How to Advertise with Postcards

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50% Off Postcards (Mailing Available)

35% Off Brochures & Flyers

Internet marketing may be the latest craze in business promotions - but that doesn't mean you should forget offline marketing. Postcard marketing is still a great form of advertising. It can be extremely effective and pretty cheap - when you have a high quality lead list.

You can set up an ongoing postcard marketing campaign that takes very little time and effort. Postcards are ideal for announcing sales, offering discounts and enticing customers to come into your shop or visit your website - NOW.

If you design your own layout, you can cut your cost substantialy, paying only for printing and postage. You can even print your own from your home computer. This works especially well if you have a smaller size mailing list, because you can personalize each card to the prospect. In today's world if generic information overload, personalization can really get a customer's attention.

Postcards have traditionally been used as part of a local business advertising campaign. However, postcards can be used in a national promotion to direct visitors to a website. The key is create a level of curiosity on the postcard so that the reader will want to visit your site to get more information, a discount, a free item, subscription or whatever.

Benefits of Postcard Marketing:

1. You can save money and get better results in your advertising. Overall, postcards are an inexpensive marketing tool. You can be creative and test-market on a small scale before committing to an entire marketing campaign.

Do you market to a small area or highly-specialized market? Postcards are a inexpensive way to reach your target market and your target market only. Even with trade journals, you often spend money advertising to a significant number of people who will have no interest in your product or service.

2. Once you set up a postcard marketing campign, there is minimal work involved thereafter. Once designed, postcards are quick and easy to address and mail.

3. Quick, easy delivery for faster advertising results. Within a matter of days, you can have your message directly in the hands of an interested client.

4. This marketing method offers a higher level of convenience than other options. Adjust mailings to fit your marketing schedule. Mail as many and as often as you want.

5. Flexibility to change, adjust and revise your marketing campaign when you want. Postcards can be used in a variety of different ways to promote your business.

6. You receive fast and immediate visibility. You don't have to depend upon a prospect opening an envelope or having the time to read through a lengthy brochure.

7. They are more likely to get read by the recipient. Instead of hundreds of other magazine or newspaper ads, your postcard competes only with the day's mail.

8. You don't need a lot of expensive or high tech gear. You can easily outsource the design work, copy writing and printing. There are also resources that enable you to pull-off the creative development yourself and still come out with a professional-looking card.

Postcards can be used in many ways. They can announce multiple messages for almost any product, service or event. Before you begin your promotion, compare your advertising options to choose the ideal solution for your company.

Your focus will fall into one of three main categories: prospecting for leads, building repeat sales or maintaining customer contact. First decide who you will be targeting.

Prospecting: Finding New Customers

In prospecting, postcards are often used to qualify leads; the first step of the two-step sales approach. The second step involves following up with the most qualified leads and giving them more detailed information. So here, the objective of the postcard is to get the customer to request more information (by phone, fax, e-mail or mail), so you can accumulate names to follow up with and make the sale.

Some ways to reel in prospects:

• Introduce your company and offer a free gift to all prospects who request it
• Announce an event that you are hosting that they can participate in for free if they respond

Reselling: Building Repeat Sales

Most marketers will agree that it's much easier and more cost effective to sell to a current customer than to find a new customer. Most successful businesses are built on repeat orders, but why stop at just a repeat order? By making a simple suggestion or providing valuable information, you can easily increase the amount of your customer's average purchase and the frequency at which he or she purchases from you.

But don't stop with just one follow-up! Satisfied customers can be sold again and again as long as they are kept satisfied. There are all sorts of reason why your happy customers would want to hear from you. Here are just a few:

• New products or special promotional offers
• Special upcoming dates or events
• Holiday-specific promotions
• Birthday cards offering special birthday discounts
• Monthly contests or drawings

Communications: Maintaining Client Contact

Don't have a specific item you are currently promoting? No problem. Simply keeping in touch with your customers is effective in producing more sales. Let your clients know that you are thinking about them.

