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A Procrastinator’s Guide
to Holiday Mailings
December 2012
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Make Your List & Check It Twice
A successful holiday mailing starts with a good,
up-to-date mailing list. It’s never too late to pull
one together.
You may have your contacts spread out everywhere, from spreadsheets to your email address book to your invoice software. The first
thing you need to do is pull together a list of contacts from all of those
different places that you would like to send your holiday mailing to.
Social C
RM
Who Gets It?
Quick places to find folks who
should get a holiday message or
gift from you:
⁕⁕ Your best customers and vendors
from your invoicing software
⁕⁕ Your email newsletter
“frequent readers” list
Many small businesses use a CRM software, such as Batchbook.
You may also have a good list of your customers in your accounting
software, or maybe you keep your contacts nicely organized in
spreadsheets.
⁕⁕ Fans of your Facebook, Google+,
LinkedIn and Pinterest pages
Whatever the case, you’ll need to go through your list of customers
to decide who is going to receive what holiday cheer from you this
season.
⁕⁕ Your employees’ favorite customers
and friends of the business
⁕⁕ Twitter followers and “stars”
⁕⁕ Your blog’s frequent commenters
⁕⁕ Anyone who has been extra
nice to your support team
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
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Batchbook Social CRM • A Procrastinator’s Guide to Holiday Mailings
Clean Up Your List
It is easy to add all your contacts into a central
customer database and quickly remove any
duplicates.
Time is Ticking
Once you gather all of the people you want to reach out to this
holiday season, you will likely need to do a little clean up before you
have a list ready for mailing. You want to avoid sending anything
to the same contact twice. To make sure you don’t, you can merge
your various lists together into one central database.
There are so many different ways
to reach out to your customers and
extended network with a gift or holiday greeting. Here are some easy
options based on the amount of time
you have left for your mailing.
Using a CRM system like Batchbook Social CRM is the easiest
way to merge your lists and remove any duplicate contacts. Here are
a few other tips for cleaning up your list:
1 Month
E-mail address verification service:
⁕⁕ Send small gifts or cards
⁕⁕ Host a holiday themed contest
⁕⁕ Post a series of creative
holiday tips or messages
2 Weeks
The United States Postal Service can help you check the accuracy
of your mailing list addresses: http://pe.usps.com/businessmail101/addressing/checkingaccuracy.htm
http://www.verifyemailaddress.org/
Remember, the best way to keep your mailing lists accurate and
up-to-date is to stay in touch with your customers. Never buy or
“borrow” someone else’s lists.
⁕⁕ Send personalized holiday cards
⁕⁕ Create a customized online
holiday photo greeting
1 Week
⁕⁕ Create a holiday
themed newsletter
⁕⁕ Send personal messages
with attached e-gifts
Today
⁕⁕ Write a heartfelt blog post
⁕⁕ Post a fun team picture on
your social media accounts
⁕⁕ Spiff up your logo a la
Google Doodles style
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
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Batchbook Social CRM • A Procrastinator’s Guide to Holiday Mailings
Gift Giving
When you give a gift to a customer, vendor,
or friend, you are telling them how much you
value them and how important they are to
your business.
To make the most of it, we suggest putting a lot of thought into the gifts
you decide to send. You want to send something that will be enjoyed
and remembered.
Get Inspired
If you have customers or a local small business that makes things
that would be great for a holiday gift, use them! When you work with
someone small and local, you can often have the gift personalized,
adding even more meaning to it. For instance, we send out special
Batchbook brownie pops, which are made by our customer The
Secret Chocolatier.
Desserts, wine, and gift baskets make great gifts. Tailor your gift based
on who you are giving it to. If your customers are businesses, you will
want to send something that can be shared more easily.
Sending something handmade is also a great way to show you care.
Check out all of the great gifts you can find on Etsy, or ask friends if
they know anyone locally who makes small crafts.
