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

Direct Mail Marketing for Landscaping Companies

by Brandon Cornett

I'm always amazed at how few residential landscaping companies take advantage of direct mail marketing. Direct mail is perfectly suited for these kinds of companies, but only a small percentage of them capitalize on it.

Quick story...

I once designed a promotional mailer for a guy who owned a landscaping yard. You know ... sod, stone, mulch, gravel ... that kind of thing. Until I met him, he'd never done any marketing beyond his Yellow Pages ad (which gave him marginal results).

I asked him what he wanted to sell the most, and he said, "Well, sod moves pretty well. And there are a lot of new neighborhoods being built where the developers don't put in sod."

Light bulb!

Long story short, I showed him how to target these specific neighborhoods with direct mail, designed a direct mail postcard around a special offer for sod, and added in the fact that "sod planting season" was right around the corner.

Results?

He had people brining in the cards for their discounts within two weeks of mailing. It outperformed his Yellow Pages ad in no time flat.

Landscaping and lawn care companies can use direct mail in a variety of creative ways:

1. Seasonal Reminders
I used a season reminder as part of the postcard tactic mentioned above. It's a great approach because many homeowners don't know the seasonality of lawn care, planting season, etc.

2. Customer Follow-up
You're probably familiar with the 80/20 rule -- you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. You've probably also heard how much more expensive it is to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one.

With this in mind, why not send your best customers thank-you cards, holiday greetings or special offers? It's a great way to stay in touch with the 20% who mean the most to your business.

3. Neighborhood Prospecting Around a “Prize Lawn”
If you're responsible for a beautiful lawn in a particular neighborhood, let the rest of the neighbors know about it. You can use direct mail postcards to target the exact streets and neighborhoods you want. This lets you draw attention to projects the recipient has probably already seen!

4. Tip-of-the-Month Series
Want an easy way to stay "top of mind" with your prospecting area? Want to build value into your postcards to keep them out of the trashcan? Try a tip-of-the-month series. The concept is simple: take your sales message, and wrap it inside a helpful hint so the homeowner has an extra reason to keep it.

The goal here is not to give away your professional secrets -- but to make your audience aware of your services, while also increasing the shelf-life of your postcards.

5. Special Offers
Postcards with strong offers outperform the more "informational" pieces. So if you're offering some kind of discount or special, send it straight to your audience's mailboxes. With a newspaper or magazine ad, you're limited as to how specific you can make your offer. But with postcards, you can speak more directly to the various segments of your audience.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Strategy: Write for Different Kinds of Readers

by Brandon Cornett

Whether you're writing a multi-page direct mail letter or a simple postcard, you should consider the different types of readers.

In general terms, people read in one of several ways. Some only skim, and some read thoroughly. Some skim first to see if they should bother reading thoroughly.

People's reading habits also change from medium to medium. For instance, you might read an email from a friend in a deliberate, line-by-line fashion. But when perusing a magazine, you may only notice headlines and images -- until something draws you in.

You can account for this by writing on different levels. Write your headline, sub-headers and other prominent text areas in a way that conveys a complete message. If somebody read those parts and ignored the body copy, they should still be able to get the gist of your message.

Then use your body copy to reinforce or restate the message conveyed in the headers. In this way, your message will carry through when skimmed as well as it does when read carefully.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Updates, Straight to Your Inbox

by Brandon Cornett

In yesterday's post, we talked about the importance of keeping up with direct mail marketing technology. In today's post, I'm going to give you an easy way to do just that.

Imagine having your own robotic Web crawler working for you 24 hours a day, keeping an eye out for new web content related to direct mail marketing (or any topic of your choosing).

Well, that's basically what you can do with Google Alerts. With Google Alerts, you can enter a key phrase -- such as "direct mail marketing" or "postcard marketing" -- and be notified whenever Google indexes a new page containing that phrase.

Many of the alerts you'll get will come from press releases distributed online. That makes Google Alerts a great way to stay informed about new products, services or other news pertaining to direct mail.

Try it out! Just visit Google's website and click on the "more" link. Then click on "Alerts," and fill in the requested information. Presto ... you've got your own Internet watchdog!

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

New Direct Mail Technology Can Boost Response

by Brandon Cornett

In direct mail marketing, some things never change.

Yes, you still have to make a strong and relevant offer. Yes, you still have to have a well-targeted and up-to-date mailing list. And yes, you still have to test your campaigns in order to learn from them.

But one thing that's not so constant is technology. From postcard marketing vendors to graphic design programs, technology has dramatically altered how we think about (and execute) direct mail campaigns.

For instance:

• Did you know that modern variable-data printing (VDP) programs allow you to swap out images and text based on your database?
  


• Did you know you can integrate your direct mail pieces with Internet landing pages and follow-up emails?
  


• Did you know you that some postcard marketing vendors put the entire process online for you?
  

Tomorrow we will look at some easy ways to keep up with direct mail technology. You can actually have new product and service announcement rounded up from all over the web and sent straight to your email inbox!

