With the holiday season right around the corner, sending out holiday cards to your wedding clients, friends, and family is a wonderful way to grow your business. We’ve gone ahead and created a step-by-step process for a successful Holiday Card Campaign you can implement just in time for the holidays this year. Here are the 10 steps for you to take today.
1. Define a Goal
Before you pick up the mouse and get your creative juices flowing on customizing your holiday cards, first determine the goal behind this campaign. Do you want to raise awareness of your brand and increase the number of prospective clients to your business? Will you sell the cards to past and current clients with their wedding photos? Is your goal to focus on your dedicated clients and send love to them? Defining the goal behind your campaign will start you on the path to success. Remember to add metrics to your goal, as this will help keep you motivated.
2. Research Products and Pricing
Now that you established a goal, define the specifics for what you want your cards to look like and the direction you want to go with the message on it. Will your holiday cards be humorous or sentimental? What size do you envision your cards, and what type of paper do you want to print? Once you decide on what direction you are going to take, research various companies to determine who can best help you achieve your vision. Remember to review the different pricing options as well.
3. Determine a Budget
While it would be nice to send cards to all of your clients, friends, and family, the cost and timeliness of this can add up quickly. Based on your research of pricing options for the cards, determine your budget for this campaign. Once you have a budget in mind, select who will receive holiday cards. Will you send cards to your clients from this past year, your friends, or your family? When determining your budget, remember to factor in the cost of printing, as well as shipping for each card. Staying within your budget is crucial, because you want to grow your business with this campaign!
Tip: With any leftover money in your budget, add vendors and other colleagues to your holiday card list.
4. Download the Template Pack
To get you started, download our free Holiday Card Templates. These templates are customizable to fit the needs of your business, allowing you to add your style to each design. Just as we have the 90/10 model, for your color correction, the same can be applied to your holiday cards—90% of the heavy lifting in creating the basic layout has been done, and all you need to do is add your personal touches.
5. Research and Prepare Files
With your customizable templates, decide how many images are needed per design. A meaningful way to reach out to your clients is once you receive your images back from wedding photography editing services, include your favorite photograph of them on their wedding day. This will remind your couple of their special day you were a part of. Another approach is to include a photo of you with your family to remind clients you are just like them. Once you have selected your images, spend a few minutes retouching them. Since only a couple of images will be used on each card, you want them to look their best!
6. Create the Holiday Cards
Once the research and preparation is complete, the creation of your holiday cards can begin! Decide if you will use the same basic template for each client, or if you will customize each template to be unique for each person. When creating your cards, choose a template that flatters the size and type of paper you selected. Decide the best placement for your images on the cards and where you want the text to be placed.[ninja-inline id=14322]
Tip: When choosing a font for your holiday cards, have fun with it. Just remember to choose one that is not too difficult for your couples to read.
7. Customize the Holiday Cards
This is one of the really fun parts, which is adding your personal touch to the cards! With the Holiday Card Template Pack, there are several ways to make each one unique to match your brand. You can change the background color of the card or modify what the text says. If you want to personalize each card even more, update the text to include the couple’s names in it! As a final touch, add your logo so everyone knows who created the card.
8. Order the Holiday Cards
At this point, revisit the previous steps to ensure you are happy with the cards you designed. Are they designed in a way that will help you achieve your goal? Are you in line with your determined budget? If so, you can begin the ordering process for your cards. Shipping time will vary based on where you decide to order the cards from, so be sure to order them well in advance of when you plan to send them out.
9. Prepare Addresses to Send
While you are waiting in anticipation for your holiday cards to arrive, take this time to find and organize the contact information you need for sending the cards. Do you have the correct spelling of the clients’ names and addresses? If you are sending cards to people you have not been in contact with recently, be sure to check the address you have is correct. Once everything is up-to-date and you have the cards, a great way to show how much your clients and friends mean to you is to hand write each envelope. This touch of personalization shows the time and effort you spent to make them something special.
10. Send the Holiday Cards
Now comes the final step, which is sending your cards. Create a plan for when you want to send out the cards based on when you want people to receive them. You will want the cards to be received before the holidays are over, so people can display and share them with their friends and family.
Tip: If you are sending any holiday cards across the country, remember to plan for additional time for the card to arrive at the destination.
Creating a holiday card campaign is a great way to connect with your current and past clients, as well as spread the word about your photography business. Clients will appreciate your creative ideas and will share this unique and personalized experience with others. The relationships that you build and secure with your clients will help the growth of your business. So what are you waiting for? Download our Holiday Card Templates for Wedding Photographers and get started today!
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