You may want to send something that is branded. When you buy your
gifts from a small business, you can likely get them customized or
even branded in some way. Find something that your customers will
appreciate and use. At Batchbook, we send Moleskine notebooks with
our logo printed on them (by a local non-profit organization for at-risk
students).
Sending Those Gifts
Having your mailing list organized comes in handy when it is time to
mail your gifts. Whether you are doing the shipping yourself, or if you
are having gifts shipped directly, you can use your list to make sure
they get to the right place.
Major shippers such as USPS, FedEx, and UPS have tools that help
you upload your list and input other shipping info so you can print out
the labels yourself. Or put your list on a flash drive and take it to your
local shipping location, and they will be glad to help. When having
another company send your gifts, you just need to send them a copy of
your mailing list and they will handle it from there.
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
Great Gift Ideas
⁕⁕ Delicious Desserts
Find a local bakery or one
that will ship and send some
yummy treats for the holidays.
⁕⁕ Handmade Memories
At Batchbook, we have our own
Etsy aficionado on staff, and she
makes onesies for all the new
babies. Find someone on Etsy
or locally to make a nice gift,
such as hand-crafted ornaments
or other holiday decorations.
⁕⁕ Branded Gifts that Work
Add your logo to a thoughtful gift,
such as Moleskine notebooks
or custom made candy bars.
⁕⁕ Charitable Donations
Make a donation to a favorite
cause in the name of your
customers. Be sure to include
a personal note about why the
cause is important to you.
⁕⁕ Party Favors
If you have an office space or
retail shop, have a small gift for
the young ones when families
come in to keep everyone happy
and patient.
Tip from @payprobusiness.
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Batchbook Social CRM • A Procrastinator’s Guide to Holiday Mailings
Spread Your Holiday Message
Far & Wide
After you create a list of all of the customers, friends, vendors, and
even some prospects that you want to connect with this holiday
season, it’s easy to get the actual mailing done. You have two main
ways of connecting. You can send greetings in the mail or via the
Internet.
Mail Holiday Cards
Get Your Cards
There are a few ways to mail
holiday cards:
⁕⁕ Use Online Software
Tools like Direct Mail Manager’s
Holiday Card Mailer can make
sending cards a breeze. You
can choose a card or upload
your own design, add a nice
message, and have them printed
and mailed for you without ever
touching a thing. You just need
to provide your mailing list,
which you’ve already prepared!
⁕⁕ Print Custom Cards
You could also have custom
cards printed and then mail
them out. It may take a while
for you to get the cards, so
figure that in to your planning.
⁕⁕ Buy Beautiful Cards
You can buy some nice holiday
cards and then personalize
and send them yourself. If
you have a local company
or person who makes cards,
go that route. Sending a card
that stands out will help your
business to stand out too.
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
Sending physical cards in the mail is a great idea (though obviously
not a new one). Your customers are very likely to open your card and
read your message. They may even display your card on their mantle!
Yes, they may be getting a lot of other cards, but if yours stands out in
some way, it will make an impression.
If you are interested in sending holiday cards or a holiday letter, you
will need mailing addresses. Sort your master list based on which
contacts have a complete address. Be sure to filter out anyone who
was on the “nice” list and will already be receiving a gift from you. This
list of contacts with addresses is everyone you can send a card out to.
Go through it to find the people you want to send a card to. If you use
a CRM such a Batchbook, you can tag contacts and then put them in a
separate mailing list. In a spreadsheet, just create a new sheet with all
of your contacts with mailing addresses and go through and delete the
ones you don’t want to send a card to.
If you can, add a personal note in your cards. However, if you are
sending a lot of them, this may not be possible. Don’t let that stop you.
If you are using online software or getting them printed, just be sure
to type up a nice holiday message letting your customers know how
thankful you are for them.
Hand-Addressed or Mailing Labels?
There are studies that show your mail is more likely to be opened if it
is hand-addressed. This may be true, but if you’ve put off sending your
cards, you may not have time to address all of them. Besides, most
people will open up your mail if it looks like it is a holiday card. People
like cards!
