E- greeting cards are ubiquitous. Sending a flash-based greeting card, complete with cheesy background music and a dancing animal, is no longer cute; it has become another impersonal way to send a digital message. And quite frankly, I believe free e-cards are about as annoying as singing telegrams.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and instead of wasting your time putting together free e-Valentine’s Day cards, here are some cute ideas for real printed Valentine’s Day cards that will knock your friends' socks off. The ideas below translate really well into Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns, so freelance marketers and designers take note too! 1. Show how much you REALLY care Valentine’s Day is becoming another oversaturated consumer holiday. It seems as though every kind of business has found a way to make a “sweetheart” special or sell some Valentine’s Day-related junk. Try something different and meaningful this year. Donate to a local charity or favorite cause and then send your friends or your top clients a greeting card saying you’ve made a donation in their honor. If you donated to an education fund, your card could show an “I LOVE EDUCATION” image on the front and contain a personal message inside. 2. Send a set of free Valentine's Day card If you have enough lead time before February 14th, then you can send friends and clients a set of free Valentine’s Day cards that they can distribute amongst family and friends. If the mailing can go out around the last week in January, or first week in February, that will give recipients enough time to get the package and use their free Valentine’s Day cards. Try sending an oversize 7-inch by 10-inch greeting card carrier format, with smaller 5-inch by 3.5-inch cards and envelopes inside. For marketing purposes, include a URL or phone number for your business on the back of the cards and that will give your business more exposure. Free Valentine’s-themed stickers, notepads and bookmarks are also great free gifts and easy to mail. 3. Make it personal Think about what happens when you go through the mail. There are always a few envelopes that get trashed even before they have a chance to be opened. Usually the ones that go in the trash seem impersonal and unsolicited, because they have laser-printed addresses on the front. To increase the chances that your friends and clients actually open and read your Valentine’s Day mail, handwrite the name address and return address on each envelope. If it’s a business communication, add your first and last name to the return address to make it more personal. Finally, if you are sending out a reasonable quantity of messages, handwrite as much of the Valentine’s Day card's inside message as you can, even if it’s just a P.S. and a real signature, it will make a big difference in the recipient’s eyes.
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