Don't send cards out that will disappoint your family member, friend, or loved one. Send out a card that rocks! In this article, we have highlighted 9 traditional greeting card alternatives that will surely blow their minds!
Introduction:
The world is evolving fast, both culturally and technologically. Conventions are being rapidly overhauled, and new trends are setting in. Most notably, there is increasing disenchantment with traditional greeting cards. The enthusiasm that comes with such traditional greeting cards is fading as most people don't really value them anymore.
This is not entirely out of place, considering the emergence and consolidation of digital technology. Even more alarmingly, mailing cards during the holidays is becoming costlier. The cost of stamps appears to be on an eternal rise.
When you combine card costing and postage costing, sending cards in bulk can be financially unnerving. This is even aside from the added cost of custom printing. All these inconveniences for some generic cards the recipient will likely not value. Not a good idea, right?
Now people send out cards that are effective alternatives to traditional greeting cards that don't cost them their arms and legs. Custom cards are better at sending the right and beautiful messages to their loved ones.
We will explore some contemporary alternatives that can capably fill in for your regular greeting cards when you want to send your loved ones and colleagues those emotional well wishes. This is even as the holiday season beckons. Some of these options we will be hitting on are far cheaper than your typical personalized cards. This is much-welcomed news, as you get to spend less showing love to those you appreciate – sparing more money for more pressing needs.
If you send out a card that is unorthodox and unique then it will evoke more gratitude from your recipient being that you stepped out of the box to mail a card that is truly meaningful.
Story cards are some of the best personalized greeting cards you can send if you are bored with the traditional cards. These emotion-provoking personalized cards tell the most fantastic stories to share memories with your recipient and build stronger bonds with them.
Indeed, these personalized greeting cards are miles apart from the generic traditional greeting card you would toss at your recipient (which he is almost sure to drop in the garbage bin the next day). These are unique stories drawn by expert artists on custom cards, which are then stamped and sent to a location you specified via snail mail.
Tellinga is your best destination to send out a card. Mail a card to those special people you care about on their special ceremonies or just to spice up their regular days.
Cutting across a variety of themes like birthday, holiday, marriages, Tellinga's seasoned artists will tell your story with the most enchanting drawings on a 5.5" x 8.5" greeting card-sized postcard. This will be done in such expertise that it will be one of the best gifts your recipients will ever receive!
Tellinga is a Houston, TX-based startup that sends custom cards out that tell your story through snail mail. Story recipients receive illustrated stories about themselves based on unique preferences. Tellinga is truly reimagining personalized cards by turning them into an experience. It can be fun, dramatic, thoughtful... anything.
How it works:
Select your story length (options-one day, one week, two weeks, or one month)
Upload a photo and add a description of your desired story (you can reminisce a memory from your past or create a brand-new story)
Our team of talented illustrators and artists will start working on your story
A few days later, the designated recipient of the story will start receiving custom greeting card-sized illustrations every other day in their mailbox until the package ends. Every card shipped helps raise funds to fight Alzheimer's disease, support breast cancer research, or helps treat those impacted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
We live in such a digital world these days as we are always emailing, text messaging and following each other’s social media accounts. Things such as traditional mail have somewhat been forgotten, and for those that still frequently check the mail are often disappointed by the number of bills or junk mail. Tellinga offers a way to tap back into the tangible and traditional by providing a product that you can touch and feel on a deeper level rather than staring at another screen. It provides that old level of eagerness and anticipation of looking forward to checking your mailbox every day. It is the same exciting feeling of when you were exchanging letters of a pen pal or loved one growing up, looking forward to that new edition of your favorite magazine, or the expectation of receiving a greeting card from a loved one. The goal is to provide an extremely personalized gift that brightens a loved one’s day by delivering little hand-drawn story surprises in their mailboxes. It gives people the chance to be a character of their own mailbox story sent out piece by piece!
Art prints are perfect when you want to show love on a budget. These are customized artworks that your audience will terribly relish. Art prints efficiently send that message of affection to your recipients without costing you much. When compared to your personalized cards, art prints allow you more space for customization and artistic expression.
There are several places to get handcrafted art prints from like Etsy.com. These canvas prints can be befitting wall décor for your recipient. If framed, these art prints can last far longer than your custom cards, which could be disposed of almost as soon as they are received.
Send a postcard when you are looking to bypass those ugly conventional greeting cards. These amazing mail postcards are far more affordable upon being more versatile. Mailing postcards give your recipients the message straight up rather than the bureaucracy of having to open parcels.