Since you already have your list in a digital format, it makes a lot of
sense to just print labels. You can do this right from Excel. Some
CRMs also have a feature to print your list directly to mailing labels.
You can also check out services like Stamps.com or Endicia to print
labels and stamps for your cards.
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Batchbook Social CRM • A Procrastinator’s Guide to Holiday Mailings
Send Seasons eGreetings
Too late to send cards or gifts? You can still
show your customers that you care.
Email a Card
If you have an email list, you can feel comfortable sending a holiday
themed message to it. We are big fans of opt-in email lists (and you
should be too). Don’t spam people, even to wish them holiday joy. It
IS okay to send emails to customers who you have an established
relationship with.
Tips to make your holiday email a success:
Don’t Sell: Treat this email as a holiday card. Use it to let your customers know you are thinking about them and are thankful for them.
Personalize It: Make your email more personal by addressing the
recipient by name. Consider sharing a more personal side of your
business with this email. Include a cute company photo and tell a
story (think of that family update holiday letter that your Aunt sends
every year).
Spice it Up: The holidays are a great time to add a little spice to
your message. Consider adding a video to your holiday email.
Something as simple as your team singing a fun holiday song can
work very well. Or get your smartphone out and record holiday
greetings from your employees. Get tips for quick and easy videos
and holiday email best practices.
Social Messages
You can post holiday messages for your contacts on social networks. Record a holiday message on video or put up a heartfelt
message to customers on your site. Post a link to this message
on your blog and social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Make
your message as creative as you can. That way, people will not only
enjoy it, they will likely share it as well. Make it personal by sending
a direct holiday message to everyone who you have interacted with
recently.
Ring in the New Year
The start of the new year is a great time to connect with folks post
holiday frenzy. You will have more time to enjoy the effort and your
customers will appreciate the extended season. It’s never too late
to show your customers how thankful you are for them. Get your list
organized right now and give your customers something to smile
about this holiday season.
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
eGift Ideas
Here are some creative ideas
from other socially savvy small
businesses.
⁕⁕ Shoeboxed.com asked customers
to send funny santa photos
then created an e-book from
the best submissions.
⁕⁕ Red Rocket Media posted a series
of 12 Tips of Christmas blog
posts with great tips for writing
good (and fun!) web content.
⁕⁕ Canadian retailer Golf Town
sent daily discounts as the
12 Tweets of Christmas.
⁕⁕ Beauty retailer Sephora.
com granted a holiday wish
a day through their Sephora
Claus Twitter campaign.
⁕⁕ Young & Free St. Louis held
an ugly Christmas sweater
facebook contest.
⁕⁕ Here are some fun Facebook
contest ideas that can be
tailored to a holiday theme.
⁕⁕ Follow our holiday Pinterest
board for more ideas!
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Batchbook Social CRM • A Procrastinator’s Guide to Holiday Mailings
Batchbook Social CRM
M
R
Social C
Batchbook is a software company based in Providence, RI, founded
in 2006. Our social CRM software is designed for small businesses
and organizations. Batchbook provides an affordable, cloud-accessible
solution that is easy to adopt as an individual or a team. Its feature set
includes full contact details management, social integration, to-do list,
advanced searching, list building and reporting. Batchbook takes a
unique approach to contact management, encouraging users to maintain smaller lists, make more personal contact, and to build a culture of
openness and teamwork.
Share Your Ideas!
We’ve only scraped the surface.
Connect with us on your favorite
social network and let us know how
you share holiday cheer. When you
do, we’ll send you a gift!
⁕⁕ Twitter
⁕⁕ Facebook
⁕⁕ Google+
⁕⁕ Pinterest
⁕⁕ LinkedIn
⁕⁕ The BatchBlog
Or you can email us at
ideas@batchblue.com.
We’d love to hear from you!
© Batchbook Social CRM - www.batchbook.com
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holiday mailing.
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