Modern Marketing With Postcards

By Bob Leduc
Posted Saturday, January 29, 2005

Postcards may be one of the best kept secrets of modern marketing. They produce even better results now than in the past. That's probably because postcards deliver information the way people want to get it today ...fast and with little or no effort.

Use Postcards to Generate Website Traffic and Sales Leads

A brief captivating message on a postcard with an enticing offer sent to the right prospects will generate a flood of traffic to your website - or a large number of sales leads.

Keep your postcard simple. Make it look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like an advertisement. This creates a pleasant emotional response from readers even though they quickly realize that it is a commercial message.

State the biggest benefit you offer to customers. Then briefly add a few other advantages or features you provide. End with a compelling reason for prospects to contact you ...or to go to your website for more details. It's that simple.

Tip: Don't try to close sales directly from a postcard. There's not enough space on a postcard to provide all the information your prospects need to make a buying decision.

People Read Postcards

Almost everybody will read a postcard - even those who usually throw out other direct mail without opening it. That's because it's almost impossible to throw out a postcard without looking at the message.

This high rate of readership is the main reason why postcards produce a bigger response than other types of direct marketing. With other types of marketing you often lose prospects who would have responded to your offer - but they never saw it.

Tip: Postcards are an excellent low-cost alternative to email. People get so much email today that even legitimate messages are getting deleted unread. But they get few if any postcards. Your message is guaranteed to get their attention when it's delivered on a postcard.

Postcards are Cheap to Produce

Postcards cost less than 2 cents each to produce if you print them using your own computer. You can print postcards individually on blank 4 x 6 inch index cards or print 4 postcards on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of index card stock and cut each sheet into quarters.

Your postcards will cost between 4 cents and 9 cents each to produce if you use a commercial printer ...depending on the number you have printed and the quality you want.

Postcards are Cheap to Mail

Even the postage for mailing postcards is cheap - 23 cents each to send them by First Class Mail in the US. The only requirement for this special rate is that the dimensions of your postcards must be at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches.

Tip: Always use a real 23 cent stamp on your postcards. It produces more replies than a printed indicia (imprinted postage) ...probably because people associate a printed indicia with junk mail.

Don't overlook postcards the next time you want to drive a huge amount of traffic to your website or generate a flood of new sales leads. They're simple to use, highly effective and very low-cost.

About the Author
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: (http://BobLeduc.com or call): 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV