Prospecting Postcards Explained

How can postcards be used for prospecting purposes? This is a common question among marketers looking for another way to reach their prospective customers.

To answer this question, we first have to answer another question: What is prospecting in the first place?

Prospecting is a form of marketing. In fact, the two terms are nearly synonymous. When you send out a marketing message in hopes of reaching a prospective customer (and getting that person to respond in some way), you are prospecting.

So it can be defined as a marketing technique used to reach prospective customers, in the hopes of turning them into actual customers.

And here's where direct mail postcards come into the picture.

Postcards are perfectly suited for this role. You can create a highly targeted mailing list made up of your ideal audience -- the people most likely to purchase your products or services. Then you can send prospecting postcards to this list with a strong offer and call-to-action, in order to motivate these prospects toward the action you want them to take.

The Primary Ingredients of a Prospecting Postcard

So what do you need to pull this off? Well, first you need a product or service that's worth promoting. I know that seems like a no-brainer, but I always like to start with that point. A truly remarkable product or service will make your postcard marketing efforts a whole let easier.

You'll also need a good mailing list made up of the people who are most inclined to need / want what you're offering. This mailing list should be highly targeted to a specific group. That way, your prospecting postcards can speak specifically to those folks, with a message and offer tailored just for them.

You'll also need a good postcard design and strong copy geared toward your prospects.

And, of course, you'll need to work with a postcard printing service who can take the logistical hassle off your hands. You'll have to handle the marketing strategy yourself (or outsource it to a direct marketing firm), but the printing company can handle the production and distribution of the prospecting postcards for you. One less thing to worry about!

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Color Postcard Printing - Special Offer

Who wants free postcards from a first-rate printing company? Anyone, anyone? I don't know about you but, I usually jump at the chance to get things for free.

So if you're looking for color postcard printing services from a trustworthy company -- and you'd like to get some free postcards while you're at it -- then check out the offer below.

Full-Color Postcard Printing Explained

With that offer out of the way, let's talk about printing color postcards, and how you might use this kind of service to enhance your business. I'm assuming you already realize the basic benefits of postcard marketing here. If not, you might want to star with this overview of using postcards as a marketing channel.

So how do you choose a full-color postcard printing company? Well, if you want to take the easy route, you can always follow my recommendation and use the company listed above. But if you'd like to conduct your own research into the world of color postcard printing services, you will find the following checklist helpful.

Choosing a Postcard Printer

Here are some checkpoints to consider when screening postcard companies for your color printing needs:

1. When you review the company's pricing, find out if it costs extra to have color on both sides of the postcards. Some companies will list their color printing prices, but those prices will only apply to one-sided color printing, with black-and-white on the address side. Find out of double-sided postcard printing in color is extra per postcard ... and how much extra.
2. If you need design support, such as postcard templates, online design tools, or graphic design support, ask about these things before signing up with the postcard printing service. Some companies offer a wide variety of design tools and services, while others only handle the color printing (leaving you on your own to come up with the design).
3. Do you need the postcards mailed to your list as well, or do you only want them printed and shipped to you? These are important considerations because it will affect pricing.
   
4. Customer service considerations. Color postcard printing is a detail-oriented process. So you'll almost always have to deal with the printing company's customer service team at some point, and possibly several times throughout the process. So do a little homework to evaluate their customer service. Here's a good way to do it -- just call them out of the blue with a list of questions about their printing services. If they handle that kind of phone call well, you're probably in good hands.

Obviously, these are not the only considerations when looking for full-color postcard printing services. But these are some of the major checkpoints.

Here are some related articles and resources you might find helpful:

• Get 100 Free Postcards
• Online Postcard Companies
• Custom Printing Explained
  

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Direct Marketing Techniques Explained

An explanation of the two most common direct marketing techniques being used today (and how you might use them to further your own marketing objectives):

Technique #1 - Direct Response Email

This marketing technique is exactly what it sounds like. Here, the marketer sends an email (or series of emails) to a targeted list of prospects, with the hope of generating a direct response from some of the recipients. In most cases, the desired response is for the recipient to purchase something, or to contact the sender regarding some product or services.

Technique #2 - Direct Mail Postcards & Letters

Direct marketing gurus have been using letters and postcards to get their message across for several decades now -- practically as long as the Postal Service has been around. The goals here are similar to the goals of direct response emails, mentioned above. But the medium is obviously different. Direct mail is a proven marketing technique and has been for a long time.

What All Direct Marketing Techniques Have in Common

Regardless of the medium being used -- mail, email, Internet, etc. -- all direct marketing techniques have certain things in common.

For one thing, these techniques focus on a specific audience or niche. In direct marketing lingo, this is often referred to as the target audience or key prospects. These are the people the marketer wants to reach, based on a set of demographic criteria. Maybe the audience is made up of past customers, or people over 55 years old, or homeowners in a certain neighborhood. This target audience should be well defined, because you cannot speak to them effectively until you know a lot about them. This knowledge will help you improve response rates, no matter which direct marketing technique you choose.

The desired response is another key component that all direct marketing techniques have in common. For best results, you must identify a certain action that you want people to take -- a phone call, an information request, a direct purchase, etc. The entire direct marketing campaign will then be designed to encourage people to take this desired action.

A third component of any direct marketing techniques is the offer or incentive. This is what you offer your recipients as an incentive. The goal here is to motivate them to take the action you want them to take (the desired response), so you must offer something to make it worth their while to take that action. You see this all the time in direct marketing materials, as well as direct-response TV commercials ... "Act now and you will also get this free [whatever]" ... that sort of thing. The value of the offer to the target audience will directly influence the number of people who respond. This is why you must know your intended audience, and what things are most important to them.

Regardless of the direct marketing technique you choose to employ, you need to (A) identify your audience and know what will motivate them, (B) identify the action or desired response you want them to take, and (C) provide a strong enough offer to motivate them toward taking that action.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon

Brand Imitation - Flattery of Laziness?

I wanted to share a new section of my postcard marketing website that I was forced to create recently. I thought at the least you would find it amusing ... or maybe saddening, I don't know.

I won't go into much detail here because it's all spelled out in the story linked below, and I don't want to tarnish this blog with any kind of negativity. But click the button below to read this partly amusing, partly pathetic story about sheer laziness and spitefulness of a postcard marketing vendor.