blogo-xmas.jpgI’ve been receiving more holiday e-cards than usual this year, no doubt due primarily to the economy, but I’m happy trees are being saved, regardless of the reason.

Two cards I’ve received really stand out. One is a 100% direct, awesome viral marketing hit. So great, in fact, that this is the second year it’s run, and it won some awards last year. The other is quite clever, too, but it has a fundamental miss. Here’s a few tips on sending out the best business holiday cards at your company!

First, if you haven’t seen Enlighten’s Holiday Party Excuse Generator, you really should check it out:
http://holiday.enlighten.com/
It is very topical, clever, viral and, best of all, links back to the agency’s site, so you can learn more about them.

Example #2, sent out by Torque, based in Chicago, is also quite timely and clever. It has tons of viral potential, but because the card lives on Constant Contact instead of on a web page of its own, it’s not possible to share a link to the card. So I can’t link to it here, nor on facebook, etc. The only way to share it with people is to forward the actual card to them at a specific email address through Constant Contact.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Constant Contact. But when you spend the time and effort to do something this clever, ensure that it lives on your website somehow, so that people can drive people to your website to see it.

In the spirit of fairness, I’m attaching a jpeg I made of the Torque card here: Blago Xmas

Happy holidays!