Category Archives: Christmas

11 Funny and Memorable Ideas for Photo Christmas Cards

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Christmas is a special time of year that many people look forward to with great anticipation. It is when friends and family come together, share each other’s company, and exchange presents in an atmosphere of good cheer.
This atmosphere makes it possible for families to have fun with the holiday, including doing funny things with pictures on Christmas cards. Why settle for buying pre-printed, boring Christmas cards from your nearest Clinton’s or Card Factory?
When you send a Christmas card during the holiday season, you want it to be memorable – and funny if possible. Many stationers, such as 123Print, offer you the opportunity to design your own photographic Christmas cards and upload your pictures as you go. If you’re stuck for ideas for photo Christmas cards, check out the following ideas!

1. Turn into Father Christmas

Memorability is one of the best ways to create a compelling image for your Christmas card. A theme that will make your picture stand out from others is a great place to start. For instance, Christmas cards with images of Santa Claus are a dime a dozen at this time of year. You can create a funny card by replacing Santa with someone else.
A picture of yourself or your children dressed up in the full regalia of St. Nick makes for an excellent shot, especially if it is taken in a non-traditional setting. Think about doing your picture at the gym or the beach, for instance.
Alternatively, create a funny family scene where your kids walk in on you dressed up as Father Christmas, slipping presents underneath the tree! Or re-enact the classic song “I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus” with your partner and kids.

2. Show Off for the Camera

Many families have a group of funny pictures that get passed around on an annual basis. Usually, these are taken by parents who ask their kids to do something ridiculous for the camera. If you have any of these pictures, find a way to use them for your Christmas card. Or, ask your kids to show-off for the camera and pull as many funny faces as they can!
You could also incorporate some role-play into the photos. For example, get everyone to act as if they’re having a huge argument – wagging their fingers at each other or pretending to his each other. Bonus points if the room is wrecked, with tinsel and baubles everywhere!

3. Overlay Digital Images onto Prints of Other Images

It is possible to take a picture of yourself or your family members and then superimpose that image onto a print of another photo.
This will allow you to create an incredible picture that showcases who you are as individuals, what you care about, and what makes the people in your life so special. The possibilities are endless:

1) Take a picture of your family members, then put them into a scene that is relevant to your holiday celebration. For example, dress everyone up in winter gear and superimpose yourselves onto an ice rink or into a festive snow-covered wood.
2) Add images to your Christmas cards in which Santa Claus visits other locations that have nothing to do with the North Pole and his usual entourage.

For a religious theme, you could even get everybody to dress up as characters from the Nativity, and superimpose your photo onto a background of a stable, complete with a manger! Or, dress up as Jesus and his disciples and digitally seat yourselves at the Last Supper.

4. Let Your Children Be the Photographers

If you’re running out of ideas yourself, you should consider giving your kids some digital cameras and letting them play photographer. You’ll be amazed what goes on in the minds of children! They may come up with some inventive ideas that you’d never have thought of. And sometimes, the photos taken by accident (such as hilarious close-up selfies) make the funniest shots of all.

Sure, they might not necessarily look like traditional Christmas card photos. But you can still add a festive touch by choosing a photo upload card design with a Christmas-themed background, such as this Santa Knows Best design.

5. Add a Homemade Touch to Your Card

Digital images can serve as a solid foundation for creating funny and memorable Christmas cards. However, you can give a homemade touch to your pictures by hand writing a Christmas greeting on the card with an old-fashioned pen and ink.

Use glittery or metallic ink, or even paint pens, to add an extra special feel. A personal greeting will add more dimension than simply printing out a pre-written message or sending out one of those mass-produced cards that everyone else is using. It will also be more fun for everyone to see.
You could also add textured or tactile elements to the front of the card. Scrounge some craft supplies and get the kids involved gluing colourful pom-poms, sequins and glitter all around the edge of the photograph.

6. Horrible Christmas Jumpers

Ugly Christmas jumpers, once condemned for their grotesquely garish appearance, are all the rage at the moment – they began to regain popularity after the classic Christmas jumper scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Christmas jumpers often take the form of knitted designs featuring bright fair isle patterns, or festive creatures and characters (such as Father Christmas and Rudolph), along with tactile bobbles. Some Christmas jumpers even have built-in lights or sound makers for a truly gaudy festive display!

