Elements of an Awesome Postcard Marketing Campaign

If you don't want to waste your postcard printing budget, you need to make sure your postcard marketing campaign includes (at the bare minimum) the following elements.

A mailing list
You need a solid mailing list, of at least a few hundred people before you even think about sending out postcards. A better number is in the thousands - many companies send out postcards and other direct mail to a minimum of 5,000 people at a time.

You can either buy a mailing list from a broker or you can create an in-house list made up of current and past customers, and people you've researched yourself. If you're doing the research yourself, you should make sure you only make your list from names of people who have shown some kind of interest in your product or service, or a similar product or service.

Check your list to make sure you have complete addresses, up-to-date information and no duplicates. Even though postcard printing is one of the cheapest ways to market your product, there's still no sense in wasting money by sending the same postcard to the people multiple times.

An eye-catching headline
Postcards have a distinct advantage over letters or brochures in envelopes - recipients have to at least read a part of your postcard to know they don't want it. This is why your headlines are so important.

Your headlines should promise some kind of benefit (leave the features for your brochures or sales letters), it should be clear, and it should be short. You only have a few seconds to grab people's attention. Be sure to test your headline with co-workers, family and friends to make sure it's an attention-getting headline that is clearly understood at first glance.

An outstanding offer
An enticing offer that is hard to resist is what brings the sales in the door.

Your offer could be a discount coupon, a free item or something that isn't your actual product or service. A computer store could offer one year of free Internet service with the purchase of a computer. Just make sure that whatever you offer is somehow related to your product or service.

A call to action
A call to action is often related to the offer. "Call in the next three days for 10% off your next purchase" is a good example. It's specific and gives a time limit to take advantage of the offer. By adding a time limit, you create a sense of urgency, which prompts people to take action when they otherwise wouldn't.

Make sure your call to action is easy to understand and stands out from the copy surrounding it. Make it easy to respond by including the necessary information close-by (e.g. list the Web site right after the call to action if you want people to visit your Web site).