It’s that time of year again when businesses start choosing Christmas cards and/or calendars to send to their clients as a thankyou. So is this just standard procedure or is this actually an opportunity to cement the client relationship, or even cross sell? In my opinion it should be treated as both of the latter and because so many businesses put so little thought into it, you’re already at an advantage if you think the same way.

Now, treating it as a marketing tool doesn’t mean coming up with a new format of calendar that doubles as a back scratcher, it means providing your customer/client with something functional, so that when they throw away all the other novelty gifts that they receive, yours is still there.

If you do choose to send a calendars I would suggest keeping it simple, don’t over power it with your company logo, keep it subtle but still in a prominent place so they don’t forget you. Make the rest of the imagery simple too, it’s fair to say that everybody likes looking at images of idyllic landscapes (sandy beaches, clear seawater, lush forests) when they’re sat at their desks, it helps to suppress the monotony of work.

This may seem straightforward but you’ll be surprised at how many companies expend a great deal of time and money without really contemplating the above. When you receive all your seasonal corporate merchandise this year, make a note of what you got and then see how much of it you want to keep in January when you go back to work!