Why not have a day out shopping with your family to try and find the ugliest, most over-the-top Christmas jumpers, and then take a photo in them for your Christmas card. Bonus points if the whole family has a look of horror and disgust on their faces for being forced to wear them.

7. Yearbook-Style Photographs with Quotes

If you’ve got a fairly plan wall in an area of good natural light in your home, why not set up individual headshots of your family to look like yearbook photographs? The further away from high-school age your family members are, the funnier this will be.
Arrange these headshots on your photo upload Christmas card, and add funny or festive quotes underneath that represent each person, just as you would find in a real high school yearbook. This will help you show off your personality, and make your recipients laugh.
You could even write underneath the photos by hand, rather than typing it out, for an added personal touch.

8. Photograph Your Pets in Christmas Attire

Dressing up your family pets as Santa, Rudolph, a snowman, or in other Christmas-themed outfits will make for a memorable and hilarious festive picture. There are even ugly pet Christmas jumpers on the market that you can dress Fluffy up in to create the ultimate Christmas look.

And don’t think that this is limited to those of you with cats and dogs! Get creative with some felt and cotton wool and fashion a tiny Christmas hat for your rabbit, guinea pig, or even your hamster. And if there are no animals to speak of, why not tie Christmas scarves around your houseplants?

9. Stay Out of the Picture

For an extremely memorable photographic Christmas card, why not stay out of the picture altogether, and instead take a photograph of your empty home? Show of all of your Christmas decorations and your brightly-lit tree, for example. Or, set up a Christmas disaster scene by trashing your living room and making it look as though your pets did it.
You could even create footprints by dipping the soles of some winter boots in flour, to make it look like Father Christmas has walked across your living room carpet, trailing snow behind him. Add a shot of the half-eaten carrot and mince pie in the foreground for a nostalgic photo, harking back to the times when we all believed in Santa.

10. Incorporate Your Family’s Holiday Traditions

Every family has their own idea of the perfect Christmas tradition. Why not take some photos of your family taking part in your favourite festive activity, and use this as the basis for your Christmas cards?
For example, some families have a tradition of visiting Disney at Christmas, meaning a Disney themed Christmas Card would be perfect. Other families enjoy going ice-skating or visiting a local zoo during the holidays, so using images of your family members on the rink or in front of cages at the zoo would make for an excellent picture.
You could even hire a photographer for a few hours, and keep the shots of the day in a keepsake photo album as well as using them for your cards.

11. Photograph Your Christmas Preparations

There’s so much to do in the lead up to Christmas! So, why not photograph your family taking part in the Christmas preparations? For example:

1) Trimming the Christmas tree
2) Baking mince pies or Christmas cookies
3) Decorating your house or apartment with fake snow, Christmas ornaments and festive garlands
4) Making the Christmas wreath to hang on your front door
5) Lighting an advent candle or opening the advent calendar
6) Wrapping Christmas presents

You could even go “meta” and photograph your family signing Christmas cards! (Though you’ll have to use prop cards for the shot, as your actual cards won’t arrive until you’ve taken the picture…)

Where Can I Order Photo Christmas Cards?

Photographic Christmas cards are a fun way to share what’s going on in your family’s lives, spread some cheer and humour, and show off your unique perspective on the holiday season.
At 123Print, we have a great selection of photo upload Christmas cards that you can personalise with your own images. Examples include your Christmas Polaroid, Jolly Holly, and Tree Amend card designs, among many others.

Visit our site to find the perfect Christmas card design for you and your family. All of our designs are fully customisable, so you can edit the text, wording, font and colour scheme as well as adding your own photographs with the click of a button. And with our speedy 48-hour dispatch time, you won’t have to wait long before you’re spreading the joy with your family and friends!

