Postcard Marketing - Using Deadlines to Boost Response

Deadlines can motivate prospects and increase the success of your postcard marketing campaign.

In fact, with all other things being equal, a direct mail postcard with a deadline will out-perform a postcard without a deadline 99% of the time.

But be careful with postcard marketing deadlines. Using them the wrong way can do more harm than good in the long run. How do you use them the right way? For starters, you can follow the advice of Alan Sharpe in today's featured article.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
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Direct Mail Deadlines: How to Use Them Effectively
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing - 12 Reasons to Use It

Postcard marketing has the power to transform almost any kind of business for the better.

For one thing, direct mail postcards are *virtually guaranteed* to be noticed. There's no envelope to open, so there's no "barrier" between your message and your prospective customer.

Postcards can also be shaped to fit any marketing objective for any type of company. Whether you're a small business owner or the marketing manager for a large company, direct mail postcards can help you achieve your messaging goals.

Need More Reasons to Use Postcard Marketing?
Professional marketer Bob Leduc has a few more reasons to offer ... 12 reasons in fact!

Read Bob's Article:
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12 Reasons to Market with Postcards
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Marketing - Postcards or Envelopes?

When planning a direct mail campaign, one of the first questions that will come up is whether to use postcards or envelopes. In other words, should you send self-mailers or letter kits?

This will depend on a number of factors. And while there are no right or wrong answers (only results!), there are some best practices to help you decide. Direct mail marketers have learned that postcards work better in certain situations, and envelopes in others.

Where are you in the sales process? What's your offer? Are you using a website or landing page to support your mailing and provide additional information? These and other questions should be answered before you decide.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
Today's featured article examines the postcard vs. envelope question to help you come up with your own answer.

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Should You Use Postcards or Envelopes
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Design - The Billboard Approach to Postcard Design

What do direct mail postcards have in common with billboards? Both of them function on the "quick glance" principle.

Billboards try to convey their message at a glance in hopes that you'll stop to visit a store, tune your radio to a certain station, or make a mental note to buy what they're selling. Postcards try to convey their message at a glance in hopes that you'll keep reading!

So when designing direct mail postcards, keep the "quick glance" principle in mind. Use an intriguing headline with relevant, eye-catching graphics to capture you're readers. Because only then will they move on to your offer and call-to-action.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
Today's featured article explains the billboard approach to direct mail design in more detail. It's by postcard marketing expert Martha Retallick.

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Read Martha's Article
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Design - Helpful Tips and Tricks

You could write a book about direct mail design. In fact, some people have.

Design plays a key role in direct mail, because the first thing direct mail has to do is capture the recipient's attention. Sure, the headline and copy will move readers along, and the offer will determine whether or not they respond. But without an inviting, eye-catching design, the reader might not even make it to the copy or the offer.

This is especially true with direct mail postcards. Postcards come out of the mailbox "eyeball ready," so you can really boost readership with a good design.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
You can learn more about direct mail postcard design from Martha Retallick, world-renowned expert on postcard marketing.

Read Martha's article:
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Quick Postcard Design Tips
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Campaign Tips - What's Your Offer?

Purpose of this direct mail campaign tip: To explain the need for a strong, relevant offer within your direct mail message. To provide additional resources to help you do so.

With all other things being equal, a stronger offer will pull a stronger response. Yet all too often I see people send direct mail postcards without any kind of offer whatsoever, or an offer so weak it might as well be left off. Why this is, I'll never know.

We get flooded with information. Time is our most precious commodity. We have a shortage of time and an overwhelming surplus of information to process.

With that in mind, would you really send a direct mail piece without some kind of offer? Would you ignore the inherent value of your postcard when sending it? Of course you wouldn't. And that's why we have this article for you...

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Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com:
Direct Mail Offers: Eight Steps to Making Them Effective
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Campaign Strategy - Reviving Inactive Customers

Purpose of this direct mail campaign tip: To explain the power of direct mail in reviving inactive customers. To provide additional resources to help you do so.

You've no doubt heard the 80/20 rule before. You get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers.

While those numbers might not be exact, one thing is for certain ... people who've bought from you before are better prospects than total strangers. So if you're an established business with past customers, you're probably better off focusing your direct mail campaign efforts on them, rather than focusing on customer acquisition.