Until then...

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Calls-to-Action: Use Them Repeatedly

by Brandon Cornett

One of the biggest obstacles in direct mail marketing is to keep the reader's attention long enough that they find the call to action.

You can minimize this obstacle by including the call to action more than once. Don't just save your call to action for the end -- feature it several times. Put it at the top of your copy (perhaps right under the headline, or as part of the headline), in the middle of your copy, and at the end.

You'll have to reword your call to action to pull this off smoothly, and that's okay. The point is to make it nearly impossible for readers to miss the next step.

Some people read word-for-word. Others skim and scan. You can cater to both by featuring your call to action in multiple locations (in bold headers for the skimmers, and also within the copy for the closer readers).

In doing so, you'll increase the number of potential respondents.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Offers: Keep Them Simple

by Brandon Cornett

In direct mail marketing, you have what I like to call the "golden moment" -- that time, however brief, when your prospect pulls your direct mail piece from the mailbox and actually gives it the time of day.

This is an advantage not enjoyed by other marketing media. You can ignore a radio commercial and a magazine ad. But you have to give each piece of mail a moment of your attention to decide whether or not it's a keeper.

So create your direct mail offer with this golden moment in mind:

• Make your offer immediately visible. If you're mailing postcards, repeat the offer on both sides. If you're sending letter, put some form of the offer on the envelope.


• Write your offer in clear, simple language. Show it to several people and ask them to interpret it for you. If your test subjects can restate the offer in their own words without hesitation, it's clear enough. If they struggle, it's not clear enough.


• Repeat your offer more than once, and in more than one place. You can shape your offer into headlines, bullet points, callout boxes or starbursts, and even within the body copy of your direct mail piece. Make it impossible to miss.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Marketing: How to Choose a Postcard Vendor

by Brandon Cornett

Direct mail postcards can help you promote your business easily, effectively and affordably. But to capitalize on these benefits, you need a reliable and efficient program in place. That’s where postcard marketing vendors come into the picture.

Here are some key points to help you evaluate postcard marketing vendors:

Design Options
As far as your prospects are concerned, your direct mail postcards reflect your company as a whole. So design matters. Ask vendors what kind of design options they have. Some will offer a variety of design options to match the varying skill levels of their customers.

Some common design offerings include:

➢ Web-based design tools
➢ Complete design templates that customers can personalize
➢ The ability for customers to upload their own designs
➢ Stock images for customers to use
➢ The ability for customers to proof their designs online before checkout

Choose a vendor that offers at least two of these design options. If you find one that offers all of them, even better!

List Options
Most marketers maintain an in-house database of customers and/or prospects. So when reviewing postcard marketing vendors, ask if you can upload your own list. This is a common offering, but it’s best to make sure.

But what if you don’t have a mailing list? In such cases, you’ll need a vendor who offers some way to build a list online. This kind of feature is not as common as the “use your own” approach, so when you find a vendor who offers this, write them down for further consideration.

Then proceed to evaluate them based on the other checkpoints in this guide.

Mailing Options
Another consideration: what if you only want your postcards printed, but you’d rather stamp and mail them yourself (for a more personal touch)? Some vendors will print and mail your postcards to your list, but they won’t print and ship them to you. If you see yourself needing both options, ask about it in advance.

Pricing Structure
You would think postcard pricing would be straightforward. But in truth, there are a number of variables to consider and questions to ask.

For example, some postcard marketing vendors have "base pricing" that does not include things like two-sided color or postage. In such cases, you have to do a bit of math to figure out the true cost per postcard. Other vendors have an "all included" price that accounts for design work, full color on both sides, and postage (no math!).

Ease of Use
Even if a postcard marketing vendor scores well in all other areas, it won’t matter if you can’t figure out how to use their service. The technical term for this is "usability."

First and foremost, find out if the service is entirely web-based or not. After all, the whole idea of using a vendor is to pass the logistical burden over to them, right? You should be able to place a postcard marketing order from your home or office computer. In this age of Internet commerce, there’s no reason not to have this ability.

Conclusion
Direct mail marketing with postcards can be an affordable, effective part of your overall marketing program. But to get the most out of it, you need to find a vendor who's right for you. Use this guide to evaluate postcard marketing vendors. Choose wisely, and your direct mail postcard program will be easier to manage, more effective, and more professional.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Use Direct Mail to Capture Leads Online

by Brandon Cornett

Here's an easy and affordable direct mail marketing tactic to help you capture leads online:

First — create an informational product your key prospects would find interesting and helpful. "White paper" is the current buzzword, but it's not that important how you refer to the document, so long as you sell the value and uniqueness of it.

Next — use direct mail postcards to promote the value of this unique (and free) document, and point to the web page where it can be downloaded.

Lastly — have a web-based lead-capturing system in place to collect name and email address of interested prospects. One easy way to do this is to put the document online, use a newsletter sign-up box on the web page, and then send a link to the document via auto-responder confirmation message.

