For the past couple of posts I have ventured off into the world of online search (search engine optimization and PPC). Today I return to direct mail marketing and direct mailing lists.
So many newcomers to direct mail marketing rely too heavily on the quality of the direct mailing lists they purchase to determine the success or failure of their mailing effort. While there is no question that the mailing list is the single most important element in the success of a mailing, if you do not:
- capture the readers attention
- provide relevant content
- and ask for the order
the mailing will almost certainly fail. I read a post earlier this month from Brandon on the postcardsmarts blog that I wanted to share with you. Brandon makes good points and offers helpful resources for the neophyte copywriter.
"In postcard marketing, the headline is the primary attention grabber. With direct mail letters, the envelope teaser fulfills the same role. The fundamentals for creating both of these are much the same. These are two of the most important elements in direct mail copywriting."
Take a look at his article "Direct Mail Headlines - How to Grab Attention" and leave me a comment letting me know what you think.
Also, don't forget to vote for the next Blog topic. It helps me to tailor what I write about to you the reader.
I've just returned from an eye opening family vacation in the land of the EURO. Ouch! No question, the value of the dollar is hurting abroad. A soft drink cost the equivalent of $9.90! It was very interesting to observe how Europeans market themselves...especially to Americans. But we'll get to that in a moment.
Lest you think I was actually relaxing and enjoying the wonders of Italy, Spain and France, I'll have you know that I had 100% access to my work desktop and was on line for almost 800 minutes servicing clients and prospects thru a remote access feature. While my email replies were a little tardy (after all, I was 6 hours ahead, and I was ostensibly on Holiday...lol) I replied to each and every inquiry, ran counts, emailed counts, etc...Had my Cell Phone Carrier not failed to activate me for International service as they told me they had (I won't mention them by name, but it rhymes with "hint") I would have also had International phone service too. But enough about broken promises.
When in Rome
How does that famous saying go? "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Well I can tell you that doesn't apply to Roman Pizza. It sucked, ugh, doughie, almost no sauce, and even less cheese. But the Romans do have personality. They are charming, helpful and attentive. And they are clean.
We saw some of the magnificent Roman sites: 
The Coliseum-It's amazing how similar the design of many of today's Football stadiums in the US are to this ancient edifice.
The Roman Baths-the Romans took being clean to a new art form.
Trevi Fountain & The Spanish Steps-I kept expecting to turn around and see Cary Grant or Debra Kerr. 
And more Obelisks, domes and ruins than you could shake a stick at.
Here are some key take-aways:
The Romans were very good at recycling what works. The original Mosques and Temples of the old city were built by early invaders. When they were vanquished, the victors would take Marble, Granite and other building materials from the existing buildings and use them to build new buildings. Then they would be conquered and so on, and so on. It is why pictures we see of The Coliseum today show all these craters and holes in the remaining structures. Those holes are where the rods from the fascia Marble came together. The Romans used Marble like we use wood or siding for our houses.
I. To put it in a direct marketing perspective, they borrowed winning elements of prior packages to create a newer more up-to-date ones. And the cycle was continuous.
II. Don't eat Roman pizza.
III. Custom Service is what keeps clients as clients.
Pisa
Everything is leaning in Pisa-the Tower, the Cathedral, the Baptisimal, even the Cemetery. The Miracle square is quite impressive.
The architecture is a blend of many influences 
throughout time, and everything is spotlessly clean.
But what struck me most about Pisa was the goods for sale. A throng of stall after stall of identical merchandise. I'm not going to dwell on the Italian vendors' penchant for showcasing "private parts" emblazoned on boxer shorts or "boobie" aprons. Some vendors' goods were more expensive than others (for the same item, mind you) and some were more negotiable than others, but it was all the same stuff...stall after stall after stall. The vendors stayed back in their stalls and rarely engaged customers.
It was the most egregious example of lack of marketing savvy I had ever witnessed...and yet sales were made.
Portofino 
Portofino might be the prettiest little town I have ever seen. It is more picturesque than I can find the words to describe it. Walking down the main quay, I had the feeling I was on a Hollywood set for "Portofino, the Italian Riviera".
The collection of multi-million dollar yachts (with and without optional Helicopters) moored at the Pier made me giggle. It also reminded me that there is a level of affluence in this world that I cannot begin to imagine.