Customer rewards programs, new-product announcements, referral-based programs ... these are just a few of the ways to apply direct mail marketing to your customer base.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
Today's featured article reinforces the ideas stated above. Marketing executive Alicia McSorley will explain how to use a direct mail campaign to awaken your inactive customer base.

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Read Alicia's Article:
Targeting Inactive Customers with Postcards
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing Advice for Real Estate Agents and Brokers

For decades, real estate agents and brokers have used postcard marketing to reach their primary audience -- home buyers and sellers.

It's fairly obvious why so many agents favor real estate postcards. Using postcards, real estate agents can communicate with a very specified mailing area. They can define the neighborhoods they'd like to reach, create a mailing list to match, and put their message in front of their key audience easily and cost-effectively.

Want to learn more?
Sending postcards to a group of recipients is not enough. You have to send effective postcards that will actually move your readers toward the desired response. To help you do that, we have compiled a group of real estate-specific articles at PostcardSmart.com.

Why not start with this one:
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Postcard Marketing Tips for Real Estate Agents
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing Tips from the Pros

Need some postcard marketing advice? Maybe a little mental boost to help you plan your next direct mail campaign?

If so, we have just the thing for you at PostcardSmart.com. For instance...

Direct mail copywriter Alan Sharpe has written a helpful article loaded with postcard marketing tips: What to do on each side of your postcard, how to end with a bang, how to increase response rates and more.

You can read Alan's article here:
Postcard Direct Mail Marketing Tips & Ideas

You can read similar articles here:
Direct Mail Postcard Basics


Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing - Perfect for Small Businesses

It always surprises me when I'm talking to a small business owner and they tell me they've never considered postcard marketing.

"I don't have time for all that," they say. "Designing postcards, printing them, addressing them, stamping them, mailing them ... forget it."

Then I'll show them a web-based postcard marketing service that does everything mentioned above, and they're baffled: "You mean they do everything for me?"

In a word, yes. And usually for a great price!

The point I'm making is this. Nine times out of ten, postcard marketing is perfectly suited for the small business owner. With postcards, you can shape your marketing to fit any business objective, any skill level, and any budget.

Learn more about small business postcard marketing:
At PostcardSmart.com, we have a variety of educational resources to help small business owners get the most out of a postcard marketing program. Here are a few to get you started:

* 12 Reasons to Market with Postcards

* Postcard Marketing Your Small Business

*Business Postcard Marketing: 35 Ways to Use It


Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Advertising - Testing Your Offer

In direct mail advertising, testing your offer is critical. Only with a testing and measurement plan in place will you know which offers work well and which ones flop.

It's a basic law of comparison. If you only use one offer in your direct mail advertising, you'll never have any points of comparison. Without comparison, you'll have no way of knowing how truly effective your offer is.
Featured Article at PostcardSmart
In today's featured article, direct mail copywriter Alan Sharpe explains how to test a direct mail offer. Specifically, he offers 5 key strategies you can use in your testing program.

* Read Alan's article *


Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Advertising - How to Write a Stronger Message

Direct mail advertising relies on a strong message. Strip away the design and the gloss, and you're left with words. And only words have the power to make a sale, generate a response, or convey an idea.

But what if you're not a writer? Do you need to hire a direct mail copywriter? Maybe. Some copywriters are pros at direct mail advertising. But what if you don't have the budget to hire a direct mail copywriter?

You might not believe it at first, but effective copywriting is within your reach. You don't have to be Shakespeare to write an effective direct mail postcard ... you just have to follow a few best practices and fundamentals.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart
Today's postcard marketing article in the spotlight explains the ins and outs of direct mail copywriting. After reading this article, you'll probably be more confident in your own ability to create a direct mail message.

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Read the article here
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Direct Mail Advertising - Postcards as Billboards

Direct Mail Advertising Tip: Treat Your Postcards Like Billboards

In direct mail advertising, you must get the reader's attention fast. You already know this, so I won't bore you by belaboring the point. Instead, let's talk about how you might go about doing this.