Your prospect has gained some valuable information (which also serves to promote your services, by the way), and you've gained a way to contact them. Everyone gets something.

It's easy. It's affordable. It's measurable.

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Case Study: Promoting Seminars

by Brandon Cornett

I came across an interesting case study at the USPS website today. It was from a man in Denver, Colorado who runs his own business conducting seminars. He uses direct mail postcard marketing to promote the seminars and increase the number of sign-ups.

Here's an excerpt of his comment:

When I want my cash register to ring on Friday, I mail postcards on Monday. My seminars on "How to Speak for Fun and Profit" FILL UP every time with postcard mailings … Starting noon Tuesday my phone begins ringing with registrations for my seminars. By Friday, classes are FILLED. Ka-ching!

This is a perfect example of how direct mail postcards can (A) support a broader sales cycle, (B) inform people toward action, and (C) get the job done quickly!

There are dozens of similar applications for which direct mail is perfectly suited. You could use postcards to...

• Point to a free download from a website
• Promote a web-based training course
• Educate readers about a product or service, with a web address where they can learn more
• Solicit newsletter subscribers
• And on and on ... the possibilities are many!

Just remember to have something on the other end of the postcard mailing. The postcard can generate interest and some form of action, but rarely can it complete the sales cycle all on its own. In the example above, the man used postcards to get people to call and sign up for a seminar. A short sales cycle, but there was still the person on the phone who had to pick up where the direct mail piece left off.

Use your imagination. Have a process in place. Give your postcards clear and realistic objectives. See where they can take you.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Postcards and Multi-Step Marketing

by Brandon Cornett

Instead of overburdening your marketing postcards by asking them to do all the selling, try using them as part of a multi-step sales process.

For instance, maybe the postcard will mention a valuable white paper or report that's free for prospects to download ... something related to what you're selling that will prequalify prospects. When they go to download the report, they're asked for a valid email address (because a download link will be emailed to them). Now you've got a pre-qualified lead you can contact!

But if you had asked your postcard to bear this entire burden by putting a "contact us today" message on it, do you think you'd enjoy the same kind of response?

Hardly.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Postcards: Two Sides, Two Missions

by Brandon Cornett

When creating your direct mail marketing postcards, understand that each side of the postcard has a distinct job.

* Side A (a.k.a. the design side) should grab attention. Use image and headline combinations that make it irrestible for prospects to flip the card over.

* Side B (a.k.a. the address side) should complete the idea introduced on Side A, with the ultimate goal of selling the next step in the sales process.

While there are always exceptions to direct mail "rules," the concept above has been proven to work best in the majority of postcard marketing scenarios. So why not try it for yourself?

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Simplify Your Direct Mail Message

by Brandon Cornett

Postcards are small and direct. That's an advantage they have over a direct mail letter. With no envelope to get between you and your recipient, the message can make an immediate connection.

"Immediate" is the key word here. Limit your postcard to one main idea, and keep your language clear and simple. That doesn't mean you should talk down to your audience. It just means you should make your message and your offer so clear that readers "get it" upon first glance.

When you confuse a reader, you lose a reader. So make your message clear.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Track Your Direct Mail Response Rates, Always

by Brandon Cornett

Make sure you have some way to track the responses you get back from each mailing. This will allow you to compare one postcard message to another to see which one performs better. You'll also be able to compare individual elements, like the headline, the offer, the list, etc.

Tracking can be done by recording the number of RSVPs, web visits to a particular URL, phone calls, and a variety of other ways.

Armed with the information you gain from testing, you can continue to improve your direct mail pieces over time.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

In Direct Mail, Sell the Next Step

by Brandon Cornett

Before you can begin writing your postcard message, you need to figure out the next step in your sales process. If your goal is to convince the reader that your product or service is superior to all others in its class, your postcard will probably come up short. That's a lot to ask of an 8" x 5" piece of card stock.

People will learn about the quality of your product or service by experiencing it firsthand. They won't learn it (or believe it) from a single postcard.

There is a sales path to be followed, and the marketing postcard is the first (or sometimes second) step along that path. That's the job it should perform — moving the reader forward in the sales process. For example:

• If you're selling software, the postcard could point to a free 30-day trial available on a web page somewhere.


• If you're selling your real estate services, the postcard could mention a free report about area schools.


• If you're in the financial services industry, you could use postcards to invite people to a money-saving seminar.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

In Direct Mail, One Idea Per Postcard

by Brandon Cornett

You won't have a lot of space on your postcard, so don't spread your message too thin. One fully developed topic is a hundred times better than five half-developed topics.

By focusing on one product (or service, or idea, or topic), you can develop it in a way that is more likely to generate a response. You could mention the primary benefits, give a testimonial or two, show some photos, make a strong offer and provide a call to action.

But you can't do all that while covering several topics. So save the multi-topic approach for your brochures and website.

People request brochures, but they don't request postcards. For that reason, they give postcards a lot less attention. A quick glance may be all you get. So keep your postcard focused and to the point — one idea per postcard.

Happy Direct Mailing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com