February 7, 2008

5 Proven Tips for Powerful Postcard Marketing

Guest Article By Anne Casanova, Senior Marketing Director, PsPrint

In this high-tech business world, postcards may not be the first marketing vehicle that comes to mind when planning a lead generation campaign. That’s really too bad since with just five proven tips you can create powerful marketing postcards that are almost guaranteed to deliver a good response. And at a fraction of the cost of high-tech marketing methods.

Five proven tips:

1. Make a big impression
How many of you have looked forward to receiving a postcard from friends or relatives? The compelling picture on the front makes you immediately turn it over to read. Why not incorporate an “image” style postcard on the front of your postcard with a “wish you were here” or “wish you had this” feature on the card? Since postcards are available in a variety of sizes from 4x6 to 6x9 to 9x12 and more, and they are available on many different paperweights, you can explore this theme to develop a warm reception to your postcard.

2. Get to the Point
Postcards deliver an instant “read now” quality. In order to attract your customer’s interest, get right to the point with your main statement. The main statement should be your biggest benefit or a distinctive advantage. You need to capture interest immediately in order to maintain the “read now” advantage. If possible, customize the postcard with customer’s name, pet’s name, address… anything that provides you an edge and makes the customer feel like you already know them.

3. Do the Right Thing
Marketing postcards are most effective when they are used to generate website traffic, phone calls or sales leads. They are less effective for closing sales because they do not provide enough space for a detailed sales message. And, please don’t try to include one. It will destroy the personal nature of your message. Instead, focus on persuading the reader to visit your website, call you, or some other action.

4. Be Clear and Actionable
You have just a few seconds to capture the reader’s attention and convince them to take the action you want. So keep the message brief and easily understood. If you are using sentences, keep them short and make sure there are lines in between. You don’t want to overwhelm your reader. Better yet, see if you can reduce the sentences into short bullet points to get your message across quickly. The litmus test is whether you can understand the message with just a brief glance. Test out your message with someone whose opinion you trust.

5. Act Now!!!
You know how much people love to procrastinate. In fact, there were over 1,300 books listed on Amazon.com in regards to procrastination. So you have to give your reader a reason to respond now. The best methods include offering a discounted price for a limited time, a special bonus for the first 100 respondents, or some other offer if they respond before a certain deadline.

Postcards might not be a “high tech” innovation but, done right, they have enough gadgets to produce results.

Provided by PsPrint.com

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