Why Postcard Marketing Works So Well In The Internet Age

by Bob Leduc

You may be surprised to know that postcards produce better results today than they did before the development of the Internet. There are 7 major reasons why this is happening.

1. Postcards Use A Modern Communication Style
A postcard delivers information the way people want to get it today. It arrives open and ready to read. The message it contains is always brief because there's not a lot of space for it. Therefore, a postcard is quick to read and easy to comprehend.

2. Postcards Have High Impact
It's hard to ignore a postcard - even if the reader is sorting their mail over a trashcan and discarding everything that looks like advertising.
An attractive postcard with an eye-catching benefit statement will be read by almost 100 percent of the people who get it ...and anyone else who happens to see it.

3. Marketing With Postcards Saves Money
Postcards are small. Therefore, it doesn't cost much for printing. You can even do the printing yourself with your own computer to reduce the cost to about a penny each.
More importantly, you can send postcards by First Class Mail in the US for 1/3 less than other types of First Class mail. Currently, the First Class postage for postcards is 27 cents ...if you make their size between 3 1/2 by 5 inches and 4 1/4 by 6 inches.

4. Marketing With Postcards Saves Time
Because postcards are small, it doesn't take much time to develop a sales message for them, complete the printing and get them out in the mail. It's not unusual to see results from postcards within a week of deciding to use them.

5. Postcard Marketing Is Easy
You don't need any special knowledge or skill to develop a successful postcard marketing campaign - even if you decide to do everything yourself and print them with your own computer to save money.
Tip: Don't try to put a complete sales presentation on a postcard. There's not enough space for that. Instead, just list 1 or 2 major benefits to arouse the reader's interest. Then direct them to do something to get more information. For example, go to your website where they can get more details ...and where you can close the sale.

6. Postcards Are Versatile
Postcards are easily adaptable to any business. They work equally as well for selling either products or services.
They're also adaptable to any kind of marketing activity. You can use them to generate website traffic, develop sales leads, generate visits to a store, promote repeat sales or additional sales to current or previous customers, or ...well, you get the idea.

7. Postcards Are Personal
People are used to getting postcards from friends and relatives. It's something they enjoy. Take advantage of this. Don't design your postcard to look like a magazine ad. Instead, design it to look at first glance like a message from a friend.
You're not doing this to deceive the reader. They will immediately recognize your postcard as advertising. But they will give it the same psychological reception they give to a personal message - and that will produce significantly more replies for you.

You're missing out on a major competitive advantage if you don't include postcards in your current marketing activity. Fortunately, it is a disadvantage you can quickly overcome.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://bobleduc.com/

A Quick Guide to Effective Postcard Marketing Practices

Author: karen grahams

Postcard printing is a simple but effective tool in marketing. When you print postcards, their very nature becomes the best feature in using them. This feature is that they are easily mailed. They have been built to be mailed without the use of an envelope. That is why more and more businesses these days are using postcard printing as one of their main marketing investments in the print advertisement realm. To help you join in this custom postcard printing bandwagon, we have gathered a few quick guidelines for effective postcard marketing. Use this knowledge to your advantage once you start to print postcards.

Design effectively: When you design your postcards, have the main graphic image come right to the point. Since it is a postcard, people look at its image right a way. So you should not be vague or indirect with it. You don’t have to compel the receiver’s mind on what it is about, you will only annoy them. Try and entice them directly about your product, company or campaign. Pull on their heartstrings by giving an image that conveys feelings about your purpose. The bottom line here is to have them absorb and react immediately to your postcard. Otherwise, they will throw the postcard away in a second.

Mail postcards several times: This may cost a bit more, but it is a good postcard marketing practice to mail your custom postcards several times. People sometimes don’t get it the first time, or they might have thrown the postcard along with their junk mail. Repeating your mails several times gives you an increased chance of being read. Maybe after a few times of only taking quick glances at your postcard, they will be compelled to read the details since you are so persistent.


Consider demographic issues: When sending your postcards consider the demographics of the people you are sending to. To efficiently market using postcards, you may have to consider sending your color postcards to specific kinds of people. They can be a specific age group, a specific area, sex, ethnicity or social class. This lets you minimize the cost of printing postcards for a mass audience and maximizes the distribution for your target demographic. Doing this may net you the right type of customers that are interested in your product or campaign.


Vary your designs depending on the time of year: If you are repeatedly mailing your marketing postcards, try and vary your designs depending on the time of year. You can have spring, summer, autumn and winter marketing postcards. You can even try holiday postcards for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. This variety of design makes you dynamic and up to date. If people have been throwing away your other designs, maybe you will get luck and they will pickup your new ones that you sent.

Follow these postcard marketing practices and you’ll definitely feel a significant difference in the effectiveness of your postcard campaign. This will ensure that your investment in postcard printing will be well worth it in terms of exposure or sales.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Print Postcards and Postcard Printing

About the Author:

Karen Grahams has keen interest in Internet Marketing, which began roughly four years ago. Writing has always been her passion. She is continually striving to enhance her interest by developing internet strategies.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/a-quick-guide-to-effective-postcard-marketing-practices-716222.html

How-to write a Postcard - wikiHow

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Never know what to write in your postcards when you're on holiday? Read on to find out how to write a good postcard and send it to a friend.

Steps

1. Buy a postcard from a souvenir shop. It could have a picture of the place you're at on it.
   
2. Write the information as follows:
   
   • Write the recipient's name and address on the lines on the right hand side of the postcard. Don't forget to include the country - you might not have to do this at home, but you do if you're abroad.
     