While anyone can walk along the streets of Portofino, and even have an Espresso while sitting outside at one of the dock-side Restaurants, the prices in the stores made it quite clear that I was NOT a member of the privileged elite.
We ran out of sunscreen by the time we got to Portofino and I had the misfortune to need to purchase some from the local Farmacia. For the equivalent of generic sunscreen in the US, I paid 25 Euros or about $40 bucks for a store sample sized spray.
Clearly, I am NOT their target market...lol!
What do you look for in your Vendor and/or Reseller relationships?
Please send me your list of Top 5 things and I will post the results at the end of the Month. Also, everyone who replies will qualify for an additional 10% off of any list purchase made in August or September.
I have been in the Direct Marketing field since 1980. My first job was as the mail-boys' gopher in a leading List Brokerage firm. My grandiose title was "Assistant Printers Apprentice". I collected the mail, ran the A.B. Dick offset printer to produce the management company's promotions, and I assembled the promotions for my boss. A short time later, I was transferred into Sales...where I have been ever since.
Over the decades, I have spent many years as both a provider of mailing lists and email lists services and a recipient of services...and on some occasions, do both in a single client project.
Here is my Top 5 Things I Want from My Vendor/Reseller Relationships.
I must preface my list by mentioning that A) I will have already satisfied myself that the Vendor or Reseller is providing QUALITY goods and/or services. If it isn't high quality, then I can't use it myself or recommend it to my clients and/or associates. B) That the person trying to get my business isn't too aggressive. Nothing turns me off faster than some Huckster that makes me feel like his last gig was cold calling selling stocks and bonds to "suckers" over the phone...
1. Price:
It's still the primary door opener-although today, that only gets you in the door.
2. Service/Knowledge:
It's what keeps clients wanting to work with you.
3. An Interest in My Success:
I don't want to feel like a number. I want to work with someone who goes the extra mile for me...gladly.
4. Follow-Up:
Also along the lines of not being a number. I don't mean follow-up to make sure I bought, but follow-up to make sure everything is as it should be.
5. Response to Problems:
Let's face it, nobody is perfect. I don't want to work with someone who hides behind denial and blaming others. I want a Fixer--someone who can assess the nature of the problem and work with me to remedy the situation expediently.
So tell me what your Top 5 Things are...
Here are the final six ways to maximize your direct mail campaign for those who have not already downloaded their free copy of the white paper. If you mention that you have read this article when you purchase your mailing list from
greatmailinglists.com, you can receive a 10% off discount the already industry best pricing.
5. Offer a Guarantee.
People like guarantees, it makes then feel confident that you stand behind your product or service. But make sure it is a strong guarantee, if it seems flimsy, then the opposite affect will happen. People won't have confidence. You need to demonstrate that you have complete faith in your product. I've heard that 90 days and one year guarantees have strong impact, for example.
6. Call to Action.
Without a strong call to action, there is no reason to mail in the first place. If you don't tell your readers clearly and succinctly what you want them to do-they won't. Tell them more than once what you want to do "buy now", "subscribe now". Give your prospects an incentive to take action NOW. "Save 30% on orders placed today" Offer discounts, free merchandise, upgrades, whatever you think it might take to overcome hesitance to commit.
7. The Litmus Test.
Ask your self this critical question. Based only on your direct mail package or postcard, would you buy your product or service? If the answer is "no", then keep tweaking your copy until you can answer "yes."
8. Always Include a Reply Vehicle.
Postage paid business reply cards or envelopes boost response. Period. If you have an online presence, make sure to list your website URL on every page of your marketing piece. Don't put in a long fancy URL to take the prospect to an order page, 99 times out of 100 the prospect is going to type your simple URL into the search engine, so don't confuse them. Make sure it is easy to find the order now page on your Home page though. The use of email marketing can keep your costs down and offers possible easy contact with your audience.
If you don't give your customer a specific way to respond, many of them won't, and then you've lost a sales and a customer.
9. Teaser Copy.
If you are doing a postcard mailing, then skip this point. But if you are mailing a letter or some other type of "package", how do you differentiate yourself in the mailbox to get opened? Teaser copy! Use a teaser on your envelope. It must be a strong incentive to open the envelope.
