Simple low-cost postcards have become a valuable business tool for modern marketers. They can produce a surge of traffic to your web site or a flood of high-quality sales leads.
The following 7 tips will help you get the maximum response from postcards at the lowest cost.
Tip 1: Focus on the Mailing List
Make sure your postcards go to prospects likely to be interested in your offer ...and who also have a proven history of acting on offers that interest them.
For example, send them to customers of non-competing businesses that sell to your targeted market, subscribers to publications read by prospects in your targeted market or to prospects who previously requested information about products or services similar to those you offer.
You can get all of these lists from most mailing list brokers.
Tip 2: Be a Friend
Set up your postcard to look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like a magazine ad printed on a postcard. It will boost the number of replies you get.
A postcard that looks like a friendly message produces a pleasant emotional reaction from readers instead of the harsh emotional reaction most people have to advertising.
Tip 3: Ditch the Sales Pitch
Don't try to close sales directly from your postcard. You don't have enough space to provide all the information most prospects need to make a buying decision. Instead, use your postcard to generate sales inquiries.
Begin your postcard by briefly stating the major benefit(s) you offer. Then use the remainder of your postcard to motivate readers to get more information from a source where you can close sales ...such as at your web site or from a phone number they can call.
Tip 4: Get Right to the Point
Postcards are delivered "ready to read". Take advantage of this. Get right to the point to capture the reader's attention immediately. This makes it difficult for prospects to avoid reading your postcard - especially if your entire message is brief and easy to read.
Tip 5: Go First Class
Send your postcards by First Class Mail. It costs only 23 cents in the US if make them at least 3 1/2 by 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 by 6 inches.
This gives you all the benefits of First Class Mail for just a few cents more than Standard Mail ("bulk rate mail") ...and it produces a lot more replies.
Tip 6: Watch Your Timing
Send your postcards so they arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. The volume of mail delivered in the US on those days is usually light and your postcards won't have to compete with a lot of other mail delivered at the same time.
Try to avoid having your postcards delivered on Monday. It's usually the biggest mail delivery day of the week and a very busy day for most people.
Tip 7: Economize on Designing and Printing
Don't spend a lot to design and print your postcards. Using an elegant layout with colorful graphics can be expensive and it rarely improves your reply rate - unless you are selling those services.
Simple postcards designed to look like a message from a friend can be printed on your own computer for only 1 or 2 cents per card ...or you can have a commercial printer do the job for as little as 4 to 7 cents per card.
The next time you want to drive a surge of traffic to your web site or generate a flood of new sales leads - send postcards. And be sure to follow the 7 tips revealed in this article to get the maximum response to your postcards for the lowest cost.
Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc
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 or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
Doctors do it, hair dressers do it, and salespeople can... Read More
It's a great concept, - and it has a 'cool... Read More
Marketing is the key to success with any business, online... Read More
Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that... Read More
My mother used to tell me, tongue in cheek, that... Read More
Here are 7 simple marketing tips to help you boost... Read More
Websites have replaced the brochure as the "must have" marketing... Read More
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what... Read More
Have you ever wondered why the phones aren't ringing the... Read More
As a small business owner, you are grateful for all... Read More
You want all of your marketing messages to have a... Read More
Sometimes we loose site of the small things in life... Read More
Business cards are such wonderfully creative little marketing products. Most... Read More
Marketing successfully requires not only insight into how a product... Read More
The trade show floor is full of different types of... Read More
When you hear the word "marketing" what comes to mind?... Read More
I nearly panicked recently! Well, maybe a slight exaggeration but... Read More
Time is a concern for all of us. We only... Read More
Have you looked for marketing advice on the internet recently?... Read More
THE EXILER (your search for true brand attributes ends here!)With... Read More
Marketing is something that we do to let people know... Read More
Keeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done properly.It's... Read More
In the past, purchasing ad space was the solution to... Read More
How would you like celebrities to endorse your product?Perhaps that... Read More
Radio advertising can be a small business's best friend. It's... Read More
Benefits, that's what!Whether you're selling in print or in person,... Read More
Feng Shui is the Ancient Chinese practice of configuring home... Read More
Dumb Excuse #1"I'm not sure I want to invest any... Read More
Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a... Read More
Have you created a marketing plan for your Website? If... Read More
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't... Read More
My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More
You can use great design and copy to get a... Read More
60+ hour workweeks, cash flows that constantly keep you up... Read More
In a world economy that is in constant flux and... Read More
"Goals are dreams with deadlines." -Diana Scharf HuntWhen clients come... Read More
If ever there was a lazy way to easy profits... Read More
Direct marketing is advertising from a manufacturer or front-end supplier... Read More
The N-word! We all know the value of networking and... Read More
THE GREAT BRITISH TRADITION OF STREET MARKETS IS UPHELD AT... Read More
Looking for the magic formula or the whiz-bang approach that... Read More
There are four parts to a marketing system and they... Read More
With the increased challenges that all companies are faced with,... Read More
Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe... Read More
Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I... Read More
If you run a small business you should be a... Read More
Donald Trump's hit reality show, The Apprentice is a godsend... Read More
Two years ago, when I first started selling online, I... Read More
There are a great many online business people who are... Read More
Ever try to be something for everyone and find no... Read More
Marketing Marketing |