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How to Use Promotional Products in Your Christmas Marketing

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With the UK economy reeling from the double whammy of Brexit and the Covid-19 global pandemic, businesses need to make full use of seasonal marketing opportunities.
Christmas is the perfect example. For every £1 spent on Christmas advertising, the UK economy benefits by £6, which is an enormous boost.

The question is: how do you take advantage of the Christmas season in a cost-effective way that will benefit your business?

Christmas promotional products have always been a favourite way of engaging with customers—after all, who doesn’t enjoy receiving gifts at Christmas! Read on to discover how, when and why you should use promotional products as a part of your Christmas marketing strategy.

How to Use Christmas Promotional Products

The important thing about using Christmas promotional products in your marketing is to set a SMART goal. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals ensure you achieve your aim within a set time—in this case, Christmas.

For instance, is your goal trying to sell something to your customer, or use Christmas good cheer to remind them about your company? Perhaps you simply want to thank them for being your customer? Whatever your goal is, there is a Christmas promotional product and strategy that’ll help you achieve it.

In the past, Christmas was always the major winter marketing opportunity, but now there are many Internet ‘Cyber’ type end-of-year events vying for the consumer’s eyes and wallets. The key factor for ‘Cyber’ events is that their sales offers have an expiration date. If you intend to include sales offers in your Christmas promotional product marketing, make sure you do the same. For example, you might offer a 10% discount if you buy before the end of Christmas – this will create excitement and drive sales.

Is Marketing using Christmas Promotional Products Effective?

These days a lot of companies rely solely on email marketing to get their message across. This is a fine marketing strategy; however, customers know the Christmas-themed email in their inbox is likely to have gone to hundreds or even thousands of others. They’re less likely to take it seriously, or even to read it.

However, a signed Christmas postcard or other promotional gift is prepared and sent by a real human being – not from an email list stored somewhere in the ‘cloud’. It is the personal touch that gets you noticed, and makes your business stand out from the rest.
Also, using Christmas promotional marketing isn’t only about selling to your customer. Sending quality promotional gifts to your own employees is a powerful way of boosting morale and engendering company loyalty.

What Kind of Christmas Promotional Products Can I Use?

There are many items you can choose from to promote your company at Christmas time. However, some of the most popular Christmas promotional products are postcards, vinyl fridge magnets, personalised mugs, and (of course) Christmas cards. Let’s discuss each one in more detail now.

How to Use Postcards for Christmas Marketing

Let’s deal with something right off the bat—don’t be the grinch! If you send promotional postcards to your clients at Christmas, use 1st class stamps. It is a small thing that won’t cost you much extra cash, but people will notice and appreciate it.

Postcards are a great way to promote your business at Christmas, and there are many imaginative ways to use them in marketing. Upload your own Christmas-themed artwork to catch your clients’ eye – you could even commission a custom drawing from talented freelancers, incorporating your business’s logo.

Here’s how to use Christmas postcards:

1. Say Thanks: Christmas is a great opportunity to show gratitude to your clients and increase customer loyalty by emphasising how important their business is to you.

2. Update Information: Perhaps you’ve lost touch with your customer, they’re not answering your calls, or your emails are bouncing. A Christmas postcard can be a friendly way of asking them to update their details—don’t forget to add a special offer as an incentive!

3. Service Reminder: Large companies have many suppliers, and they won’t always remember your company name or what you do. A promotional postcard with a tempting sales offer can be great for reminding them of who you are.

Companies often start new projects after Christmas, and putting your company’s name fresh in your customers’ minds with a postcard helps you gain an advantage over the competition.

How to Use Vinyl Fridge Magnets for Christmas Marketing

The custom fridge magnet is another powerful promotional gift. They may be printed in any colour or design, and come in various sizes. You can even customise your vinyl magnets with your business’s branding, logo, and contact details.

Here are some examples of how vinyl magnets may be used:

1. Christmas Promotion: For Christmas promotions, the company’s unique image may be updated with a splash of Christmas colour and an appropriate seasonal message.

2. Magnetic Business Card: Magnets make an eye-catching and unique form of business card that may be printed in many colours and any shape or size. Being more substantial than a normal business card—and magnetic!—they are harder to lose.

