“Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean it’s right. If everyone were jumping over a cliff, would you do that too?”

Those two lines are a blast from my past. I recall my parents chiding me when I got in trouble hurling snowballs at the school bus. Once the school bus driver slammed on his brakes, threw open the doors, and challenged his kids to catch me. I escaped only because a fellow snowballer stepped between me and a couple kids from the bus. His name was Dean, and he was a big friend.

In marketing, it’s pretty certain that if everyone is doing it, and you’re doing it too, then your clients are ignoring you. It’s all white noise. A good example of this is holiday greeting cards.

Just because everyone is sending you generic Christmas cards with signatures of staff members you’ve never met doesn’t mean you should do the same.

Here’s my recommendation: Ignore your clients at Christmas, if the best you can do is a generic Christmas card. If you don’t talk to them much throughout the year, then feel free to ignore them during the holidays. The card won’t bring a smile. It won’t elicit a “Wow, I should really do more business with them – that was a personal, meaningful card!”