Summer is a great time of year to send out postcards for direct mail campaigns. People love receiving them because they remind them of friends on vacation. But, you are sending them out to generate leads, so you have to concentrate on what kinds of postcards to send and their strategy. You have to plan the direct marketing campaign and figure out the goal. Is this about introducing yourself to the community or are you a well established business that wants to simply offer a thank you coupon for the support of your business all these years? You need to ask the right questions before you design the postcard and send it out.

Each new campaign has its own goals and ideas. The way you approach the goals will determine the art and the content of the postcard. If you have a lot to talk about, you may want to consider an oversized card. It can be divided up into sections that allows for a variety of ideas and information. Or, perhaps, you are introducing a new product and just want to entice the receiver enough to come into the front door of your shop. Either way, define your goal.

Next, decide what you want the receiver to do. You always send out a postcard with a call to action. But, what is that action? Do you want them to call, sign up, attend, come in or join something? Are you announcing a promotion or a new location? Are you introducing a new product or service? Have you opened a new club or organization?  What do they do?

Your overall goal for your postcard campaign should be for bigger profits, more return on your investment and a good response rate.

Now that you have the goal set and a few ideas cooking and a couple of questions answered, you have to figure out who is going to receive this very cool postcard. You have to define the target audience. Demographics are a great place to start. Again, you have to answer a couple of questions. Who would benefit most from receiving this postcard with this offer? How old are they? And, where do they live? Make a list of the demographics that suit your postcard information and create a mail list. Concentrate on their age, gender, location, level of income, their marital status, living arrangement status such as homeowner or renter and then their occupation. Some or all of these may be important for your target audience, but it should give you an idea of who to send your postcard. If you don’t have a mailing list developed, you may want to contact a list broker service. They will develop a list based upon the demographics that you have researched.

The offer that you develop for your target audience needs to be compelling enough that they respond. Put yourself in their shoes while looking at your postcard and ask what is it that they want, what is their problem and how can you solve it?  The postcard receiver should want to respond because what you are offering them is such a great deal. And they are going to respond quickly because you are going to add a deadline to the offer!

Put a strong headline across the front of the postcard. Make it shout! If it is weak, the recipient will read no further. The headline needs to stand out enough that they keep reading until they get to the offer. In the body content, you should point out the benefits of the offer so they will see how it is going to solve their problems. Benefits should be highlighted with bullet points, stars or other kinds of marks. They need to understand what the offer is all about with just a glance, so make sure the artistic design of the card flows well and is easily read. The benefits should flow right into the call to action. Only offer one call to action and have it on the postcard at least twice on the front and on the back. And, remember the importance of your deadline.

A targeted audience will respond to a postcard that is designed to be easily read with a strong headline, standout benefits and a call to action that motivates.

Postcards are a great eye-catching, tangible marketing tool, formatted to your specific preferences and needs, with endless customization in a multitude of sizes – regular, oversized, and custom cut. We at Everest Direct Mail and Marketing, can create colorful, attention-grabbing designs with your images, logo, and any content you’d like to include – using your own design or one created uniquely for you by our talented and experienced designers. Postcards give a marketing advantage because they allow room for brief, targeted content; they’re an easy read, meaning less of a chance a client will get bored reading it, and no need to worry about open rates. Capture prospects’ attention through the visibility of a customized, colorful postcard in their mailbox and watch your response rates soar!