Direct Mail Postcards provide a cost-effective, and speedy solution
As the print area of your postcards is limited, you will not be able to include everything that you would wish to say to your customers, so you should view the postcards as a lead. The headline must be compelling enough to entice the audience to read the remaining content on the postcard, which in turn, should encourage a want for further information.
A cost-effective, and speedy solution |
Using a printed postcard for your direct mail campaign is the most cost-effective solution.
- Unlike mailing a letter or flyer in an envelope, there is no folding or enclosing required
- Printing costs for postcards are much less than for brochures or booklets etc, and printing companies will offer volume discounts
- Postage costs are far cheaper for postcard mailings than for A4 brochure packs. Again, there are volume discounts to be had
- Names and addresses of your carefully targeted audience can be printed directly onto the postcards, to enable speedy postage
Benefits of postcard direct mail |
When your audience receive your postcard, they are exposed to it straight away without opening an envelope, so it is noticed ahead of their other mail. Because the impact is immediate, ensure that your postcard artwork is:
- Attention grabbing - enticing your reader to read on, and complete the call to action to find out more
- Consistent with your branding - to ensure trust, and continued loyalty
Postcards have proven to be very successful in generating traffic to websites or visitors to stores. They can be used for anything from making an announcement, or broadcasting an irresistible special offer, to even giving a big "Thank You" - but make sure your content focuses on your reader.
I recently read an inspirational case about a car salesman back in the 70's, who mailed out a different personalised postcard every month – and this man broke records by selling the most cars in one month. At a time when there was no digital marketing, I think this story gives us all something to think about.
Because of the limited space for content, in addition to your usual calls to action, you should also include clear advice on how your readers can find further information.
You may wish your recipients to complete their postal address and other contact details to send back to you, to receive a brochure, for example. This can be done by way of a form within an area of your postcard. Royal Mail offer response services where the return postage is paid by you, enabling your readers to post back to you free of charge.
Royal Mail supplies you with a licence number and a barcode for either business, or freepost (which is less formal and more suited for consumer based targets). Once your licence is in place, the artwork can be downloaded from Royal Mail's site, ready for printing. However, bear in mind that the Royal Mail response artwork takes up the whole of one side of your postcard and, with the reply form on the other side, you will have restricted space to fit in your lead message - so it will need to be very concise, but punchy.
QR codes (that work as they should!) can be effective. But, don't rely on those alone, not everyone knows how, or likes to use them. They should only be provided as an extra option.
As with all direct mail, it is important to post regularly to maintain continuity, and postcards offer a cost-effective solution.
Keep your content short and bold. If you are announcing an offer, create a sense of urgency in a bold statement, with a bold P.S.
Embrace the fact that you do not have much space - get to the point with your message in as few words as possible, this will result in an easy read for your targets.
If done well, postcard mailings produce high response rates, and return on investment.
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