What Can a Hallmark Card Do for Your Business? Here are 10 Inspiring Examples.

Hallmark cards get opened, read, understood and acted on better than other marketing mail. 

Business leaders turn to Hallmark Business Connections when they want to connect with their customers and employees in a personal way. You might be surprised and even inspired to hear about the ways a Hallmark card has helped achieve results for our clients. 

Here are 10 examples of how we're helping companies grow - one Hallmark card at a time. Because stronger, more meaningful connections with customers and employees is always good business and we have the stats to prove it. 

1. Improve Return on Dollars Spent on Marketing & Advertising 

A financial services company gets 3 times more responses to a Hallmark card than #10 envelope business mail.    

What is it that makes a customer respond so favorably to a message sent in a Hallmark card versus more traditional business marketing mail?

• It's the colorful, familiar envelope and gold seal that promise a creative expression from someone who cares.

• It's the anticipation of receiving a personal note. Who is it from? What's this about?

• It's the way that someone took the time to say something in a personal way.

Businesses that use a card from Hallmark Business Connections to help introduce themselves to potential new customers see a better response to acquisition offers versus the same tactic in another mail format. 

2. Create Long Term, Loyal Relationships with Your Customers 

A national retail chain gained 10 percentage points in customer retention rates when Hallmark cards were sent to customers consistently over a 5-year timeframe. 

Hallmark Business Connections clients use Hallmark cards for retention in 2 ways:

1. They mention an offer or invitation in the personal message they write in the card, or they create a smaller piece of paper to insert into the card that features a coupon, educational information or an introduction to a new product or service.

2. They do not include an offer in the Hallmark card and instead consider it a long-term investment, a personal touchpoint to let the customer know they are there and that they appreciate them.

Bringing your product or service top of mind in a Hallmark card keeps customers from considering a switch to competitors and prompts them to think positively about your business. 

3. Improve Response to Mailed Offers 

A specialty retailer gets 22% better performance with Hallmark cards over their previous best-performing mail format.

The open rate for a Hallmark cad is hard to beat. That alone is a pretty big factor in how differently a Hallmark card performs compared to other advertising mail. 

But it's more than just getting opened. 

The design and editorial expression of how our artists help you say hello, happy birthday, thank you or happy holidays - along with your handwritten note inside the card - all come together to make an emotional connection. A connection that's deeper than seeing just words typed in paragraphs on a screen or on a piece of white paper. A Hallmark card makes a different impression that inspires a different response. It's equally art and science. 

Unlike most other marketing mail, a Hallmark card is often kept.  It's saved to refer to again, and sometimes even proudly displayed for others to enjoy. 

If you include a direct call to action, you'll likely see a great response. And we're not just talking about retail offers, although we have many great client examples of success there.  But we also have health insurance clients who use Hallmark cards to encourage members to get wellness checks and incentivize important office visits.

4. Gain Powerful Facebook & Twitter Praise 

Businesses who send customers Hallmark cards receive valuable, positive posts on social media. 

As much as we want our social media channels to spark positive engagement from followers, they're often used to lodge public complaints. Getting a customer to go online and write a positive review or favorable social media post about your product or business is like pure gold. It's the best marketing tool that money can't buy - customer satisfaction turning into word-of-mouth referrals. 

We humbly admit that many of our clients find these gems of social advocacy posted by customers in response to receiving Hallmark cards. As simple as it sounds, people really do like to know someone cared enough to send them a card - let alone a Hallmark card. 

5. Improve Customer Satisfaction  

A public service company reports 25% higher customer satisfaction with Hallmark card recipients. 

For many businesses, like public utility providers, customers get the opportunity to rate the service in a way that directly impacts revenue potential. For those businesses and just about every other company, building customer loyalty using your front-line associates just makes sense. These associates have unique opportunities to make 1-to-1 personal connections in real-time that can directly impact your customer's experience long term. 

Sending customer appreciation cards from Hallmark Business Connections provides a way to extend personal interactions, or to say thank you to a broad group of loyal customers. Having associates send personal cards to customers is a socially acceptable way to say things like, "Congrats on your new home" or "I hope things get better soon." 