10. Make sure to Key every Mailing.
Remember how I started off this white paper by saying that direct mail is all about measurement. Well if you don't include a unique identifier for each package type tested, for each list used, you won't be able to measure anything other than your expenditure to create and mail your campaign. There are many simple ways to create a unique code with out spending lots of time or money. The simplest way is to add a "key code" on to each mailing label. You can do this a number of ways. You can add a "middle initial" to each record IE John B. Smith, 123 Main Street, Anywhere, USA 12345. The "B" in the name is a code for XYZ List. And a "C" is for LMN List. Etc...Or you can print a key code on the top of a label.
IE ABC
John B. Smith
123 Main Street
Anywhere, USA 12345
CAUTION: Whatever you DO NOT print the actual name of the list you rented from unless you receive written permission ahead of time to do so. This can open up a can of worms best left closed. Most List Owners don't like to flaunt to their buyers that they rent their mailing list and some will require a surcharge for a third party endorsement.
Many fine books have been written on the subject of writing and designing an effective direct marketing campaign. To learn more, I would suggest visiting the National Mail Order Association Book Store (http://www.nmoa.org/catalog/index.htm) for excellent books by leading industry experts.
Direct Mail is all about measurement. Unlike Space advertising or Radio or TV/Cable advertising, with direct mail you can and should know exactly how effective your marketing efforts are. The old axiom that 50% of my marketing works, I just don't know which 50% doesn't fly with direct mail. Why? Because direct mail is the measurable medium.
If you have a small direct mail marketing budget, you will need to pick and choose what variables you want to test. The basics are list(s), offer, and package. If you are doing postcard marketing, then you might have more than one variation of the postcard to test.
Here are 10 direct mail marketing criteria to consider if you want to maximize your direct mail campaigns.
1. Carefully Target your Audience.
It is rule number one to determine who your customers are, or will be. If you don't know who they are, how can you hope to replicate them in a mailing list to market to?
Questions to ask when determining target audience include:
For Consumers: Who is your buyer-Gender? What is the demographic make-up of your customers-Age, Household Income, Marital Status, Gender, Is there a seasonality to your customers? How do they buy-credit card, check, by phone, by fax, online?
For Businesses: Type of companies, size (either employees and/or sales volume) Job Function or Job Title of the person responsible for ordering, same for the person responsible for specifying and approving the purchase.
2. Buy Mailing Lists that are Relevant.
What are you trying to accomplish with your mailing? Are you looking to derive an outright sale? Are you looking to create store traffic-either on or off line? Are you looking to cultivate a relationship to convert to buyers down the road?
You need to have a goal in order to find the right list or lists to help you achieve your goal. For example, if you are trying to sell gym memberships, make sure you are targeting people who are exercise enthusiasts. Don't decide that a peripheral category like "Dieters" is who you want to reach if you are looking to build a base of long-term memberships. Dieters are notorious for joining but not following thru. While you might achieve a temporary spike in new joiners, people who are interested in exercise and fitness and enjoy working out are much better prospects.
3. Always Stress Benefits.
Concentrate on how your product or service will benefit the person reading your piece. Focus on how it will benefit the prospective customer from both a logical and an emotional level. The key is to have done your homework so you know what "hot" buttons to push. Some marketers do focus groups, other with tighter budgets ask friends and family to imagine they are your target audience and provide you with input.
Repeat your key benefits. If you're doing Postcard Marketing, mention the key benefits twice. If you are developing a letter or more substantial direct mail package, make sure to mention your key benefits in the beginning, in the middle and near the end of your letter or brochure.
4. Feature the Offer.
Everyone loves a good deal. Design an irresistible offer and make it a key focal point of your letter. A strong offer can be the difference between converting and not converting the "fence sitters". Make sure to state the offer at least twice in your letter or brochure. And make sure to list it on your order form or response vehicle.
For the remaining 6 Ways to Maximize your Direct Mail Campaign, simply download the free White Paper on the Home page of www.greatmailinglists.com.
Maybe it's because I have been making a living for myself and my family for over 28 years in mailing list direct marketing, or maybe it's just because I'm a thin-skinned big baby... but I can't help getting rankled (nice way to say P.O.ed) each time I hear these uninformed news people and self-righteous soap-box preaching online pundits trash direct mail by calling it "Junk Mail".
Are all email marketers SPAMMERS?
Of course not!
So why is it that all direct mail marketers are junk mailers?
Exactly! They are not.
In fact, every legitimate direct mail marketer wants to mail to as few people who are not interested in their offer as possible. The wrong list fails to target people who would want to buy from you - and it is costly.
