5 Truths: Using Postcards to Grow Your Regional Business
These 5 truths can help you to implement a successful direct mail marketing campaign.
In marketing to your potential prospects/customers you'll need to understand some rudimentary direct mail marketing principles that will help you to acquire new prospects/customers effectively:
1) A postcard is more visible and more effective than even the most compelling sales letter stuffed into an envelope.
There's nothing to open with a postcard, so your prospect/customer doesn't have to open anything to see what you want them to see.
People are fast and merciless when it comes to thumbing thru the mail. We see and read very quickly - actually much more quickly than we even realize. Think about yourself - how fast do you go through your mail and process out what you want to keep and what you don't want to keep...it takes a fraction of second to decide whether you are going to bother looking at a piece of mail. If you are a poor #10 envelope, what chance do you have to be opened to reveal what lies within?
With a postcard, even if the recipient throws it away, they have already visually registered a portion of your message regardless of whether they think they did or not. They saw it enough to either throw it away or keep it or respond to it.
And if they tossed it, the next time they get that same postcard in the mail, they'll see it again - as they throw it in the trash, again., or something might click, and you've engaged your prospect!
Let's face it - junque (I don't use a "k" in that word) mail gets thrown away. And postcards are junque mail just like other advertisements you get in the mail.
Frequency can help you bridge the gap between being junque and useful...especially if you offer a service!
2) Frequency is the key to postcard marketing.
How many times do you have to tell your spouse-or vise-a-versa-to take out the garbage?, close the lid on the toilet? Feed the pets, etc... Two, three times? Well it is no different when we see things in the mail. The first time almost everyone pays no attention...some do. The second time a few more take notice, and a third time even more make recognition. When you are targeting a finite geography (cities, towns, Counties, Zips) the more you repeat an action, the more familiar the target audience becomes.
People start to really believe you exist when they see your postcard over and over in the mail. It communicates credibility and gives people the idea that you are established and not going to go away. Some people may respond right away - a lot of people do not.
Think about all the mail you receive at home and think about the companies that hit you again and again. In your own mind, I'll bet those companies are more real and more credible then some company you received just one piece of mail from.
The long and the short of it is, frequency, not quantity is your best bet for cultivating a localized clientele.
3 Don't print both sides of the postcard in full-color.
Why? Because full-color on both sides is confusing. People don't know where to look first, and your message can get completely lost. On the other hand, if you have an attractive full-color front - with a great headline - the recipient will just want to turn that postcard over. And that's where your main message is, your call to action, your offer, and your contact information.
4) Promote one and ONLY one thing at a time on your postcard.
Even if you sell lots of different products and services, you only promote one of them. It is okay to mention more of the more popular services you offer on the back of the postcard bullet pointed. But your main focus on the front of your postcard needs to be one product, service, or item.
The purpose of a postcard is to generate enough interest so that the recipient takes a solitary action to contact or visit your business.
5) A person could grow a business with no other marketing media.
Postcards are a staple that works as long as you mail with frequency.
Enough said, now start mailing!
Any questions? Contact the DCSListGuy @ 203-546-8551 or email to:
DCSListGuy@GreatMailingLists.com