Health & Fitness
Feel-Good Greeting? Or Spam?
Blogger Robin Ferrier takes a look at corporate/organizational holiday greetings.
My inbox has been FLOODED this week with feel-good holiday greetings. They're simple messages for the most part. Some well-designed, attractive message with a simple message: Happy Holidays. Except they're not from friends. They're from companies and organizations. And for some reason -- despite my love of Christmas and my true appreciation of end-of-year newsletters and kid pics from my friends and relatives -- I find myself annoyed by these corporate missives.
I thought maybe it was just me. So I posted to my FB page to get others' opinions. (Yes, a decidedly unscientific poll, I admit.)
The post: Just curious... what do you think of the company/org emails you get wishing you a happy holiday? Are they a welcome addition to your email inbox? Or just spam?
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The responses: 5 answers of SPAM. One commentary without weighing in one way or the other. And one "it depends on the company."
My conclusion: For most companies and organizations, I'd recommend shying away from using the holidays as a touchpoint with your target audience. For many, the December holidays are about family and senitmentality and an organizational greeting -- no matter how "honest" -- often comes off as insincere.
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But I say all this with one -- or two -- important caveat(s)...
People seem to be okay with the holiday greeting if it includes a coupon of some sort. That makes the contact okay. (For many, even more than "okay," it makes it welcome as we empty our wallets.) I also think people will give you a pass if there is something unique/novel about your email. (And no, pretty design is not unique or novel. And truthfully, while some flash mob videos remain entertaining, in general flash mobs are becoming "overdone" as well.)
And this musing brings me back to an important overall rule of marketing: Make sure every interaction and touchpoint you have with a customer serves a purpose. There needs to be a reason you're communicating... and that reason needs to be more than "just because" or "because everyone else is doing it."
