Fall’s beautiful colors and cooler temperatures make it one of our favorite seasons, but they also signal the holidays are near. As we plan our holiday greetings, we’re debating whether to use direct mail or digital.

To help us with our decision, we asked some colleagues to weigh in on trends they’ve observed with recent holiday business communications.

Mary Fletcher Jones of Fletcher Prince marketing communications firm reports, “Among our clients, we are seeing less of an emphasis on print holiday greeting cards, and more emailed versions. However, we firmly believe in the impact of direct mail and the marketing research from the  Direct Marketing Association backs this up.”

Fletcher Jones further shares, “I remember walking into a client’s office and seeing a holiday card we had designed and sent on her credenza.  And this was May!  She said she really liked the image and kept it up all year.  That was a testament for me on the impact of print cards.”

The Direct Marketing Association reports that in 2012 the average response rate for direct mail was 4.4% for B2B and B2C mailings–higher than electronic mail’s response rate of 0.12%.

“Holiday greeting videos weren’t widely used by PR firms and companies until recently”, says Fletcher Jones.  “We were one of the first agencies to do one in the DC area, but then Capitol Communicator started showcasing them on their website, and now you see more and more!”

“The important thing to me is to incorporate those fun things you want to do for your business in a way that is branded and on message, being creative, heartfelt, and not overly commercial. Designed holiday cards and holiday greeting videos, which also can be embedded in email greetings, are perfect ways to do that.”