Holiday Video Card for Clients: Warm, On Brand, and Not a Sales Pitch

Every December, clients receive a small avalanche of holiday greetings. Most are the same stock snowflake, the same "Season's Greetings from the team", and a logo in the corner that looks slightly embarrassed to be there. A short animated holiday card, in your own colors and your own words, stands out simply by looking like it came from you.

This guide is for businesses sending a greeting outward: to clients, customers and partners. If you want a greeting for your own staff, see company Christmas video ideas.

What is an animated holiday card for clients?

It is a short drawn film, usually 10 to 20 seconds, that replaces or joins the printed corporate card. It carries your brand colors and typeface, a one-line thank-you, a holiday wish and your name. You send it by email, post it on your channels, or both. It should feel like a handshake, not a brochure.

What should a client holiday card say?

Thank them for something real, wish them a good break, and sign it. No offers, no "book your January slot now". The moment a greeting sells, it stops being a greeting. Here are lines you can adapt:

• "Thank you for trusting us with your projects this year. Happy holidays from all of us at Birch and Lane."
• "You made our year better. We hope the break makes yours better. Happy holidays."
• "From our small team to yours: thank you, rest well, see you in the new year."
• "Thank you for every coffee order, every repeat visit and every kind review. Warm wishes from the whole shop."
• "Twelve months, a lot of emails, zero regrets. Happy holidays and thank you."
• "Wishing you a quiet inbox and a loud dinner table. Happy holidays from the team."

A holiday card that sells is an invoice wearing a scarf.

How do you keep a holiday video card on brand?

Use your own colors and typeface, and let the holiday show up in the details: snow, lights, a wrapped box, rather than in a full red and green costume. Your card should be recognizable as yours with the sound off and the logo covered. That is the test.

• Your colors, lightly frosted Keep your palette and add snow or warm light on top. Clients recognize you before they read a word.
• Your product, wrapped A bakery wraps a croissant, a builder wraps a house, a law firm wraps a very tidy stack of paper. One drawn gift, clearly yours.
• The storefront at night Your shop or office drawn in the dark, one window glowing, "Closed for the holidays. Thank you for a great year."
• The team as a line of mugs Everyone on the team as a drawn mug with their name. No photos, no awkward group shot.
• The thank-you counter Numbers that are yours to share: "212 projects, 1 very tired printer, endless thanks." Only use numbers you know are true.
• The quiet one Almost nothing moves. Your logo, gentle snow, one line. Confident and calm, great for law, finance and health.

When should you send holiday cards to clients?

Send client holiday cards in the first two weeks of December. By the 20th, many offices are half closed and inboxes are full of out-of-office replies. If your clients are shops or restaurants, their busiest weeks are right before the holidays, so earlier is kinder.

Missed December entirely? Turn it into a New Year card. See New Year video greeting ideas.

How do you make a client holiday video card?

1. Step 1

   Write one line of thanks. Specific beats grand. "Thank you for trusting us" beats "We value our stakeholder relationships."

2. Step 2

   Choose inclusive words. "Happy holidays" works for a mixed client list. Save "Merry Christmas" for clients you know celebrate it.

3. Step 3

   Get your look right. Your colors, your typeface, your logo at the end, not the start.

4. Step 4

   Make two shapes. Wide for email and your website, tall or square for social posts.

5. Step 5

   Send it personally. Put the film in a short email with the client's name. A single warm sentence above the video doubles the chance it gets played.

Should a business send a video card or a printed card?

Both have a place. A printed card is lovely for your ten closest clients; a video card reaches everyone else, costs no postage and can go on your channels too. Many small businesses do exactly that: paper for the few, film for the many. Our honest video card vs paper card comparison goes through when each one wins.

Making a client holiday card in Nine

Give Nine your website address and it reads your name, colors and typeface from it, so the card looks like your business instead of a stock snowflake. Add your one line of thanks, and the crew makes a short drawn film with a voice, music and sound effects while you watch. Change anything in plain words: "calmer", "logo smaller", "less snow, more warm light". You can also open it in the chamber to move things or change the pace yourself.

You get one video file in wide, tall and square, and you send it yourself; Nine never sends anything to your clients. The Film plan, from $29 a month, covers greetings for your own business up to 20 seconds. If you are an agency making cards for your clients' brands, that is client work, which starts on the Production plan. Details on the pricing page. For the family and company card side by side, read a Christmas card as a film.