Everyday Marketing Ideas

Postcards – An Effective Way to Market Your Business

Postcards were just used before for personal reasons. As years go by, postcard marketing has been discovered to be very effective and affordable as well. Below are just some of the reasons why both small business owners and big time entrepreneurs use postcards to promote their products and services.

Postcards Generate More Web Traffic and Sales Leads

Most people are always in a hurry and too busy to read long letters, particularly business letters from advertisers. Postcards contain messages, ideas or information that are very easy to read and understand. This is the main reason why most consumers respond to them more positively than other direct mails.

People Read Postcards

People are fond of reading or seeing postcards because of their attractive designs and images plus they have short messages that are easier to understand and read. Compare to a long letter that would most probably be thrown away without getting read, postcards have higher chances of generating response from prospects.

Postcards Are Easier To Make

Although it would still take time and effort to write a marketing copy for your postcards, it is much easier because you don’t have to compose and proofread a very long message.

About the design, you can upload your own image or search the internet. There are lots of websites offering ready-made templates and designs. It is up to you to choose which would suit your kind of business.

Postcards Are Cheaper

Printing postcards can be done using your own computer or a commercial printer. Whichever you choose, postcard marketing is still cost-effective.

With the use of your personal computer and printer, it will only cost you less than 2 cents each. You have two choices- print them individually on a blank 4×6 inch index card or print 4 at once on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of index card then cut them into quarters.

Using a commercial printer, on the other hand, will cost you 4 to 9 cents each postcard depending on the quality you want. You can request for a discount if you are having lots of postcards printed. It is also cheaper to have a postcard mailed compared to other direct mails. A postcard sent through First Class Mail will only cost you 23 cents. The only requirement is that the postcard must be at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

Helpful Postcard Marketing Tips:

1. Make it simple and brief. The message should be easy to understand. Use a friendlier tone when writing your messages.

2. Never try to close sales. Consumers need enough information before they can decide whether to purchase a product or not. This is the reason why it is not recommended to close sales using your postcards since it has a very limited space. Your postcard will just look cluttered if you will try to squeeze in details about your products.

3. Include only the biggest benefit you offer. It is best to just state the main benefit of the product or service you are offering. Let your recipients know how they can gain from making a purchase.

4. Always include your contact details and website. Never forget to include your contact information in every postcard you are sending out. (I. e. landline or mobile numbers, website URL, office address, etc. )

5. Use a real 23 cent stamp. Make sure that the stamps you use are real 23 stamps since printed indicia (imprinted postage) are associated with junk mails.

6. Choose First Class Mail always. First Class Mails takes only 3-5 business days to deliver and will be returned to you at no extra charge if undelivered while a Standard Mail can take up to 2-3 weeks and it will be just discarded without notifying the sender when undelivered.

Luie De Von is a marketing consultant with http://www.easypostcardmarketing.com and has been providing consumers and business owners with marketing strategies. For years he has helped businesses to have more and growing clients through Postcard Advertising, Marketing Postcard and Business Post Card.