How do I send handwritten holiday cards to a client list?
No code needed
Build it as a campaign, not an automation, and schedule it by the end of November. Work backwards from the arrive-by date you want: a large run occupies several days on the machines, and USPS in December is the least predictable it is all year. The wizard tells you the posting date; give it a week more than you think you need.
On this page
#A December timeline that works
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Early November | Clean the list. Fill in missing addresses. Import and fix problems. |
| Mid November | Buy credits for the whole run in one purchase. Finalise the design. |
| Mid-to-late November | Build the campaign and order a physical proof from the review step. A real card in your hand a week before the run is the only proof that counts. |
| By the end of November | Schedule the campaign with an arrive-by date around 15–18 December. |
| 1 December onwards | Nothing. It is booked. |
Clean the list first
Import into Contacts rather than straight into the campaign, so the fixes you make survive to next year. Work the Fix problems step until the need attention count is zero.
Add anyone who has asked not to receive post to the do-not-mail list. It survives re-imports, which a deleted contact does not.
You’ll know it worked when Contacts shows the number of people you expect, and 0 rows needing attention.
Keep a clean export
A campaign cannot point at a saved contact list yet, so you upload the people each time. Keep the cleaned spreadsheet somewhere you will find it next November — that file, not the campaign, is what you reuse.
Buy the credits in one purchase
The rate is applied to the quantity on that one purchase. Buying 1,000 in one go is $3.50 a card; buying 250 four times is $4.89 a card, which is $1,390 more for the same cards.
Build the campaign
New campaign → Holiday cards, and paste or upload the cleaned list on step 2.
Keep the message short. A holiday card that runs to the bottom of the panel reads as a newsletter.
A holiday message that fits Wishing you and everyone at {{company}} a restful holiday, {{first_name}}. Thank you for a good year. Here's to the next one. {{sender_name}}Order a physical proof
On the review step, ask for a physical proof. One real card, actually written and posted to you. Before four thousand cards this is obviously worth the wait.
You’ll know it worked when A card lands on your desk and the artwork, the handwriting and the message all look right.
Schedule it with room to spare
Give an arrive-by date in the middle of December rather than the last possible week. The wizard tells you the posting date; if that date is uncomfortably close to the holidays, move the arrive-by date earlier rather than hoping.
You’ll know it worked when The confirm step states the production start date, the posting date and the cancellation deadline. Diary the cancellation deadline.
#Common questions
- How late can I book a holiday run?
- There is no hard cut-off in the product — the schedule step simply stops offering dates it cannot hit, and it accounts for how many days your run takes on the machines. In practice, book by the end of November.
- Can I reuse last year's design?
- Yes. Designs are saved and reusable, which is the point of naming them after the occasion and the year. Duplicate the old one, change the artwork, keep the inside layout.
- What if a few addresses are wrong?
- Cards that cannot be addressed land as Held rather than being written, and are not charged. You will see them on Sent cards under Needs you.
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