A couple of months ago the season for political campaigns were in full swing. The television and radio airwaves were full of political ads. I picked up the paper and there were even more ads.
And it seemed that every billboard on the road was being rented by a political candidate. One day I went to pick up my mail and got a huge postcard. It was from one of the local candidates.
It almost read like a special report it was so large.
Needless To Say…
… it got my attention and I ended up voting for the gal.
But it was amazing that big media like television, radio, newspapers, and billboards couldn’t sell me on a candidate.
But a humble (albeit oversized) postcard did the job. It was the postcard that had the ability to deliver the candidate’s marketing message in a way that convinced me to vote for her.
That’s the power of postcards.
4 Reasons Why You Should Be…
…using postcards.
Reason 1. LOW COST
Postcards are a low cost way to get your message out. In fact, standard sized postcards are 38% cheaper than using regular sized letters
Reason 2. CLEANSES MAILING LIST
They keep your mailing list clean. One of the benefits of using first class postage for a regular size postcard is that it will be mailed back to the sender if it has a bad address, which helps you update your list.
Reason 3. HIGH IMPACT
Postcards can have a high impact. Because letters are enclosed in an envelope the consumer gets a chance to decide whether to open the envelope or just throw it away.
Many people will just throw the letter away without opening it. However, with postcards, there’s no envelope to hide the message. It’s almost impossible to throw the postcard away without looking at its message.
Reason 4. SIMPLE
Postcards are simple to create and send. With postcards there are no assembling, collating, stuffing, licking envelopes etc. The hardest part of sending a postcard is putting on the stamp. And there are services that will even do that for you.
But if you decide you want it done for here’s the service I use.
http://www.ILoveToSendOutCards.com
You don’t have to touch the postcard at all. It’s all done for you with the push of a button.
5 Tips for Successful Postcard-ing
Here are four tips to make your postcard marketing campaign successful.
Tip 1. BE BRIEF
Keep Your Message Very Brief Only use your postcard for lead generation.
Don’t try to explain all the details just give some teaser information to get your reader to take the next step, which might be going to your website or calling your office or a toll free recorded message.
Tip 2. EDITORIAL DESIGN
Design Your Postcard in an editorial format.
I’m not a big fan of four color postcards. I’d rather use all the space I can on the postcard to give the reader an irresistible urge to take the next step.
The best way to do this is to make the postcard look like it came from a personal friend. But make sure you use a compelling headline. That will be the most important part of your entire postcard.
When I want to send them to a website I show a picture of my website and if I want to send them to a phone number I make the phone number as big as I can.
Tip 3. GO CHEAP (SOMETIMES)
Don’t spend a lot of money on printing. When I send bulk postcard I use an 8 ½ by 11’, 110lb fluorescent yellow cardstock and I simply print four postcards to a sheet by cutting the cardstock into quarters. Its that simple.
HOWEVER, when I show pictures of websites, people, locations etc., I’ll use a 4 color postcard.
Tip 4. QUALITY LIST
Remember, no matter what type of mailing you’re doing, it’s usually the list that will determine its success.
In the direct mail world you’ll hear the 60-30-10 Rule.
The success of your direct mail campaign will be determined by the following:
60 – List
30 – Offer
10 – Design
Any in house list will outperform a rented list and if you’re wanting to use a rented list make sure you use a list broker to help you.
Tip 5. PURLs!
If you are driving your prospects to a website, very few things will increase the response rate of your postcard than a PURL (persoanlized URL).
For example, if I was sending a postcard to “John Smith” using a PURL, I would put a link on the postcard that looked like this…
http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com/John.Smith
When John saw that URL, his curiosity would immediately compel him to visit the URL.
For my PURL marketing campaigns, I use http://www.SendPepper.com
Postcards make sense for most any small business and using these postcard marketing tips you won’t go wrong.
If you’re really interested in postcard marketing, you need to listen to this interview we did with Joy Gendusa, the postcard marketing queen.
About David Frey
David Frey is the Founder, MarketingBlogger.com. He is also the author of the best selling book, "The Small Business Marketing Bible" and many other marketing courses. To find out more about this author, visit www.WhoIsDavidFrey.com.
The message is the most important part of the postcard. But it does not mean that you have to lengthen it to the ends of the earth just to catch attention. As you have said it should be brief but precise, making readers realize its important right away. Great post!