A properly segmented and selected mailing list is one of the most accurate means for any business to target an audience of people who want their product or service.
The beauty of direct marketing is its measurability. It is far more measurable advertising media than Broadcast TV/Cable, Space Advertising and Radio.
"Buy Mailing Lists"
The direct mail mailing list is the most significant factor in a successful direct mail marketing campaign and a major point to consider in small business marketing strategies where marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is a key concern.
What really makes your direct mail marketing and advertising campaign successful?
The biggest single factor in the success of your direct mail marketing strategy is who you send your mailings to.
You need a mailing list. You need a good mailing list. You need a Targeted mailing list.
Who and where you buy mailing lists from is up to you. You can go with a large nationwide giant, you can go with a local outfit, or you can go with a company that listens to what you are trying to accomplish and helps you develop the best possible list available.
However you choose to proceed, the mailing list must contain the names of people who are likely to be interested in the product or service that you offer.
What kinds of lists are available?
There are basically two types of lists (other than your own house file of existing customers and current prospects) that you can use:
1. A Response list is a list of people that have purchased a product, subscribed to a publication, donated to an organization or joined some type of membership. They have some level of interest in the topic or purpose of the list.
While these people have not previously responded to you, they have responded to someone in a related area (if you have purchased a correctly targeted list) so you know they are at least warm. Many large scale direct marketers operate under the RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monitary Value) rule when selecting a list. It is a direct marketing axiom that the closer to a direct mail purchasing/subscribing/donating action you can offer a similar product or service, the more apt the object person is to engage. Response lists identify a behavioral action. Response lists are also typically more expensive and require higher minimums than the second type of list-Compiled Lists.
2. A Compiled list is a list of people who were selected to be on the list because they possess the characteristics that you are trying to target.
Examples of characteristics used to target might include adult age, gender, household income level, marital status, etc. These are more fixed characteristics than response list characteristics, which are behavioral characteristics. Compiled lists
Mailing lists, correctly targeted, will make the difference between a mediocre promotional campaign to a wildly successful promotional campaign
Junque Mail
Junque mail typically is mail that is not directed to a specifically targeted audience. In my youth, we used to refer to it as "shotgun marketing" shoot it up in the air and hope that it hits something...
From the many Billions of dollars in direct mail sales each year, it is clear that Consumers do not mind receiving mail promoting products and services they have an interest in. That is direct mail.
When unsolicited mail overpowers the mail box, that is when it becomes junk.
Studies show that 70% of the US population still prefers direct mail to email or telemarketing calls.
No matter how you spell it, slice it or dice it, no one wants to receive mail they have no interest in and has no relevance to them.
When you buy mailing lists, make sure that you have done your homework to best understand who your customer is, or who you are trying to reach. This way you can work with a consultative list professional to purchase the best mailing list(s) available and stop the waste.
One of the really cool things about Direct Marketing is its measurability. Run a space ad in a local paper, buy a radio spot, local cable TV...you need to look at the big picture to determine if it is working. Not so with Direct Marketing, and Direct Mail in particular. The results of a winning mailing can be exhilarating. Few things can compare with opening your mailbox-or Inbox if you're driving traffic/orders online-to find a bunch of emails or envelopes filled with orders! Imagine if you could "move the needle" and increase the response to your offer? Do so and a marginal mailing becomes a winner, and a winner a world champion!
So How do I "move the needle?"
Following are 15 Tips to consider when developing your next direct mail campaign. There are more...to be revealed in a subsequent post...So here are 15 excellent techniques to enable your mailings to pull a stronger response. (Lame disclaimer) Not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. Review the techniques whenever you're planning a mailing and incorporate the ones that apply to your situation.
1. Carefully target your audience.
Sale dollars can be directly connected to your ability to accurately identify your most likely customers. You might consider creating different versions of your package tailored to each specifically targeted audience.
2. Buy Mail Lists
Many experts I have read and listened to over the years assign the greatest importance to the actual mailing list chosen. Anywhere from 40% to 60% of the overall success rate of a direct mailing depends upon the quality of your business mailing list or consumer mailing list.
3. Focus on your Customer's Needs (and Solve their most irritating issue), not your product.
Customers have limited interest in your product or company. But they have unlimited interest in their needs, solutions to their problems, and making their lives better. Concentrate on fulfilling their needs through the use of your product or service. Remember, most customers don't buy products, but they do buy solutions to problems that plague them. If your product solves a critical problem, pull out all stops to let your customers know.
