The holidays can be a tricky time for businesses to navigate. It’s easy to come off as too aggressive and promotional – no one really wants that around the holidays. Especially not previous customers you already have a relationship with. The same is true if you’re in an industry that doesn’t really work for the holidays. 

The question is, how can you make the holidays work for you?

Think of your customers as you would a friend. The holidays can be stressful, it’s also been a very stressful year for everyone, much more than usual. A good approach would be to offer a supportive helping hand through your words, offers, and your actions. The holidays are supposed to be a season for giving.

The long-term goal is to build a strong connection with your brand. We can do that by putting our customers’ needs first and being sensitive to all the season represents. We can send good wishes and bright feelings their way, just as we might do for our own family.

It’s these types of seemingly small and unimportant actions that are crucial to building and maintaining a solid relationship with past and future customers. Remember, our clients are one of our most valuable assets – even if they are not buying today.

Let’s take this example, a business that sells barbecues and outdoor furniture for outdoor living might feel as though they have no business reaching out during the Winter holidays. No one wants to buy a barbecue to use in the snow, right? This frame of mind couldn’t be further from the truth. Those summer months come around quicker than you know, and by then, if you’ve worked on maintaining brand awareness the rest of the year, you will be the first one that customer thinks of when they need a shiny new barbecue for a hot summer’s day. This tried and true method has been proven over and over again.

Selling is based on authentic relationships built over time. It takes time, investment, and regular communication to build a strong brand (customer bond).

A Cost-Effective Solution

You might be thinking… that’s all very well but what do I NEED to do as a business. Here are some simple actionable steps you can take right now.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, just the gesture is often enough. 

Try sending a holiday postcard, but not just any postcard, drop the postcard in an envelope to create a festive greeting card. This technique is a fraction of the cost of a traditional card and the goodwill is every bit as powerful.

With Zairmail this type of campaign is super-fast and easy to launch.

Greetings cards are a staple of the holiday season, but they are also an expensive option. Postcards in envelopes act in a similar way but at a fraction of the price. You can send a postcard for as little as $0.99 including postage and mailing costs! All our postcards are barcoded and pre-sorted which means we can meet super-fast delivery targets.

We have ready-to-go designs for the holidays or you can add a fully customizable design of your own; add a company photo, personal design, logo, or signature. Zairmail can even supply a mailing list if you want to send a Season greeting to a list of potential clients. 

Our cards are UV coated to add a polished professional look and you even have the choice to include a premium in the envelope or a coupon/offer on the back.

First, sign up for a free Zairmail account or call us at 1.888.898.0066, and let us know you would like to send postcards with envelopes. We will support you from start to end and have your message in the mail within 24 hours if required. 

When you send a piece of mail to a customer or potential customer with a free item, you are harnessing the power of premiums. The holidays are a time of spreading joy, love laughter and, of course, a time of giving! What better time is there to use premiums to build on that relationship and increase customer engagement?

Freebies act as a fantastic response device for several reasons:

They create excitement that passes over to your brand itself and any surrounding offers you’re trying to promote. If you think about it, how much more exciting is it to receive something free in the mail Vs seeing a digital advert on your phone? 

They build trust because they offer the receiver something tangible and hopefully useful or interesting as well. If you have instant trust, you will naturally have a higher response rate.

They increase open rates because ‘lumpy mail’ is not something you come across every day. Lumpy mail will spike curiosity. 

They can create direct action. An alternative to the lump mail approach is to make the customer call in or carry out some other simple connection/communication to claim the freebie. 

Best Types of Premiums for the Holidays

Once you’ve decided to send a free item with your mail, the most challenging task is choosing what to send out. The best place to start is by selecting the type of mail. Here at Zairmail, we are BIG FANS of postcards with envelopes during the holidays. 

Postcards with envelopes are more affordable than traditional greetings cards, but they will do the same thing in terms of delivering a heartfelt or empowering message this year. You will probably be surprised to learn you can send a postcard with an envelope for as little as $0.99 including postage and mailing! As well as this, you can send them quickly thanks to Zairmail…. and we mean QUICK!

With this type of campaign here are some premiums for you to consider:

Insert a generic gift card, e.g Starbucks 

Send a personalized voucher for your own store/website

Send free samples in the form of sachets if you sell something edible or health/beauty related. If you don’t fit this category, consider partnering with a brand that does offer small samples. E.g ‘a hot drink sachet on us’

A fridge magnet (Hopefully the customer will use the free magnet to put your postcard on the fridge… that’s always the goal with a good postcard mailing)

Free stamps for your customers to use on their own greetings card for family and friends

The idea is to simply offer something of value to show your customers you value them. It’s a simple concept but highly effective. 

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.