Direct Mail Needs Stopping Power

by Brandon Cornett

One of the biggest challenges in direct mail marketing is getting people to stop long enough to read your message.

People are busier than ever these days. And we're getting used to our information being quick and convenient, courtesy of the Internet. We get news and information when we want it, how we want it.

So you, the direct mail marketer, have to work extra hard to get your message across.

Here are three ways to do just that.

Relevance
Relevance means your offer should match your audience. This is a two-part concept. First, you must know exactly who your audience is and what they want or need. Then you must communicate with them in a way that capitalizes on that knowledge.

Direct mail marketing gives you the ability to segment your list and tailor your message, more so than with most marketing channels. Today’s database technology makes it easy to create a highly targeted mailing list for your postcard marketing campaigns. With such specificity at your fingertips, there’s no reason not to crank up the relevance of your message.

Singularity
One idea per postcard – that should be your messaging goal. One product, one service, one event, one idea, one objective. The further you go beyond that, the more you dilute your message.

The best marketing postcards are the ones that readers “get” right away. This comes from having a singular focus, a singular idea, and a singular objective. (It also helps when the postcard is well written, but that’s another article.)

Simplicity
Here’s a good formula for keeping postcards simple and clean, while at the same time delivering a strong enough message to evoke a response:

Create a billboard side and a message side. The billboard side is the purest form of stopping power. It’s light on copy but heavy on message. It includes a killer headline; relevant, eye-popping graphics; and something that gives the postcard immediate value.

The message side picks up where the billboard side leaves off. It delivers on the promise and tells the reader what to do next. It also offers some kind of reward for the reader to take that action.

Conclusion
Your postcards have to overcome great odds to stop people long enough that they (A) read your message, (B) understand your message, and if all goes well, (C) respond to your message. But it all starts with getting them to stop!

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com