   • The left hand side of the postcard is for your message. Start by writing "Dear ... (the name of the person you're writing to)."
     
   • Leave a line and state where you are and what it's like, for example : "I'm in Paris, it's great."
     
   • Write a sentence about your accommodation, like : "The hotel is lovely, it has a big fountain outside and there's a beautiful view from our window."
     
   • Then include a description of something you did on one of the days that you enjoyed, such as : "Yesterday we went on a boat trip across the river, I loved finding out about all the different sights in the city."
     
   • Write a comment about something particularly good, bad or funny about the holiday, like : "I tried frog's legs but they were horrible, they tasted like cardboard!"
     
   • Finish off by writing : "Wish you were here," or "See you on Friday," and then sign off with : "Love (your name) xxx"
     
   
   
3. Your postcard should now be in the same format as this:
   
4. Dear ...
   
   • I'm in Paris, it's great. The hotel is lovely, it has a big fountain outside and there's a beautiful view from our window. Yesterday we went on a boat trip across the river. I loved finding out about all the different sights in the city. I tried frog's legs but they were horrible, they tasted like cardboard!
     
   • Wish you were here. Love (your name) xxx
     
   
   
5. Stick a stamp onto the top right corner of the postcard and send it. You could receive a postcard off that person next time they go on holiday!
   

Tips

• Include lots of details but keep it short and sweet.
  
• Make sure you know the person's address before you start writing the message or you could waste a lot of time.
  

Warnings

• Postcards are not put in envelopes, so don't write anything you wouldn't want the postman to read!
  

Things You'll Need

• Money to buy a postcard and stamp
  
• A pen
  
• The recipient's address
  

All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to write postcard messages

The most cherished gifts are the ones you make yourself, and the same is true for greeting cards. Writing your own sentiments turns a simple greeting card into a treasured keepsake, and you don’t have to be a professional to do it. Before you begin writing, think about who you’re writing to, and the reason for your card. Then, try some of these tips for inspiration.

Writing for romance

Include a favorite photo of you and the one you love, and write a caption describing how you felt at the time. Focus on specific details, and use descriptive words to bring your memory to life. Or, quote lyrics from a song, a line from a film, or a verse from a poem that reminds you of your sweetheart.

Family time

If you’re writing to a parent or grandparent, write about what you’ve learned from them, or the qualities you feel you inherited from them. If you’re writing to a younger relative, remind them of something that makes them special, or describe an experience from their childhood that they might not remember.

Fun with friends

Get to remember and tearn for something that you had or some event in your past by thinking of things that only you and your friend share—inside jokes or stories of past adventures. Include a funny photo from the past, and write a brief story in the style of a fairy tale. Begin with “Once upon a time,” and write about yourselves in third person. If you’re feeling sentimental, thank your friend for every time he or she helped you through a difficult time, and be as specific as possible.

Cards for kids

Try turning a nursery rhyme into a whimsical, personalized poem. Follow the general rhyme structure and rhythm, but change the words to include the child’s name and other details. If you’re writing a birthday card, use the child’s age to make a list (for example, Five Fun Facts About Jenny). Use kid-friendly words they can read for themselves, and try different colors and fonts to add interest.

Say it with sympathy

When writing to someone who has experienced a loss or hardship, put yourself in their situation, and think about what you’d want to hear. If the person has lost a loved one, write about the things you admired about that person, or share a fond memory. Keep your sentiments short and sweet, and remember the old cliché, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Homemade for the holidays

For a lighthearted greeting, make a list of all the words you can think of that are associated with the holiday, and experiment with a little creative wordplay like, “Have a Spook-tacular Halloween.” For holidays with special meaning, reflect on the reason behind the holiday. For example, list the things you’re grateful for in a Thanksgiving greeting card. For religious holidays, quote a spiritual verse that you find inspiring.

Write what you know

No matter what kind of card you’re writing, remember that sincerity counts. You don’t have to be a wonderful wordsmith or a poetic prodigy to write a greeting card that someone will cherish. Take the time to think carefully about exactly how you feel, and the right words will come to you.

Postcard Marketing

Direct Mail Optimization: Reduce costs while generating more revenue

As postal rates continue to rise, companies will be challenged more and more to offset these costs and still generate more revenue. The good news: it's possible to reduce direct mail costs while boosting business and customer retention as well. The key is to improve mailing techniques to reduce waste. In other words, cut duplicate mailings and over-mailing. And here are 3 ways to do both:

1. Give customer periodic options

Nearly 62% of best-in-class companies (those with the highest customer retention, satisfaction and profitability levels) provide customers with options on what types of offers they'd like to receive and when. They also allow customers to update their choices periodically (over the phone, via mail, e-mail, in person, etc.). This allows buyers to get the offers they want just when they need them. Only 32% of laggard companies offer this service to their customers. And several best-in-class companies say this customer-centric approach contributed to their record customer satisfaction and retention levels.

2. Entice customers to act

Currently, only 10% of laggards provide their customers incentives to notify the company of duplicate mailings and incorrect addresses. But offering incentives to customers who maintain hygiene of mail lists:

• provides another way to ensure the quality of customer data, and
• creates another chance to build loyalty, cross-sell and up-sell

3. Create a repository of data

A central repository of customer data lets other departments know who's been mailed what. It also allows for more efficient cross- and up-selling.