4. Always stress Benefits.
Always concentrate on how your product will benefit your customers-both logically and emotionally. Repeat your key benefits (3 seems to be the magic number for me...unless it's my wife telling me to take out the garbage...lol) in the beginning, middle, and end of your email, letter or brochure. Tell your readers once, tell them again, and then tell them one more time. Remember, people buy benefits, not products.
5. Immediately Seize the reader's attention! Use an Impactful headline or first sentence.
Some letters benefit from a headline. Either the headline or first sentence must be very powerful in order to convince your prospects that your letter is worth reading. Don't waste space building up to your blockbuster points. Start with them. You have only a few sentences to convince your prospects to keep reading your letter. Give them what they need to make sure they continue.
6. Never end a sentence at the bottom of a page in a sales letter.
Always use a broken sentence to carry your reader forward onto the next page of your letter. Kind if tricky, but it works.
7. Share some "inside" information.
Direct mail affords a perfect opportunity to appeal to a person's vanity-a need to feel special. An ideal way to do this is to share some exclusive information. Make it clear that this offer is being made only to them.
8. Feature the offer.
Everyone loves a good deal. Make it a key focal point of your letter. A strong offer can often be the extra incentive that will convert your "maybes" to buyers.
9. Give something away for FREE or Run a contest.
Free samples, trials, demonstrations, consultations, or information are all super ways of getting customers to give your product or service a hands-on try. Sometimes that is all it takes to close the sale. Give away a free enrollment in your seminar, a free subscription to your newsletter, or anything else that appeals to your buyers.
10. Use a special "before the price increases" offer.
If you plan to raise your prices, make your regular customers a special offer at the old price for a limited time.
11. Make a time-limited offer.
Offer a special deal for a limited period of time. And do just that-legally you can't continue a time-limited offer indefinitely.
12. Base your offer on a limited supply.
A close-out of your inventory can create strong demand. A limited supply offer can be used to designate exclusivity and prestige.
13. Offer a special deal to the first 100 people who order.
The key is to keep it to a meaningful limit as an incentive for customers to act quickly.
14. Make a "last chance" offer.
Last chance at this price, inventory close-outs, and last chance before a model change can all be used to successfully win more orders.
15. "Buy 1 get 1 FREE" always out pulls "2 for the price of 1."
Although the savings are precisely the same, the first format sounds like the customer is getting a better bargain.
As mentioned in the beginning, not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. The key is to review the techniques whenever you're planning a mailing. Pick the ones that best apply to your situation and put them to work. Always remember the most important three words in direct marketing...test, test, and test!
Here in the North East the weather has begun to warm. Snow is gone and plants are beginning to peak their heads up out of the soil.
If you are a House Painter, Landscaper, General Contractor, Pool Guy or any other Owner of an outdoor based business-you've probably got most of your year booked. But there are still some opportunities to fit odd jobs in to maximize your profitability this year.
Targeted direct mail to a pre-defined customer prospect list is an excellent way to grow your local business. Why not buy mailing lists?
How Do I Do It?
Here is how I suggest you go about doing this. There are two different schools of thought you can entertain here as to how to select your prospects.
#1: The first is to look at your existing customers and come up with a few characteristics that you see as consistent amongst them. For example, is there an affluence level? If so, determine whether you want to target based on estimating Home Value, or Household Income. Is Age, Gender, or Ethnicity a factor? Once you've created this "existing customer profile" then you would order a mailing list that targets these elements.
#2: The second school of thought is to try to hit the "home-run" Who is your dream customer?-don't mean one that doesn't complain...ask for free add-ons or pays on time. Rather, what are the demographics of that huge painting job, someone who might need to re-landscape a few acres, need a new pool, want to build an addition, etc...
Of course, you can do both if your vendor can/will run your order as a two part order. One portion can be from school #1, and the balance can be from school #2.
How Do I Figure out Where I want to Mail To?
This really comes down to your own business model. How far are you willing/able to travel-even with travel expenses added on-to do a job? There is no perfect answer here it's all your preference.
Here are some ideas of how to decide.
- Do you need to stay within the towns/cities that you currently do business in? If so, order buy town or zip codes.
- Perhaps you have a central zip code that you do most of your work in and are looking to expand outward. Then I would suggest doing a radius (It's like drawing a circle around something) in terms of miles outside of a targeted zip code.
