Postcards

Thanksgiving Cards in Direct Mail Campaigns

November 21, 2019
Autor
Inkit Team

Parents have always taught us to be grateful. They would have taught even harder if they knew the benefits of gratitude for business growth and customer retention. Thanksgiving cards for business effectively nurture leads and remind customers about your company just before crazy Christmas sales. Such holiday cards usually don’t include any extra information – only your company logo, a Happy Thanksgiving message, and a thematic background. Despite a common misconception that customers react solely to discount offers, sending Thanksgiving cards with simple design also works. It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with your customers and show your everyday care. Furthermore, sending corporate Thanksgiving cards to employees, you can boost their team spirit and benefit your corporate culture.

There is no better opportunity to show gratitude to your loyal and existing customers than Thanksgiving Day. Whereas other businesses focus on The New Year, Christmas, and Easter holiday seasons, you should use an additional chance to remind about your brand in November. Try to deliver funny Thanksgiving cards to make your customers smile or create an elegant classy design. Everything depends on your business field and the target audience. In this article, Inkit will tell you more about:

  • Thanksgiving holiday season and its holiday cards tradition
  • Thanksgiving postcards history and the key Thanksgiving message
  • Funny Thanksgiving cards and rules to use them
  • Thanksgiving cards for business: mail campaign example and ideas

Thanksgiving Holiday Season and Its Holiday Cards Tradition

To run a successful Thanksgiving mail campaign, you should understand the origin and main symbols of this holiday. This will help you design relevant postcards and formulate the Thanksgiving message that can make the target audience remember your mailing.

Turkey day dates back to 1621 when 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans celebrated the rich harvest for three days. That’s why Thanksgiving is considered a day of prosperity and gratitude to anything important in our lives. In November 1789, George Washington made the first national Thanksgiving proclamation, and in 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared that the Thanksgiving holiday season should be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. This started a powerful tradition with a range of customs that exist to this day. Here are some of the most renowned.

  • Thanksgiving dinner with a turkey. Every Thanksgiving holiday season the whole family gathers for a feast with custard, eggnog, ham, mashed potatoes, and, of course, a huge turkey. Turkey is so popular that many people even call Thanksgiving Turkey day.
  • The wishbone. The wishbone is a bone in the turkey’s chest that is believed to fulfill wishes. After the Thanksgiving dinner is finished, two family members pull two different sides of the bone to break it and see who gets the larger part. The one who wins gets the wish.
  • Charity events. The best way to show gratitude is to volunteer on Thanksgiving. You can make a donation, cook meals for the homeless, or do other types of charity work. Year by year, such Thanksgiving activities only increase their popularity.

Sending Thanksgiving cards is another tradition that appeared in the late 19th century. This was the easiest way to wish Happy Thanksgiving to someone who lived far away and surprise friends or family. The most common design featured carriages pulled by huge turkeys, children riding turkeys, or the well-renowned patriotic turkey.

(Source: CBS Denver)

The trends came and went, but the essence of Thanksgiving cards remained unchanged. They still include warm autumn colors and Happy Thanksgiving wishes sent as a sign of gratitude. The only difference is that today, sending Thanksgiving cards for business purposes is an effective marketing practice. Many business owners invest in mail campaigns to increase loyalty, improve customer service, and build the brand image. Depending on their products or services, they create anything from minimalist designs to humorous Thanksgiving cards.

Funny Thanksgiving Cards and Rules to Use Them

Laughter and the desire to keep your holiday card are the perfect response to Thanksgiving mailing. You can send funny Thanksgiving cards to your friend, employee, or even use them to market your business. In the latter case or if you deliver corporate Thanksgiving cards, you should be more careful. There are several basic rules to design funny Thanksgiving cards that provoke positive emotions and look relevant.

Start verifying addresses today

Don't waste time and money dealing with lost shipments that never made it to your customers.
Try for Free

Thanksgiving Card Rule #1: Stay Simple

Don’t make too sophisticated jokes that are difficult to understand right away or may sound offensive. Rely on popular traditions and concepts like hunting for a frozen turkey, Thanksgiving overeating, or something similar. This will increase the chance that the recipients understand your joke and appreciate the holiday card.

Thanksgiving Card Rule #2: Mind Your Target Audience

One design of a funny Thanksgiving card isn’t suitable for all cases. If you are about to pick a holiday card or browse free online samples, keep in mind the preferences of the future recipients. In case you want to greet friends and family, don’t be afraid to get wild with funny Thanksgiving cards. Nevertheless, sending Thanksgiving cards to customers and employees, it’s better to take into account their age, social status, views, and other essential details.

Thanksgiving Card Rule #3: Highlight the Thanksgiving Theme

Make sure to choose postcards with a clear Thanksgiving message and thematic design. Pumpkins, autumn leaves, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey are among the most popular design elements. Your postcards must create the expected mood the moment people see them.

Thanksgiving Cards for Business: Direct Mail Campaigns and Ideas

Most companies have already realized the benefits of Christmas cards for the quality of customer service and marketing campaigns. They design die-cut postcards, unique leaflets, and appealing photo cards to please buyers and indirectly promote their brand. Unlike Christmas mailings, Thanksgiving cards are commonly neglected by business owners and marketers. Usually, such companies just don’t know how to properly use Thanksgiving cards for business marketing or refuse to invest in printing and delivery. They fail to realize that with direct mail automation, printed mail is easy to incorporate in any marketing workflow.

Thanksgiving Mail Campaign Example

You can automate the printing and delivery process by integrating your CRM with Inkit’s direct mail automation tool. As a result, your mail campaign will be smoother, faster, and more cost-efficient. To launch a multifaceted Thanksgiving mail campaign, you will need to segment the recipients into several target audiences. This will allow you to tailor the design and message to their expectations and guarantee the necessary reaction. Use Inkit’s postcards builder to create several types of postcards for each target audience. Once the designs are ready, you can add the mail delivery step to your CRM workflow. The system will automatically trigger the delivery when the set date comes or the indicated action happens. This way, the Thanksgivings cards will be delivered in time to share your gratitude.

Business Marketing Pro Tip: You can also send corporate Thanksgiving cards to employees and create holiday cards to express thankfulness to your business partners. All these processes can be managed through the same CRM using Inkit’s functionality.

Thanksgiving Cards for Business Ideas

The described campaign can be used as a model for sending Thanksgiving cards for business marketing. You can change the type of direct mail, target audiences, delivery triggers, and other details. Consider the following ideas to get some inspiration:

  • Use Thanksgiving cards to remind customers about your brand before Black Friday and Christmas sales. Don’t include any discounts or special offers. A nice thematic picture with a Thanksgiving message and your logo are enough.
  • Invite business partners to a Thanksgiving dinner organized by your company. Make sure to send such printed invitations beforehand (at least 2 weeks before the event).
  • Inspire recipients to participate in a charity event sponsored by your organization or business. This will contribute to your positive social image, which is essential for business promotion.

Choose Inkit to express gratitude with unique mailing campaigns. It offers no batch limitations, flexible pricing, and other benefits that you will definitely enjoy.

Ready to captivate your customers?

Send personalized direct mail automatically based on customer actions.
Schedule a Demo