3. Custom Sales Opportunity: Include a special deal or discount printed on the magnet itself to encourage your customers to do their Christmas shopping with you.

The big advantage of magnets, of course, is that your customers will almost certainly stick them to their fridge – meaning they’ll be reminded of your business every time they go to fetch milk for their cup of tea.

How to Use Personalised Mugs for Christmas Marketing

Personalised mugs are a good value and highly functional way of promoting your business. Consider the design and message carefully, as this item could be part of your customer’s everyday routine.

Some things to consider:

1. Quality: Ensure you order a quality product and not a mug whose handle falls off after two washes. As personalised mugs might be used every day, if it looks cheap or breaks easily, it sends a message about the quality of your company or service.

2. Make It Look Attractive: Take some time to think about your design. Your mug has to stand out and be nice to look at. Otherwise, the customer won’t be tempted to use it for their everyday cup of tea – what a missed opportunity!

3. Include a Call to Action: of course, upload your company’s logo and contact details to the design. But to make your mugs effective at drawing in customers, include a call to action, such as “visit our website today”.

4. Postage: Mugs are, of course, bulky and slightly pricey to send – so you can’t really post them to your entire mailing list. However, consider including them as free gifts with an order, or offer them as prizes at your company Christmas raffle.

If you get the above right, then the promotional mug is perhaps the most powerful gift of all. This is because ceramic mugs aren’t designed to single-use – they might remain in your client’s home for many years.

How to Use Cards for Christmas Marketing

Christmas cards are probably the most common form of Christmas greeting. However, in this day and age, someone might wonder why they send their customer a paper Christmas card. Wouldn’t an emailed greeting do just as well?

The fact is that emails are easily missed (and dismissed). Taking the time to print, sign, and post a physical card will show your customers that you truly value them. They can also display it on their desk, or somewhere around the office where colleagues would have time to read it – further spreading awareness of your business!

1. Standard or Unique Message: Depending on how many customers you’ll be sending cards to, have a standard Christmas greeting and then write a personal greeting at the bottom. Or if it’s a customer of particular value, you can have something more meaningful written or specific to the customer. This will add a personal touch that your clients will love.

2. Consider the Tone: Depending on how well you know the customer, consider how familiar to be in the greeting. For a customer that you don’t know very well Mr/Ms/Mrs might be the appropriate greeting, or use their first name if it’s someone you’ve known for a while.

3. Include Your Branding: Choose a customisable Christmas card that will allow you to plug in your business’s name and contact details. For a completely custom card, choose a photo upload design where you can add your business’s logo directly to the front!

Are you ready to start your Christmas marketing campaign? Head to 123Print, where we offer professionally printed, fully customisable business stationery and promotional products. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can trust us to deliver year after year.

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The Benefits of Sending Personalised Christmas Cards in 2021

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The tradition of sending Christmas cards to friends, family, employees, co-workers and customers is a long-established one. Christmas cards help spread joy and cheer during the season of goodwill; they’re perfect for sending well wishes to those you care about, especially after a tough year.

But did you know that you don’t have to shop for generic Christmas cards at a busy card shop or supermarket? You can order Christmas cards online, and have them delivered straight to your door – and not only that, but they’re fully customisable.
You can edit the text inside, or upload your own image (such as your company logo, or a family photo) to send a completely bespoke greeting to anyone you want to wish well this year. Write a funny Christmas joke, a classic greeting, or a completely personalised message to your recipients – the choice is up to you.

In this guide, we’ll explain how you can personalise your own Christmas cards, and how this simple gesture could benefit your small business. We’ll also describe the benefits of sharing bespoke cards with your friends and family for personal use.

Why Should I Send Personalised Christmas Cards This Year?

Now that you know what personalised Christmas cards are and the various ways you can customise them, why should you consider ordering them? Here are four great ways in which sending out corporate Christmas cards can really boost your business.
And if you don’t have a business, but are simply wanting to send custom Christmas cards to friends and family, skip ahead – we’ll explain why personalised cards are great for personal use, too, and where you can get them from.

