Good question! I am in marketing, and I get this question so often, along with
-should I be sending business thank you cards?
-Why do business send direct?
-Are business thank you cards effective?
All of these are very valid questions when you are thinking of different ways to grow your business, and yes, to all of the above. Personalized Direct mail has an open rate of 92% where as email have an open rate of 9%…
So, what are business thank you cards? That is kind of a loaded question. Business thank you cards can be a few different things.
One of the ways that businesses use business thank you cards, are for, exactly what the name says. They have a list to all of their clients, and they send out a large mass mailing of all of the same type of card about once a year, usually around Christmas, that thanks them for their business, and usually offers them a promotional item, to heighten retention rates. They have a nice note in them, and are usually printed with the owners signature. These types of business thank you cards are effective, in the way that you keep you top of clients mind for a couple of months.
The next type of business thank you cards are a little more effective than the first type that I explained, however, still not as effective as the last type that I will cover. These business thank you cards are sent more than once a year, more like during every major holiday – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Fourth of July. They pretty much have the same concept as the first type, but they are sent more often, keeping you top of mind for more of the year than just christmas. The downfall of these types of business thank you cards, is that, since they are sent on major holidays they get stuck in a pile of greeting cards with all of the other companies cards that are trying to do the same thing as you. While effective, they are not as effective as the last type of business thank you card that I am getting ready to cover.
The 3rd type of business thank you card, is sent up to 8 times per year, but not always on major holidays. This type of business thank you card is sent on RANDOM holidays up to 8 times per year on dates like Groundhogs Day, National Flip-Flop day, April Fools day, Birthdays, Seasonal changes…. They are strategically placed so that not only do thye not get stuck in a pile with all of the other companies promo items, but they stand out more, and it adds more of a personal touch from the business. These types of business thank you cards don’t just have a nice message and a promo item in them, they specifically ask for referrals and or to come back and see them. These business thank you cards also have a business card of yours inserted in it, so that your client has a stack of your business cards to hand out to whoever is looking for them throughout the year.
I understand that business thank you cards are for referrals, but I recommend using business thank you cards for your business if you want to grow and not really need any other ways to advertise your business.