If you don't share the same religious beliefs with your recipients, then you may not necessarily be able to send them holiday cards that reflect their exclusive spirituality. In such instances, you can mail postcards (with no seasonal or ceremonial undertone) to such recipients.
It is the era of video, remember. With John Wick 3 (Parabellum) grossing an unbelievable $93.3 million worldwide just in its opening weekend, you can rightly guess people are crazily in love with video today. Custom-made video greetings, just like personalized greeting cards, are far more emotionally laden than your "boring" greeting card.
There are a couple of amazing platforms where you can easily record brief videos and share them as visual greetings to your loved ones or colleagues. One great platform, as described, is Animoto.com. There, you can create beautiful slideshows from your pictures and videos and then share them as video greetings to your family. This can be readily done over the email or physically via a DVD.
Such video can even be a music or party video of you and your loved ones (or clique) dancing enthusiastically about or thrilling, playing a musical instrument. So rather than mailing cards, you can go modern and send them customized video greetings adorned with special effects. You can be assured your recipient will be overjoyed getting or viewing it. More interestingly, this will cost you almost nothing if done online.
Agreed, when we talk about letters, your mind races back to the 1800s. Amid the proliferation of social media smart messaging, you will be right to ask who still sends letters. Well, the truth is people still do – people always send beautiful letters.
Letters are emotionally rich and say much more than custom card. If you want to go for something personalized, effusive, and passionate, you can craft a handwritten letter and send it as a greeting to your recipient.
Your recipient is sure to be touched. Not only for the rarity of such handwritten letter wishes, the time and effort you possibly invested in creating that heartfelt letter is also a striking testimony of how deeply you value them.
Today, the need for eco-friendliness is raging with loudening talks of climate change. So rather mailing cards and add to the pile of eco-unfriendly waste, you can resort to greener personalized cards.
There are many exciting ideas to try out. Have you thought about creating that beautiful message on real letterpresses cotton? You can even try out real birch wood. This is more retainable and durable than sending cards.
You can also send that shout out via merrier options like food! How crazy does that sound? If you have a foodie recipient nearby, you can send them savory vegetable letters. Let us imagine you have a couple not too far away, celebrating their marriage anniversary.
Now, you would masterfully arrange some sumptuous fresh vegetables on a plate styled as "Happy Anniversary." After all the excitement, your recipient can yet work the supposed greeting item into a nice meal! Not bad, right?
It is no secret – traditional greeting cards suck. That is why you should go for more custom cards at any chance. Luckily, you can send a postcard from your phone. This is even easier when done with apps like Postagram and Photogram.
In the case of Postagram, you can easily pick a photo from your gallery and send it to a designated recipient's address. There are bountiful templates from Postagram to make the postcard more appealing. You can also leverage the array of customizable backgrounds. Postagram print and send out cards using the address you specified.
If you don't want to send cards out then you can go entirely digital using customized photo ecards. In this instance, there may be no need for printing. So you wouldn't have to mail a card.
In the case of these ecards, many digital platforms allow you to build your ecard from scratch or modify existing templates. There are a couple of platforms where you can obtain such captivating tailored e-cards. Snapfish readily comes to mind here. You can send out a card to a single recipient or send out cards in bulk to an assembled email list.
These custom cards offer you greater design flexibility and expression. You can choose from a wide variety of themes cutting across animal lovers, comics, or even religious ideas. This way, you can easily pick out a custom design that rhymes with your personality while yet harmonious to that of the recipient.
9. Mail cards or give them a call!
A call is an extremely weird alternative to mailing cards for its simplicity and commonness. Well, why burn your hard-earned money, sending a generic greeting card to someone when you can readily pick up your phone and dial them? Come on, we are in the twenty-first century, right?
Sometimes it can be a hassle to send cards out, so just pick up your phone, call them, and sing that happy birthday song to them. It doesn't matter if you have a scary toad voice or an angelic Ed Sheeran voice.
Conclusion:
There are many custom card alternatives that simply don't suck. All of the options listed above are sure to provide a personalized card experience suitable for that special someone in your life.
Tellinga is your best destination to send out a card because they are fantastic personalized cards that tell your story. Send out cards to those special people you care about on their special ceremonies or just to spice up their regular days. Send out a card today!
Other articles that provide excellent information to help you send cards out can be found here: