Editor’s note: Jeff Shane is the president of Allison & Taylor.

As the holiday season approaches, a particularly relevant question is whether it is a good idea to send your boss (and former boss who you might need for a good reference in the future) a greeting card. If so, is it OK to forego the traditional “snail-mailed” greeting card, in favor of a state-of-the-art e-card/social media greeting?

Past surveys reveal that approximately 57% of holiday card recipients were more likely to do future business with a company (or individual) that sends holiday greeting cards. And with your co-workers competing with you for the boss's favor, your holiday card could prove to be a small, but decisive, differentiator.

Four reasons to send a greeting card this holiday season

  1. Connecting with your boss (or former boss) will help keep you top-of-mind, translating to possible future support or opportunities.
  2. Sending your boss (also former bosses, colleagues, suppliers, etc.) a card demonstrates a personal touch to accompany your business relationship.
  3. Staying in touch with bosses and colleagues with a holiday card is a subtle yet highly effective form of networking. (It is also less expensive than taking them to lunch and won't violate corporate edicts if sent via personal mail.)
  4. Staying in the favor of your prospective employment references (particularly former bosses) is critical to your future employment success. Consider that a greeting card could prove to be a small, but critical, investment in your professional future.

Given our social media age, is an e-card greeting just as good, or better, than a traditionally mailed card? The answer is “probably not,” for a variety of reasons. A card or greeting sent electronically may be regarded by some employers as inappropriate, perhaps even cavalier. Such greetings also tend to lack the “personal touch” of a card mailed individually to the boss’s door. E-cards and social media holiday greetings are often sent en masse, or (in the case of social media greetings) can be done as spur-of-the-moment responses to a comment seen on Facebook or some similar venue.

You aren’t likely to go wrong with thoughtful, traditional holiday greeting cards that can go a long way in making a good impression on many of your business contacts.