How to Use Business Holiday Cards to Boost Your Brand

The end of the year is a busy time to run a business. Q4 can be a frenzied rush to tick all of those end-of-year boxes, and retailers especially feel the holiday crunch. But making time to send business holiday cards can pay dividends.
However, deciding what messaging and card design to send can be difficult. You need to keep in mind your overall branding while toeing the line between sounding friendly and professional. Greenvelope makes that balance easier with elegant digital holiday cards you can customize with your logo, brand colors, and a personal message, then send to your entire contact list. Greenvelope records when each card is opened and flags any that come back undeliverable, so you can follow up where it matters. We’ve outlined all the ways online holiday greetings can boost your business and what to include on your corporate holiday cards. Our business holiday card templates guide shows twelve of those designs, grouped for clients and employees.

Why You Should Send Business Holiday Cards

Corporate holiday cards are a great way to connect with clients and potential customers in a completely non-salesy way. They provide an opportunity to reach out “from all of us” and show clients the faces behind your operation. Accomplish this by choosing a photo card like this Joyful design or personalizing your greeting with a video. Or you can simply add a personal message from you and your managers. If part of your client list should get paper, our guide to mailing holiday cards to clients in bulk covers the printed run and the timeline.

Say Thanks to Vendors and Employees

The holiday season is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and express gratitude to those who helped your business during that time. Add a personal message for vendors you worked closely with, and thank your whole team for what they carried this year. A business Christmas card is a great way to say thanks and include well wishes for the year ahead. Keep the card itself about appreciation; if you have a promotion or special offer to share, send it as its own mailing so the thank-you stands on its own.

Reinforce Branding

Your corporate holiday card can also reinforce your company’s branding. Use personalization tools to add your logo and slogan while saying happy holidays. It’s an inexpensive tool to round out all of your marketing efforts from the year.

Keep Your Contact List Healthy

A yearly card run has a practical side benefit, too: it keeps your contact list honest. Give the list a quick cleanup before you send, removing addresses you know are out of date, and review the delivery results afterward. Greenvelope shows you which cards were opened and which came back undeliverable, so bounced addresses are easy to spot and correct in the new year. Just read those results for what they are: an open records that the card was opened, nothing more, and an unopened card doesn’t mean the address is bad or the relationship has gone quiet.

When to Send Business Holiday Cards

Early December is a useful default for business holiday cards: it lands your card before inboxes flood and before recipients leave for year-end travel. Adjust it for your recipients and the occasion. Working backward, printed cards should be finalized by mid-November and mailed the last week of November, while digital cards can be scheduled in November for early-December delivery.
If you’d rather get ahead of the rush entirely, a Thanksgiving card that arrives the week before the holiday is a gracious earlier option. And if December is nearly over, a New Year card in the first week of January makes a natural fallback. For more on timing and greeting etiquette, see our corporate holiday card etiquette guide.

How to Choose a Corporate Holiday Card Design

One way to choose a business holiday card is to opt for a design that’s reflective of your trade, like this Happy Howlidays style for anyone who works with animals. Writers and marketers might like a vintage typewriter design, or there’s the Off The Charts card for those in finance.
You don’t have to be so literal, though, if it’s not your preference. Small businesses might want to choose a holiday photo card that displays you and your team members. Whatever you choose, match the design to your company’s personality and the people who’ll open it: a playful card suits a playful brand, while a more traditional client list may call for something classic.

Add Your Logo or Upload the Finished Company Card

To add your logo to a Greenvelope design, use the card editor. If your marketing team has already produced the whole card, upload it as your design instead.
To add a logo or another small image to a design:

1. Click the Design step, then the Edit Card section.
2. Click Add Image or Video and place your logo on the card.

To upload finished artwork:

1. Click the Design step, then the Select Design section.
2. Click Add Your Own, choose the card size, and upload the artwork as a JPG/JPEG, PNG, or PDF, sized to the dimensions in the Upload Your Own Design guide.

Text and logos embedded in uploaded artwork stay flattened into the image, so they don’t become separate editable elements; finalize copy and colors in your design file before uploading. Either way, your card is delivered in Greenvelope’s digital envelope and works with the supported sending tools. Before the client mailing, send a test to an internal contact and check readability on a phone, the names, the year, the logo, the envelope, and the accompanying message.
Branding and name personalization are different jobs. The base artwork is shared across your list, while supported fields personalize the accompanying message or envelope. When you insert a field, enter fallback wording to cover any contact missing that information; suitable fallback text doesn’t fill in automatically. The steps are in the Insert Personalization guide. Changing the card itself for one client is a separate per-recipient option. The full workflow is in our guide to how to personalize business holiday cards at scale, and list import and delivery are covered in how to send holiday cards online.

Should You Choose a Religious Card?