What other form of advertising has to get the reader's attention fast? Billboards, that's right. Billboards have to get their message across as people drive by and give them a glance. Now compare this to the "at a glance" nature of direct mail postcards, and you'll see where I'm going with this.

You can improve the effectiveness of your direct mail advertising, by designing postcards as mini-billboards.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
In today's featured article, postcard veteran Martha Retallick will explain how to create postcards using a billboard approach.

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Read Martha's article
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing Strategy - Working Backwards

by Brandon Cornett

Does part of your postcard strategy require that people actually respond in some way?

Of course it does. At least, it should. A postcard marketing campaign that doesn't aim for a response is a waste of time, paper and postage.

So if the response is so important to you, why not start there and work backwards? Instead of starting with the postcard design or copy, start with the point of persuasion and find out what makes it happen. Sit down with sales people and find out how they close sales. What makes people respond? What excites them? What turns them off?

Answer these questions before starting the postcard creative process, and you'll have a much easier go of it.

Featured Article on Postcard Marketing
Author and direct mail copywriter Alan Sharpe has some pointers on how you can do this. In his article, "In B2B Direct Mail Lead Generation, Work Backwards," Alan explains the importance of starting postcard campaigns by asking the right questions of the right people. He also tells you just how to go about it!

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Real Alan's postcard marketing article
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing Strategy - 8 Steps to a Stronger Offer

by Brandon Cornett

Sending a direct mail marketing postcard without a strong offer is like a giving an empty box as a Christmas gift -- a waste of time and effort.

Gone are the days when consumers would sit with rapt attention and read every line of a sales letter or advertisement. Today, people are busier, more active in their lifestyles, and overwhelmed with massive amounts of information. Today's consumers have also developed keen abilities to sort, prioritize and filter these vast amounts of information.

What does this have to do with your postcard marketing strategy? Everything...

If your direct mail postcards don't grab the reader with a strong, relevant and well-written offer, they will find their way to the nearest trashcan.

Featured Article at PostcardSmart.com
In today's featured article, direct mail copywriter Alan Sharpe shows us how to create a compelling offer to increase response rates.

Alan's Article:
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Direct Mail Offers: 8 Steps to Making Them Effective
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Postcard Marketing Strategy - Awaken Your Sleeping Customers

by Brandon Cornett

Do you have customers you haven't heard from in a while? Want to tell them about your latest products or newest services? Postcard marketing can do the job.

You've probably heard that selling to customers is more economical than converting prospects. After all, if people have bought from you before, they're likely to buy from you again (provided your product or service delivered).

Featured Article
In a featured article on PostcardSmart.com, marketing executive Alicia McSorley explains how to use direct mail marketing postcards to stimulate business from past customers.

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Read Alicia's postcard marketing article
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Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Real Estate Postcards - How Are Yours Different?

by Brandon Cornett

If you're a real estate agent, and real estate postcards are part of your marketing mix, there's something you should realize: The average adult consumer has seen a lot of real estate postcards from a lot of agents over the years.

That's not meant to discourage you ... just to get a point across. In order for your postcards to (A) stand out, (B) evoke a response and (C) lead to any kind of ROI, they need to be different from other postcards.

Let me rephrase that. They need to be better than other postcards.

How do you make your real estate postcards better than those of the competition? Well, you can do it in a number of ways. Use the hyperlinks below to discover...

* Postcard marketing tips for real estate agents

* Six ways to improve your real estate postcards

* Tips on improving your postcard design

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

Real Estate Postcards - How to Measure Your Success

by Brandon Cornett

Question #1: Are you an agent who uses real estate postcards to support your overall marketing objectives? If so, you should be able to answer my newt questions:

Question #2: What was the response rate on your last postcard marketing campaign?

If you can answer this question, move on to Question #3. If you cannot answer this question, see article link at end of blog post.

Question #3: Which parts of your real estate postcards have you varied and tested?

If you can answer this question, move to the front of the class. If you cannot answer this question, see article link at end of blog post.

The point of this little quiz is to convey the importance of testing your real estate postcards. If you're not sure how to begin a testing program, you'll find all the answers you need in the following articles:

How to Measure Your Direct Mail Success

Measuring the Return on Your Direct Mail

Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com