Postcard Marketing Campaigns - Fact vs Fiction

If you've been learning about postcard marketing campaigns by reading the websites of postcard printers, you've probably been given some one-sided advice. For example, most of these companies will tell you the repetition is the key to success with any direct mail marketing campaign.

But here's what you have to keep in mind. These companies make money based on the amount postcards your order, not your campaign results. So it's in their best financial interest to encourage repetition. In truth, repetition alone will not bring postcard campaign success. There are many other things involved in the process.

This is just one example of the misinformation you can find online today. So in this article, I'd like to debunk some of the most common (and often dangerous) myths about postcard marketing campaigns and strategies.

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Myth #1 - Repetition is the Key to Direct Mail Success

The argument goes like this. In order to get results with your direct mail postcard campaign, you need to repeat your mailings on a regular basis. The more often you mail, the better. In the beginning, you might be discouraged by a lack of responses to your mailings. But don't worry. Results with come in time. The most important thing is to send more postcards. Over time, people will recognize your name, and your marketing message will begin to sink in. Your postcard marketing campaign will eventually succeed, if you just keep repeating it.

Fact #1 - Repetition Alone Will Not Bring Success

If you repeat a postcard mailing that did not deliver results the first time around, you are simply repeating a failure. In doing so, you are wasting time, energy and money. While it's true that repetition is a key element in postcard marketing campaigns, you should never repeat a failure.

However, if you get a decent ROI from your first mailing, you should certainly repeat it. You should also test different variations with your offer, your design, etc. In this way, you can gradually increase your response rates over time, by repeating the strategies that work. But if your first mailing is a bust, you'd be foolish to repeat it. If it doesn't work the first time, you need to adjust your strategy. If you repeat the same failed strategy over and over, your postcard marketing campaign is going to soak up a lot of resources -- without producing anything in return.

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Myth #2 - Postcard Marketing is Easy

Many printers will tell you that postcard marketing is an easy way to grow your business. It's like magic. Just put your message onto a postcard, send it out to thousands of potential customers, and then sit back and wait for the phone calls and order to roll in. Best of all, anyone can do it. All you need is a product or service, and a mailing list. We will handle everything else for you.

Fact #2 - Postcard Marketing Takes Practice

If the statements above sound too good to be true, that's because they are. Yes, you can use direct mail postcards to increase sales and grow your business. I wouldn't be publishing this blog otherwise. But succeeding with a postcard marketing campaign is not easy. It requires careful research, close monitoring, and constant adjustment. In fact, it's easier to fail with this marketing medium than it is to succeed. That's why I've written this book to help you get it right.

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Myth #3 - Postcard Design Templates are the Way to Go

A lot of web-based direct mail companies offer design "templates" that you can customize online. These are preset designs that allow you to plug in your logo and message. On the surface, this seems like a great idea, and it can certainly make the design process easier. But when it comes to your postcard campaigns, you should use templates with a good deal of caution -- or avoid them altogether. Here's why:

Fact #3 - Templates Can Hurt Your ROI

By their very nature, postcard templates look a lot alike. They also limit you to a fill-in-the-blanks approach to your design. There is a certain convenience to this approach, but there's also the danger of being overly similar. In other words, if your marketing postcard looks like every other postcard the recipient has seen over the years, there's a better chance they'll ignore it all together.

Granted, your offer and the way you present it are the most important components of a postcard marketing campaign -- but the originality of your design runs a close third. Using templates will limit your originality.

There are two circumstances when this might not matter as much:

• The first is a low-competition scenario. If you're in a highly specific niche, with few companies using direct mail postcards for marketing, then the template approach might not dilute your message.
• The other scenario is where you start with a design template, but customize it to the point that it's truly unique from what your competitors are doing.

Aside from these two scenarios, my best advice is to use templates cautiously or avoid them altogether. An original design will always stand out more than a boilerplate design.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon