Businesses are under more pressure than ever to show they care. A whopping 68% of customers take their hard-earned money elsewhere when they feel a company does not appreciate their business. More than half of employees admit they would stay at their employer longer if their boss showed them more gratitude.
Your customers, employees, and strategic partners deserve the best. Positioning yourself and your business to always give thanks AND mean it is a recipe for success.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at several business thank you card examples to get you on the right track.
In this blog post, we’ll cover:
- What are business thank you cards?
- Types of business thank you cards
- Thank you business card ideas
- Business thank you card etiquette
Let’s get started.
What Are Business Thank You Cards?
Thank you cards have been popular and culturally relevant with global consumers for centuries. The humane and wholesome concept of writing a letter of thanks was rarely a practice businesses were expected to embrace—especially on a public level.
Post-World War II consumerism spurred modern marketing and public relations strategies we see businesses use today. Once social media empowered consumers to hold businesses to higher standards in how they manage customer and employee relationships, more companies discovered that thank you cards could raise client and staff satisfaction.
What Types of Thank You Cards Do Businesses Use?
Businesses turn to three types of thank you cards:
1) Thank You for Customers
Businesses send thank you cards to customers after they make a sale. However, unlike thank you for your order cards, thank you cards for customers can be delivered to customers any time during the post-purchase stage. If you sell products and not recurring services (ex: retail store), you can use these cards to re-engage past and present customers.
2) Thank You for Your Business
Businesses that perform services—such as agencies, law firms, and car washes—may not sell physical items or goods. So, they score big when they prepare thank you for your business cards.
B2B companies lean on these when managing client relationships and encouraging deal renewals to crush sales goals.
3) Thank You for Your Order
Don’t go AWOL on a customer who shops online and buys a product. Instead of sending an order confirmation email that lacks personality, inject some life into your brand voice and deliver them a thank you card for their order. (Bonus points if you write it by hand!)
Business Thank You Card Ideas
As you figure out what kinds of thank you cards are best for your business, it’s never too soon to find inspiration. No matter what industry you’re in, there’s always room to study your competition and learn more about the creative approaches other businesses are embracing to optimize their all-around reach.
Check out these business card examples to get inspired for your own design.
1. Just Say Thanks
The less transactional a thank you card for a customer is, the better. This bold, yet simple “Thanks a bunch” card proves you can contact your customers without a special occasion or milestone on the calendar—so long as they grant permission, of course!
Businesses elevate their brand’s favorability when they engage with customers and do not promote products or services. No tear-jerking letter required, if that’s not your thing.
2. Thank You for Your Online Order
Online shops spend very little on direct mail marketing. But when they do, they take advantage of all that physical, 3D elements offer to a customer experience that lacks human touchpoints.
A design like this makes purchases feel more official. Not only does this mitigate shopper anxiety—it builds excitement and channels brand empathy during an impatient stage in the customer journey.
3. Casually Slide in a Promo
You want to know what a business thank you card can pull off with PhD-level mastery? That’s right: Promotions that produce results.
By getting your thank you message across first, this thank you for your order card gasses up the customer with a tiny drop of TLC before introducing deals select customers get their hands on.
It sounds exclusive and rewards a basic, but important, customer milestone.
4. Short and Sweet (Small Business Remix)
Small businesses and professional services firms become community pillars when they lean on local audiences for support and convert patrons into brand enthusiasts and ambassadors.
The faded red and blue color combo establishes trust with clients and asserts local establishments as a symbol of strength and integrity.
5. Insta-inspired Thank You Card for Clients
Adding a personal touch to any thank you card always helps. So, why not repurpose an Instagram template to work as your personal thank you card design?
Not every traditional institution may benefit from the fun, welcoming, and playful spirit this card embodies. But, if your business is relying more and more on Insta, you can easily customize one of PicMonkey’s templates or make your own Instagram-worthy design.
Speaking of which . . .
How to Create Business Thank You Cards
PicMonkey joined Shutterstock’s family in 2021. With PicMonkey, designing a thank you card has never been easier.
Here’s the quick how-to:
- In PicMonkey, click Create new > Templates.
- Type “Business Thank You Card” in the Templates search bar.
- If you don’t see any templates you like in the results, try a more general search like “Thank you card,” and more templates will appear. Select the template you want to open it in the Editor.
- Use the tools menus on the left to customize your design however you want. Swap images with your own or pull from PicMonkey’s stock library, add graphics, text, effects, and more.
- Download your design as a JPG or PNG (MP4/GIF if it has motion), and then share with your recipient(s)!
Too cool for template school? No worries—start from a pre-sized blank canvas instead. Just click Create new > Blank canvas. The same rules apply (AKA: all the customization options).
Business Thank You Card Etiquette
No matter how many times you’ve penned a 10/10 thank you card, there are unwritten rules you should follow when sending them as a business:
- 24-hour rule: You know what the five-second rule is? It’s like that, just with thank you cards and not food. After a customer places an order, businesses have 24 hours to send a thank you card confirming their order or thanking them for their business. Otherwise, you lose momentum fresh off engaging with clients. The sooner you send it, the more likely they are to remember you!
- Print or digital?: Print your thank you cards for special occasions, working relationship milestones, or if your business can write quality thank you cards by hand and boost ROI. Go digital when your business deals with a high volume of client transactions or is simply writing thank you cards for recurring events.
No single formula guarantees success for any thank you card. Of course, mastering yours for your business is more of an artform than a science. And, a pretty card is a pretty good place to start.
But, it’s a matter of how you calculate your approach to get the most out of yours. Don’t be afraid to test your thank you card’s design and messaging. You can build a strategy around yours as long as it’s well-timed and sincere.
Cover image via Rawpixel.com.
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