business:
To reconnect with such contact
Giving out these construction Christmas cards sends a very warm and oriented message. The front of the card will generally consist of some holiday greeting and a picture of you and your business. And then on the back or the inside, it contains a handwritten message about reconnecting.
To extend gratitude to the customer
This card is not going to contain any pitch. This card is intended to simply thank your B2B customers for their business. This can be similar to the reconnecting contact card; however, the message in this card is different.
To promote your business
It is also a great idea that you send out cards to prominent media companies in your local area, also to key industry suppliers, important industry participants like bloggers and analysts, other potential referral sources, and others who may have influence in your area or your industry.
Step 3: Create your contact list and then double-check it
In this step, you will now be figuring out who exactly are you going to send your construction Christmas cards to by making an official contact list. If your business only has 100 clients, then you can probably afford to send a card to every one of them which will make your decision a lot simpler. However, if you have hundreds of thousands of clients, then you may have to be more selective.
Below are some strategies on how you can create your construction Christmas cards list:
Choose your B2B clients or possible clients that have a signed contract potential
So, for example, you have a total of 500 clients but there are only around 75 of those accounts for 50% of your business contracts and you also know that there are 25 other clients who are considering on expanding their current contracts, then it will be a solid strategy to prioritize those 100 contracts, as your bread and butter.
Involve your salespeople
One way to craft a quick and quality list is by referring this to your sales team and have them give you names of around 20 to 30 businesses that they think could benefit most from a holiday greeting card, this covers both existing and potential customers.
Step 4: Design a card that pops and screams “Look at Me”
Direct mail marketing can still be very effective, especially when it is for B2B marketing with having nearly 37 times the response rate of B2B marketing emails. However, because there is a growing number who feels that this has gone out of style, fewer and fewer business owners are actually using direct mail marketing. This will mean that you are going to be able to have an exceptional opportunity to make your business Christmas cards stand out. Thus, the key to this is for you to be able to create an eye-catching card that screams “Look at me and read me”
Some design tips on your construction Christmas cards
Keep the design classy
Minimalistic and classy designs are in right now, and it is rare for one to wrong with that style of card. Also, neutral colors and flats colors are a good choice. So as a general rule, do not get more than three to four colors going on at one or your card will get too busy to look at.
Make sure that your card fits with your brand and brand message
If you are someone who works at a high profile attorney’s office, then you do not want to send out cards that promote craziness and chaos. You may want the design of your card to be simple, professional and to the point, thereby, matching the design of your card to your brand and brand message.
You should make sure that the images of your card make sense and are of high-quality. When used well, these images can add an extra pop to your card. This can also add up a personal touch if you can use an image the represents you, your business, or your employees.
Below are some tips that will help you pick good images for your construction Christmas cards:
Choose to use a high-quality camera or you can hire a professional photographer
The point of putting an image is to add something meaningful to your card. If the image that you place on your card is one that is even slightly out of focus or somewhat grainy, then this might become a liability instead of it becoming an asset.
You should avoid using stock imagery
If it can be possible, you should avoid using stock imagery. If you are using an actual photo of your business, this can be more appreciated by people and will also emphasize the fact that you are local and that you have a personal relationship with your B2B customers.
You should also choose to use a photo that furthers your brand and the message of your card
See to it the photos that are being added to your card are not far-fetched from what you want to convey and are consistent with your brand.
It is also good if you leave some blank space because your card will look less cluttered. The blank space will also help highlight the things that are significant like the texts and images. Also, the blank space will serve as an area where you can write your own personal message.
Step 5: Plan what you want to say you on your card and how you will sign the card
In most cases, the text and messages on your Christmas cards will be reasonably short. Of course, there will be a general greeting or well-wishing in front of the card like – Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. And then, oftentimes, under those greetings is your business logo, name and possibly words like “From all of us at…”
But when you are putting in personal handwritten messages, it can become a little trickier. So some tips when writing the message is that you should keep at around three to five sentences make the message purposeful and make it personal.
Sign the cards, and have them sent out to your target clients. A good rule thumb is that you start sending out cards by no later than the second week in December so that your card will be able to make it before Christmas.