Let the recipient guide the design, just as with the wording. For a mixed or unfamiliar list, lean toward imagery and greetings that read warmly across backgrounds. When you know your recipients celebrate a particular holiday, a card made for that holiday is entirely appropriate, and often the more personal choice. Corporate holiday cards are a way to reach out on a personal level, after all, and they let customers, vendors, and employees get to know who you are.
For recipients you know celebrate Hanukkah, this Hanukkah card is a thoughtful choice, honoring the holiday with a menorah and warm wishes for love and light.
The same recipient-focused principle applies to every holiday-specific design, whether a Christmas card or a devotional “Glory to God” one: send it to recipients you know celebrate that holiday or share that faith. When in doubt about a broad list, anchor the card in the season and the new year.

How to Craft Your Card’s Messaging

Try not to get stuck writing the messaging for your corporate Christmas card or holiday greeting. Overall, it should be short, sweet, and simple. Don’t overwhelm customers with a wall of text. You’ll want your messaging to reflect your branding. Think about how you want your company to be perceived, whether fun and lighthearted or sophisticated and traditional. Regardless of your style, every business holiday card needs three things:

• Warm holiday wishes
• Sincere gratitude
• A recognizable sign-off from your company or team

A logo and slogan are optional branding touches; add them where they fit the design without crowding the greeting.

What Your Holiday Business Card Should Say

Regardless of your branding style, a company holiday card should send warm wishes in a way that fits the recipient. For a mixed or unfamiliar list, broadly inclusive wording like “Season’s Greetings” or “warm wishes for the new year” includes everyone. When you know a recipient celebrates a particular holiday, a specific greeting like “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah” is a thoughtful, personal touch.
Your card should also express gratitude. Use your messaging as a way to thank customers and vendors for their support. Then keep it personal by filling in each person’s name on your mailing list, using the name and form of address you already use with them, whether that’s “Dear Maria” or “Dear Dr. Alvarez.” Taking the time to fill in the names on your mailing list will help separate your card from everyday marketing.
On that note, keep the card free of sales pitches. If you have a special offer or promotion to share, send it separately; an appreciation card does its job best when it asks for nothing.

10 Card Messaging Ideas to Inspire You

If you still feel stuck on the wording of your holiday greeting card, consider these ideas as adaptable starting points. Replace the bracketed placeholders, and where an example is just the greeting line, add your thank-you and a recognizable company or team sign-off.

• Holiday wishes from all of us at [company name].
• Wishing you peace and joy this season.
• Best wishes from your friends at [company name].
• Merry everything to our valued customers.
• It’s the most wonderful time of year to say thank you.
• [Company name] sends good tidings for a season of happiness and cheer.
• Thank you for being part of our [current year]. Best wishes from [company name].
• To our team: thank you for everything you brought to [current year]. Wishing you a happy holiday season.
• To our vendors and partners: thank you for another year of working together. Happy holidays from all of us at [company name].
• Happy holidays, and thank you for your continued trust in [company name].

Non-Denominational Holiday Card Wording for Business

When your list spans faiths and backgrounds, as many business lists do, non-denominational wording includes everyone without watering anything down. Anchor the message in the season or the new year rather than a specific holiday:

• As the year winds down, we’re grateful for you. Wishing you a joyful season and a strong start to [coming year].
• May the season bring you rest, and may the new year bring you everything you’re working toward.
• Cheers to the season, and cheers to you. Thank you for a wonderful year.

Holiday Thank You Card Wording for Clients

A client thank-you card works when the gratitude is specific and the selling is absent. Name the relationship, not the transaction:

• Working with you was a highlight of our year. Thank you for your trust, and happy holidays from the whole [company name] team.
• Clients like you are the reason we love what we do. Wishing you a warm holiday season and a prosperous new year.
• Before the year closes, we wanted to say it plainly: thank you. Here’s to the season, and to continuing our work together in [coming year].

Nonprofit Holiday Card Wording to Donors

Donor cards carry one extra responsibility: connecting the thanks to the impact. December appeals are everywhere, which is exactly why a card with no ask at all stands out; save the appeal for its own send, and let this one be pure gratitude. Whatever numbers or outcomes you cite, use real figures your organization can stand behind:

• Because of you, [number] families found support this year. From all of us at [organization name], thank you, and happy holidays.
• Your generosity became [specific impact] this year. We hope your season is as bright as the one you helped create.
• Season’s greetings from [organization name]. Your support made this year’s work possible, and we are grateful beyond measure.

Good Cheer Meets Good Business

It’s an exciting, if admittedly hectic, time of year. Carve out the time to send business holiday cards amidst the shuffle; they’re an affordable, effective way to thank the people your business depends on. Choose a design, customize it with your branding, and send it to your full contact list in an animated envelope, with card opens and undeliverable addresses recorded along the way. If you want the send itself laid out step by step, see our guide to how to send holiday cards online. Then explore our business holiday card collection to find a design that fits your brand.