6. Empower Employees with Empathy  

For one of our clients who enables their customer service representatives to send Hallmark cards to customers, 94% of their employees say sending Hallmark card to customers gives them a feeling of personal accomplishment. 

Customer service representatives always have a desire to do more to help customers who might be struggling with a personal issue, are having a billing or service problem or are celebrating a happy event. Front-line retail associates also encounter these irreplaceable chances to encourage, celebrate and appreciate customers. We have many clients who use Hallmark cards in these moments to go beyond customer service to customer care. 

Sending and receiving personalized Hallmark cards creates a sincere and emotional connection that is appreciated. So much so that our clients find it's a wonderful way to engage employees, often resulting in employee satisfaction increases in pace wtih customer satisfaction scores. 

7. Increase Sales Volume  

A bank creates a 32% increase in revenue by sending Hallmark cards to customers. 

To measure the impact of Hallmark cards, our clients often hold out what they call a "control group", a set of customers they do NOT mail a Hallmark card to, to see if there are different responses from those who do versus do not receive the card. That's how the banking client referenced above measured the impact of Hallmark cards. 

We love when our Hallmark cards are tested against other direct mail marketing and controls because we see the power of an emotional connection pay off every time. Admittedly, it's with varying degrees. But, on average, a Hallmark card beats anything we're compared to and often far exceeds expectations. 

8. Use Happy Mail to Your Advantage 

74% of consumers would like to receive more greeting card mail from businesses, and of those 72% prefer a Hallmark card to a non-Hallmark card. ¹

98% of people check their mail every day (except Sunday, of course). It's kind of a sad feeling when you return with nothing or just "junk mail". A Hallmark card is not sorted into that pile. When someone receives a Hallmark card, they feel happy and anticipate the message, and therefore it ALWAYS gets opened. 

And yes, it does make a difference that it's a Hallmark card. 

What makes Hallmark such a beloved brand? Consumers have come to trust Hallmark for creating the very best - from greeting cards to holiday ornaments, wrapping paper, even family-friendly TV movies. They know that quality and craftsmanship are Hallmark's DNA and, while creativity is subjective, year over year their choice to purchase more Hallmark cards is the greeting card choice to send to those they love, and that same credit goes to your business when they receive a Hallmark card. 

Businesses often hear, "You didn't just send me junk mail, you sent me a Hallmark card."

9. Reach Those Customers That Email Cannot 

When our clients do the math, removing unopened and undeliverable email, they find Hallmark cards engage 91% of their audience versus 1% with email. 

Many of our clients have 100% of physical mailing addresses for their customers but only 40% of their email addresses. And for those who have an email address, they may end up actually reaching only 1% of them because of spam filters and declining email open rates from what is widely recognized as email fatigue. 

To make sure they reach each and every customer, and to do so in a way that stands out at key times of the year, many businesses send a Hallmark card instead of or in addition to email.  

10. Re-engage Lapsed Customers 

An office supply store that uses Hallmark cards sees a 10% lift from lapsed customers. 

Getting new customers costs more than keeping those you have. But sometimes customers go a long time in between purchases or interactions with your business. Lots of our clients use Hallmark cards to remind lapsed customers what they once loved and present them with a special offer to win them back. 

Sometimes customers just want a business to acknowledge them in a different way. To surprise them, delight them. Quite simply, just to make them smile. Feelings motivate behaviors. So making your customers feel good is naturally a positive motivator. 

Businesses have been using Hallmark cards for more than 25 years to build and nurture relationships with their customers, clients, vendors and employees. 

Turn to Hallmark Business Connections to help you find new ways to build and nurture the relationships that matter most to your business. From our business greeting cards for customers and employees to a customized Hallmark card direct mail solution, we bet you will be glad you cared enough to send the very best. 

All facts and figures are attributed to Hallmark Business Connections client-reported results unless otherwise noted.

References

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   HBC Consumer Direct Marketing Communications Study