I wrote recently about “How NOT to Design a Postcard.” Today I’m giving you four good reasons to start using these marketing tools now.
1) Postcards are a cost-effective use of your marketing dollars.
Newspaper ads and radio ads are beyond the budget of many small-business owners. But almost any business can afford postcards – which offer a big impact for a very small investment. How so? Read on.
2) Postcards are flexible.
Once you’ve worked with a graphic designer on your first postcard, subsequent mailings can be as simple as changing the text in a banner on one or both sides and sending it back to the printer, or swapping out some background colors. Repeating your message to the same set of potential customers is always the way to go. Easily made modifications to a well-designed postcard mean you can keep sending your marketing materials to your core list without each mailing being precisely the same.
3) Postcards are versatile.
A good graphic designer will also work with you to ensure you end up with postcards that could double as event handouts, even as “business cards.” There’s no rule your postcard has to arrive in a potential customer’s hand via the mail. Keep a stack of this versatile marketing tool with you at all times.
4) Postcards are a way of making marketing personal.
A postcard mail campaign doesn’t sound too personal, does it? Look at it this way. Whether you use a mail house or address and send your postcards in house, you’ll always have a stack of extras left over. Use those for mini mailings (everyone you met at last night’s networking event, for example) or to follow up with potential customers (“Great meeting you today, So and So! Here’s a little bit more about my company and our latest offer.”)
Word-of-mouth is wonderful – but you must be proactive about spreading the word about your business, too. Postcards can be great tools for doing that.