Holidays are an excellent time for businesses to launch a direct-marketing campaign, and St. Patrick's Day is especially great since many are excited about the upcoming spring (and their tax returns). As a graphic designer, you're used to coming up with creative ideas to help your clients' marketing materials stand out and look better than their competitors.

Here are a few ideas to spur your creativity for St. Patrick's Day campaigns:

Thematic association

Thematic association is often used in holiday direct-mail materials. The purpose is twofold: First, you associate a business, service or product with certain emotions from a given holiday. For St. Patrick's Day, you might want to associate a business with fun by drawing on the many parties the holiday provokes. An investment firm might capitalize on the use of a pot of gold to symbolize wealth. The "Luck o' the Irish" theme is often used in St. Patrick's Day ad campaigns.

The second purpose for thematic association is to create an easy-to-remember cutoff date for a sale. By associating the start or close of a great sale with St. Patrick's Day, you can drive traffic to your storefront, website or phone lines during that period.

St. Patrick's Day theme

There are several ways to give your direct mailer a St. Patrick's Day theme, but first you must know your target audience, choose what type of direct-marketing piece you're sending, and select an appropriate promotion. If your target audience is senior citizens, you probably don't want to send them a mailer that plays on the green beer party scene. Conversely, college students are not a primary market for investment firms. Your direct-marketing piece could be a sales letter, door hanger or postcard; and the bargain you have to offer is up to you. Don't take the promotion part of your direct mailer lightly; a great deal goes a long way to attracting new customers and getting old customers back in the door. For a St. Patty's Day theme, try the following:

• Copywriting (text) that plays on the St. Patrick's Day tradition: "Get OnlineBillPayer and avoid getting in a PINCH this St. Patrick's Day" or "You don't need the Luck o' the Irish to get great deals at Discount Bob's"
• Use a green envelope or shades of green in your postcard or door hanger. Also, orange is another color associated with St. Patrick's Day
• Use icons associated with St. Patrick's Day such as shamrocks, leprechauns. or a pot of gold
• Have your flyer die cut into the shape of a shamrock or pot of gold
• Play on the holiday's history. A quick online search will reveal many stories and legends of St. Patrick

The best designs meld these all of these things into an effective, cohesive direct-marketing piece sure to drive sales. Make sure you set the proper tone - fun, professional, elegant, extraordinary - through words and images; and don't forget your call to action that will entice prospects to take the next step in the purchasing process.