1. Spread Brand Awareness and Recognition

A key marketing strategy that all businesses need to take seriously is building up brand recognition. By sending out Christmas cards to your clients and customers, you’re not aiming to get them to buy from you (immediately, at least). Rather, you’re simply keeping your company fresh in their minds. That way, you’ll pop into their head when they’re in need of whatever you sell.

This is especially important at the moment, when many businesses have been closed for a long time. You need to remind your past consumers that you exist, and you’re open!
Sending out Christmas cards brandishing your company’s logo is also a great way to spread the word to potential new customers. If you’re lucky, your recipient will display their card on their mantle or windowsill, and anyone who visits their home will see it.

2. Encourage Customer Loyalty

Marketing studies have shown time and time again that consumers are more likely to buy products or services from a company that has given them a gift or incentive. Whether that’s a promotional product like a mug, or something as simple as a Christmas card, it will cause them to think favourably about your company. Though it might not prompt them to shop with you straight away, they’ll be more likely to choose you over a competitor in the future.
Giving a gift or card to a client (or potential client in your target market) will create a ‘psychological debt’ – whether they realise it or not, they’ll feel on some level as though they owe you their business. Upload your company’s logo to the card and, if possible, sign it by hand – your recipients will appreciate the personal touch.

3. Show Clients that You Care

Christmas is the perfect time to show your clients and customers that you care about them and value them, and this year it’s more important than ever. The world has been through a terrific upheaval lately, and everyone has been affected by it in one way or another – whether it’s their health, work, mental wellbeing or social life (or any combination thereof).
Custom Christmas cards will demonstrate to your clients that you care enough about them to spend time, money and effort on them. When they’re looking for the services or products that you provide, they’ll remember that, and come to you.

4. Reveal the Human Side of Your Business

Consumers tend to think of companies, no matter how small or large, as just a name and logo. Simply put, they forget that there are real humans running the business. Sending out personalised Christmas cards can remind people that you’re not a company – you’re a person running a company. It’ll make your target audience more likely to support you if they see you as a human rather than a faceless entity.

The best way to get this message across is to handwrite a personal message to each of your clients. By all means, personalise the card with your business’s logo, but handwrite the greeting if you can. Try to include a private joke or mention something personal about each recipient, so they know you see them as a person, too (not just a name on a list).

Can You Get Custom Christmas Cards for Personal Use?

Personalised Christmas cards aren’t just for corporate use. If you’re looking for a special way to send festive greetings to your friends and family this year, customised Christmas cards are the perfect choice. There’s no better way of saying “Merry Christmas” in 2021.
Sending unique, custom cards to your loved ones is a brilliant way to add a personal touch to this year’s festivities – especially as we’ve all had a tough time recently. You can use personalised Christmas greetings cards to stay connected to the people that matter most to you, let them know you’re thinking of them and can’t wait to see them again soon. You’ll also help spread Christmas spirit and keep festive tradition alive!

Why not choose a photo upload Christmas card, such as this Christmas Frame design, to send a snapshot of your family on the front of your cards this year? If you’re the artistic type, you could even create your own piece of artwork and upload it to the front of your design.
Choose from a variety of greetings, or write your own personalised message on the inside of the card for a truly personal touch. You can also customise the font and colour to your liking.

Where Can I Buy Personalised Christmas Cards In the UK?

Whether you’re looking for customisable Christmas cards for personal use, or you need corporate Christmas cards to send to your business’s clients and employees, look no further than 123Print. We offer a fantastic range of designs for you to choose from and personalise according to your own tastes.

Select from hundreds of different Christmas cards, including funny Christmas cards, photographic designs, traditional and contemporary art. You’re sure to find a design that perfectly suits your needs. The process of customising your cards couldn’t be simpler with our easy editor, and we’ll show you a full preview of your design to approve before we print it.

At 123Print, we print our Christmas cards on the highest quality 330 gsm cardstock, and offer 2 day shipping with all orders. And with our 100% satisfaction guarantee, if you’re not completely happy with the quality of your Christmas cards, you can send them back to us for a full refund or exchange. Why wait? Visit 123Print today and start personalising!

