Fight the urge to see every holiday as an "opportunity" to reach out to contacts and wish them Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, or Happy Independence Day as a marketing strategy.
If You Do, You're The Worst
(And not in a good way)
Unless you sell grills, beer or hot dogs, the 4th of July, for example, is NOT a great chance to send out some generic card. It reeks of sales, even if it doesn't explicitly sell anything. Unless you have good reason that The 4th of July applies to your company and what you're selling, or unless you can make it relate in some interesting way, resist!
Nobody is getting your stock card and thinking "gee, this company really cares and is thinking about me this holiday!"
Quite the opposite, it feels even more like a sales tool because it's so unrelated to what you're selling. There's no value, and there are no warm fuzzy feelings. Unless you are putting the time into making it valuable in some other way (a truly entertaining or funny message, for example), this e-card will backfire on you and undermine the very brand you're trying to build by reaching out because it's inauthentic.
This goes for all holidays, in our opinion, but this one is probably a little easier to swallow.
What to do instead?
Find a reason, and a time, to reach out that does make sense with your brand, and put some thought into it.
If you're an art advisor, offer a complimentary tour of your favorite spots at Art Basel this year, even just a suggested tour list. If you're a caterer, maybe you can capitalize on this 4th of July by sending out a couple of your favorite BBQ recipes. Life coach? Use the start of summer as a reason to reach out and help people plan their summer so they are productive AND enjoy some time off. Make it an event and it will be one!
Rule of Thumb
Send something you are excited about sending; something you would be psyched to receive. Have you ever been excited to receive a generic mass-emailed card? It should pass your own WOW test or else it's not worth it.
The Worst Team