Any change, addition, celebration, event or newsworthy information about your business is a reason to contact your customer. If you don't have anything new and exciting happening with your business, create something fast before you go out of business.

Postcards are also popular form small business owners because they are a low pressure selling tool. They don't even have to be sales-y. make them fun.

Figure out your target market (what they want) and then start creating your design

Layout

As with any marketing medium, layout design and ad copy play an important role in the success of your postcards. Get creative, but remember a few simple basics so you can be sure to get your message across and get the customer order.

1. Don't waste space. White space is better than a bunch of words that clutter your message.
2. Headlines need to be well-positioned and thought-out. They will make or break the success of your postcard.
3. Use graphics only if they have a purpose and contribute to the communication of your message.
4. In a series of postcards, use a consistent design so your cards are easily and quickly recognizable.

To qualify for the lower postcard postage rate, the maximum postcard dimensions are 4 1/4" x 6". Anything larger will cost you more in postage, but may attract more attention and result in higher sales

Ad Copy

It's not as much what you have to offer, but HOW you offer it that matters. That's where your ad copy comes into play. Since space is limited, you need to be brief, specific, direct and clear in your message. Count to five, and your prospect is either intrigued by your offer, or throwing your postcard in the trash.

Four Steps to Reach Your Goal:

Get your prospect's attention.

1. Secure his or her interest.
2. Gain his or her belief in your product or service
3. Convince your prospect to act.

Sound challenging? It is actually easier than you may think. Focus on keeping the message simple and seeing it from the recipient's viewpoint. Here are some tips:

1. How to attract attention:

• Send something funny and entertaining that will stand out in a pile of mail.
• Use bright colors or bold print.
• Provide valuable tips, useful information, or a money-saving coupon that they will save for future use

2. How to secure interest:

• Talk to your customer as if they were right there with you. Fill the copy with 'you'.

3. How to get them to believe in you:

• Use the word 'guaranteed' to give the purchaser more confidence in your product/service/company
• Act professional and trustworthy - don't use
  extravagant claims or fancy language.

4. How to convince them to act:

• Offer incentives like a limited-time price reduction.
  
  
• Explain clearly what you want to prospect to do next (request more information, RSVP, place an order, etc..)
  
• If the objective of the postcard is to get an order, make sure the prospect can order instantly either online, fax or 24-hour phone service
  
• If you want the prospect to request additional information, make it extremely easy and convenient for them to do so.

You basically have two options here. You can use a mailing list you already own (of current customers most likely) or you can purchase an outside list. A good mailing list is key to a successful mailing, so do some research when making this decision. Some tips:

• Leads that have shown interest in or purchased a product or service similar to what you are offering.
  
  
• Cheap leads are usually not targeted and not pre-qualified.
  
  
• Avoid lists that are out-of-date. This is not the place to be cutting costs. It will cost you more money and of course time in the long run.
  
  
• Start with list quantities practical for you to handle. Then, as you increase your mailings, you can save money with larger discounted orders.

 

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How to Print Your Own Postage

Do you want to avoid the drive and the long line at the Post Office?

Do you want to save money shipping packages and parcels?

Do you want to a professional look on your mail packages?

Your solution may be easier than you think - and right under your nose. Printing your own postage at home has lots of benefits - saving you time any money, even if you are just mailing a few letters or packages a week.

And now that "home-based post offices" are becoming more and more popular, I've found that the options have increased as well - if you are a small business, you don't have to pay for more than you need.

mailstation™ Digital Postage Meter
All-purpose meter for low volume mailing needs

- Postage rates are calculated automatically with built-in scale
- Print exact postage
- Automatically updates NEW postal rates

Personal Post™ Postage Meter
Entry level meter - an inexpensive alternative to stamps

- Compact meter fits right on your desktop.
- Easy-to-use keypad guides you through the postage printing process
- Up to 10 Letters per minute

Shipstream™ Manager
PC-based solution for package shipping

- Ship all types of packages
- Scale automatically sets the exact postage needed by class