For as long as letters, postcards, and greeting cards have been around, there has been someone proclaiming, “You’ve got mail!” Even before AOL used that soundbite or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan made it endear, people had been sending and receiving mail for centuries.
While Hallmark paper cards may still be a thing (you still see them everywhere) they have not been the only option for a while. The recent pandemic has accelerated this trend as we all have transformed the way we interact with companies, friends, and content throughout the world.
Ecards are now a lot more versatile, and they allow users to add images, voices, stickers, and even handwriting notes as part of their messages of support and love.
Traditionally, ecards adopted different formats that ranged from a plain textual message to a Facebook post, but there was minimal emotional value conveyed by an image attached to a cursive font. Companies like American Greetings or Someecards base their success on their designs and wits and not so much on their interactive features and demand of new options for participants and recipients.
However, more and more people worldwide have been embracing new technologies that offer a more complete greeting experience, which includes one-on-one ecards, group celebrations, group gifting, branded interactivity, and many different sharing options.
And if you’re thinking that this may be only for the millennial generations, you would be wrong. Studies have shown that the new consumer is willing to preserve the traditional look-and-feel if it is convenient, easy to use, and unexpensive. However, older generations and even baby Boomers are today embracing the new generation of ecards as they have become much easier and intuitive to use.
The consumption of group greeting cards – an ecard that can be signed by many people all living and working in different locations – have skyrocketed as a great added value that saves time and money to mothers all over the world. It is especially useful for far-flung family and friends that today have increased their physical separation.
Living far apart and the now-common remote working do not mean you need to forget birthdays, babies, or weddings. If you must physically miss the moment, a group ecard can come in handy so that everyone can celebrate, share, and feel part of the team.
When it comes to group greeting cards, many may just drop a quick line or two, while others love being more creative and having a little fun with their messages. Ecards like WishYoo give you the space and ability to play around. Besides being able to add images, voices, and gifts, WishYoo ecards offer many other features too. There is a large selection of designs to choose from or you can design your own. Additionally, you can edit your message if you make a mistake, which means no more vehement scratching-outs and splotches of Wite-Out.
Whether you are a traditionalist and think handwriting is more especial, or if you prefer sketching a picture or selecting a sticker that reflects your mood, ecards offer all this options and more. They also provide lots of space to work with and adjust the text so that everyone’s messages fit. You do not have to worry about running out of space…or ink.
Some new ecard companies seek to support charities, schools and NGOs worldwide. Making a difference can be as easy as donating your card to charity by adding the fundraising option (which also means your card will be for free), allowing you to help from home.
Ecards are not only necessary for a special occasion or date on the calendar. Drop an ecard to let someone know you are thinking of them (especially if they’re elderly or living alone) or to boost morale in your team at work. Show appreciation for someone’s good work by dropping them an ecard or send a group greeting card to celebrate a colleague’s promotion.
One of the chief benefits of ecards is that they are much more environmentally-friendly than their paper counterpart. Billions of traditional greeting cards are sent every year, which has a negative effect on the environment and forest preservation.
Saving paper by choosing ecards is the first and most obvious environmentally-friendly benefit, but it’s not the only one. Many traditional greeting cards come with an envelope. Not only does this mean extra paper, but both the card and envelope are often sealed in plastic, which creates more waste. Should you not be the type to keep or reuse your cards, there is not much choice other than to chuck them. But traditional greeting cards are not necessarily recyclable as they are coated with different chemicals that do not decay easily.
While you are saving trees, you can save memories too. It is much easier to recover your ecard than a traditional greeting card that is lying squashed at the bottom of a box or gathering dust in the corner of a drawer. And with photos added, it gives you a great visual timeline as well. When you are feeling nostalgic or missing your loved ones, an ecard gives you the chance to see their faces and even hear their voices.
Some ecard companies like Wishyoo are taking the ecard industry even further by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship. You can partner with them and sell your own ecards to your friends and family, keeping all the profits. Yes, they will give you cards to sell for free for a whole year…no questions asked.
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