-
Le'ts say you are a Nursery, and there are other Nurseries in your area. You know that your customers typically only drive about 10 or 15 miles to get to your Nursery, otherwise they go to a competitor. Then I would suggest doing what is called a "Rooftop" radius. This is a bit more exact than a zip code radius. It takes the exact location of your business and draws that radius circle using your business location as the center point.
Ok, so you figured out what criteria you want for your list, and you know the geography you want to pull from. What's next?
What are you going to Mail?
What is it you are going to mail? A letter? A flyer? A brochure? How about a nice color postcard? As mentioned in prior postings, postcards have certain advantages in the mailbox over other media. Why? Because you can see what is on a postcard without having to do anything. It gives you the best chance to get noticed.
Have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll be happy to assist you any way I can.
Lets face it, getting divorced stinks. Unless you're Heather Mills, who wins? In my case--a far smaller award than Sir Paul is going to have to pony up--it was the first "successful" thing I did in my marriage to Lady M back in the dark ages of the last Century. Divorce is not pretty, and takes a while to work through emotionally, and in some cases...financially. Which brings me to the point of this article.
By the very nature of the act, divorce inevitably does something else. It divides, fractures, separates people(like me) from their-as George Carlin likes to call it-Stuff. What that stuff is can be practically anything: small kitchen appliances, large kitchen appliances, kitchen knives, (maybe that was a good thing) furniture, club memberships, jewelry, art work, pets, vehicles, the house...oops...anything used in the operation and running of a home.
Newly Divorced
Someone gets them, and someone loses them. If that someone who lost "it" wants that stuff again, they're going to have to buy it, subscribe to it or join it.
And that my friends are where Capitalism and profiting from others' loss comes in to play. Someone was going to sell me new kitchen cookware. It just so happened to be the first catalog into my new mailbox that I liked. Same for my bed, bed sheets--I kept my lawn mower though...had to make a stand somewhere!
So, if you are a marketer of life staples--as alluded to above-- or is a divorce lawyer, pawn shop owner, realtor, or mortgage broker you should test mailing to Divorced mailing lists. Divorced folks are people too!
In case my present wife somehow sees and reads this, I must state for the record that I am thoroughly in love and happily married to the best partner ever, ever, ever!
Over the years I've spoken with thousands of small business and home business entrepreneurs. Each of them looking for the most effective means to deliver their message into the hands of their target audience. With the proliferation of the Internet and email into the fabric of our society, many folks in my opinion, mistakenly fall in love with the concept of using email lists to drive cold traffic. I'm not anti-email. Far from it.
Email is an incredible vehicle, but as a prefered solution for building a business on a shoe-string budget...it is not. Email to communicate with customers/clients is a magnificently efficient tool. But unless you have a significant budget to devote to the testing of Subject Lines, copy, images, etc...the odds of hitting a winner with a one-shot email blast is slim.
Targeted Direct Mail on the other hand is a much better bet. Once you have chosen the right list(s) for your marketing effort (Reference my post on "How Do I Buy a Great Mailing List") you need to decide what message you want to communicate to your prospect. Once you have determined this, you next must design a mailing piece around your call to action (Reference my post on "Do I Need a Good Call to Action in My Direct Marketing Pieces?".
And that is where we come to WHY I like Postcards as a door opener.
Next time you go to your mailbox, observe yourself. Once you have thumbed through your mail, stop and replay what you did. Was there anything that caught your eye? Any plain or unexpected #10 envelopes that just made you want to open them? Probably not, unless they used 4-color artwork or were from a company that you were familiar with. How long did it take you to go through your mail and determine what was trash and what you would/needed to keep? Not long, huh?
So, in that fraction of a second when you were determining the fate of a piece of unsolicited mail what tempted you? Maybe nothing. Maybe it was an attractive or interesting postcard? It certainly wasn't a plain envelope.
The beauty of a postcard is that it NEVER has to be opened. In that fraction of a second that you will have to convince your prospect to keep you from the recycling bin (we're all thinking Green these days, right?) having a postcard with your call to action staring them in the face gives you a much higher probability of gaining relevance in the prospects eyes than an envelope that needs to be opened.
Trusted Supplier Special Update!
For those interested in finding an excellent source for the turnkey creation and printing of postcards, I've found a company called AdSwift.com that does a fantastic job!