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Don’t be left out in the cold: 4 Christmas Marketing Ideas for small businesses

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As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer it can only mean one thing; Christmas is just around the corner. As we move into the colder nights and later dawns our potential customer base starts to grow as more people venture onto the internet or down the high-street trying to find the gifts their families and friends will love. For small businesses Christmas can be a make or break period; pull in the right customers and you can grow and prosper into the New Year; but, if we have a poor Christmas it could all go up in smoke. So with more companies pulling out all the stops with their own competitive edge, it’s important as a small business that we do the same. Take a look at our 4 Christmas Marketing ideas for the small business below for some excellent ideas!

Send Christmas Cards/Postcards

Remember all the jolly customers who spent their hard cold cash with you last Christmas? Well it’s time to get these customers back! Now I hear you thinking! And just like every business from Lands’ End to John o Groats, you’ll no doubt be strategizing and planning your email marketing campaigns, and with good reason as well! Every business will be doubling, if not tripling, their campaign output with Christmas just round the corner and the ability to stand out amongst the great offers, we all produce to entice customers, becomes tougher than any other time of year. Luckily for us, Christmas is the time of year when picking up a pen and noting down our Christmas wishes becomes almost an obsession.

Fact: 96% of people view sending Christmas cards as essentialPeronalised Christmas Cards

Yet for many businesses we fail to see the lucrative angle we can take with Christmas Cards. Imagine the goodwill you can spread with your customers by giving them a simple Christmas wish and reminding them of your website when they’re planning their Christmas shopping? You could even make the Christmas card a special affair by giving them a personalised Christmas discount code, just to add that little extra bit of Christmas cheer.

Postcardspostcards

Following on from the above, we know that getting thousands of Christmas Cards out to last year’s customer base can be an expensive option for some. If you’re looking for a more affordable option, why not design your own personalised Christmas postcard. The overall cost will be cheaper and with great personalisation functions you could even make it a fun activity for colleagues to design, bringing a bit of Christmas excitement to the office.

 

Christmas themed e-cards
Spice up your emails with Christmas E-Cards

The closer Christmas starts to move upon our horizon the more businesses start to churn out email campaigns. 20% OFF, Limited Time Sales, 50% OFF, Limited Time Sale Extended, 75% OFF. It’s all just so obvious, why not surprise your customer with a friendly but professional E-Card? We’ve all most likely seen the dancing elves which have been passed virally around Facebook and they can be hilarious. In 2013 E-Cards have stepped up a notch, with Addictive Keep it up games, Puzzles, and of course the traditional Christmas card designs, which all encompass your logo and message. It’s a simple idea and the use of Christmas E-Cards is growing year on year, so why not get your E-Cards in early and use them to support your offers and make your email campaigns stand out?

Support offers with social media

Christmas is one of the best times of years for a Small Business, everyone seems to be in a jollier mood, we’re all on the lookout for Christmas savings and businesses really do benefit from the extra customers. But if you’ve been competing with your business at Christmas for a few years now, I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to learn that customers who take advantage of the discounted products or offers at Christmas time are the customer demographic who are least likely to stay loyal to your business. They’re usually not buying for themselves and when your prices go back up to the normal stable prices your business demands the rest of the year, Christmas customers simply lose interest. If you’re thinking about offering great discounts and offers, why not make customers jump through the hoop; they need to Like you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. I know it may seem slightly trivial or could cause the odd customer to bail out, but the statistics prove that social media could be a way to help keep customers loyal to your brand and interested in further products or services you have to offer.
Fact: 71% of people are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on Facebook or Twitter than a competitor.

It is the time for giving…

Christmas is not just the time for receiving gifts but the time for giving as well. As a small business our local community is vital to our success and it’s important we look for ways to return this favour. One idea could be to follow the Charity Christmas Cards guidelines and donate a percentage of every sale to a local charity? It’s  not all about the giving either, Charity Christmas Cards have seen a real success since their incorporation to the Christmas cards and customers seem to enjoy the fact they’re helping charities whilst also purchasing gifts for their family and friends.

Fact: 21% of consumers will actively seek out Christmas Cards which give a percentage of sale to Charities.