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* MarkeTips
Postcards² - Part II
Before you write a word, think about what the customer
wants to know about your product or service.
They do not care about you (really.)
They care about what you can
do for them. Know your target audience.
Who is it you are after? - Heidi Richards -
I LOVE Postcards! In
fact, it is my number one, favorite way to market my products and
services. Postcards have many advantages over other forms of
direct mail. If you
read Part I, you already know the size makes them cost-effective.
If you want to increase your response rate, first you must
think about the layout. A
well thought out postcard will have a much greater response rate
than one that is too busy, has the wrong information on it, or is
too small to read.
Tips to postcard success
:
Don’t inform; connect – with words. Words make
the sale. In postcard
marketing, a word can be worth a thousand pictures.
Paint a picture in the customer’s mind.
Get him or her to feel something. Don’t waste valuable
space describing your company features.
Tell the reader what’s in it for her.
Focus on benefits.
Use small words.
Why use “metropolis,” when “city” will do? “Thank
you” is just as good as “with sincere appreciation,” and
takes up less space. Remember,
you only have at the most 1½ sides of a 4 X 6 or 5 ½ X 8 ½ card
to work with.
Use less words.
Why write three words when one will do?
With postcards you must get to the point quickly and
effectively. Editing
is the key to postcard copyright success. Make every word count.
Be specific. Instead
of saying to the reader, using Turn Back Time Cream will make you
look “younger,” why not say “Turn Back Time Cream will turn
the clock back up to (5) or (10) years … provided the claim can
be substantiated. Always
be truthful in your advertising, if it can’t be proven, don’t
make the claim.
Photo postcards attract attention. Graphics set the
stage for the message. So does bright neon paper.
Use color. Black
and white is also effective on a glossy white card stock.
I even find black and white with a splash of another bright
color works well.
Create a Strong headline. Pack all you can into it.
The purpose of the headline is to get the attention of the
reader. (If you
want to know more about headlines, send me an email with
“Headlines Sell” in the subject line and I will send you the
article).
What do you want them to do once you find the intended
reader? How will you
motivate them to take action? Do you want them to call, go to your
website, visit your place of business, write to an address, email
you…? And what will the reader get in return for responding?
You could offer him or her a free gift, a discount,
information.
Include your mailing address, and contact information on
the postcard. People
need to know how to get hold of you.
I don’t do business with people who only put an email
address or website on their promotional information.
Having this information makes me feel that they are a
“real” business.
Make it easy to read.
Never use type smaller than 8 point.
For maximum results, use at least 10point type.
Postcards can be used in numerous ways.
Here are just a few ways to add postcards to your direct
mail plan.
Survey your customers.
I have used survey postcards to find out how we are doing.
You can ask your customers if they were satisfied with your
product or service. You
can find out more about your customer with surveys. Keep in mind
that most people are bombarded with messages daily and another
survey isn’t something they are willingly going complete.
Give them something for their time.
Make sure the offer is something they would value.
(Send me a message with postcard survey and I will email
you one of ours).
Postcard coupons and gift certificates are very effective.
In Part I, I mentioned Bed, Bath and Beyond.
What kind of discount could you offer your intended
audience? Again, it
should be something of perceived value, something they either
“want” or “need” at the moment.
Why not send a postcard newsletter? Postcard newsletters
are a great way to deliver small “bits” of information such as
lists, facts, trivia, tips, and news. I once received the “World’s
Tiniest (or Smallest) Newsletter” which was a 4 inch by
6 inch postcard. It
had the address, the return address and postage on one side and
the other was either 10 or 20 bullet points with trivia tidbits.
I believe it started out “Did you know?” …with
information like “Elephants drink up to 80 gallons of water a
day,” “A
language becomes extinct in this world every two weeks”
or that “The turkey was once nominated to be the official bird
of the
United
States.”
It grabs the readers’ attention and it is how he gets
people to subscribe to his service. If you know who writes this,
and how to contact him or her, drop me an email. I will send you a gift of one of my special reports, my way
of saying thanks! I
will also share the information in the next issue.
Use it for “back-end” sales. Make the buyer an offer for a related product or service
within 30 days of their initial purchase.
Keep your customers in the loop. Let them know what is new and exciting in your company.
Are you launching a new website, did you redesign the
current one, are you carrying a new product or offering a new
service. Mention that
your company just received a special award or special recognition. Remember that people love to do business with successful
people. Use postcards to spread the word.
Thank and congratulate people with postcards.
I order at least five different picture postcard styles a
year (quantities from 250 to 2,500) and use them to stay in touch
with people. Many of
them are pictures of my staff and me in action.
Some are trips I have taken, others are candid shots taken
in my retail flower shop. People
often comment on these and I have even seen them hanging on my
customers’ bulletin boards in their place of business. I send
these to people to thank them for referrals, use them as
congratulations cards and to stay in touch.
Send them to preferred customers.
I love to shop at CACHE’
(a woman’s clothing store).
In fact, it is my favorite place to shop.
Not only because the clothes are beautiful and stylish,
Kathy, Bertha, Frances and the entire staff of my Cache’ treat
me like a queen whenever I go there.
Oftentimes I just go to look, and yet they still treat me
like royalty. Every
three months I receive a preferred customer postcard in the mail
with a special offer. It
is either $25 off your next purchase or a substantial % discount.
If you want to know the truth, I think they treat EVERY
customer like a preferred. It
doesn’t matter, because it makes me feel good.
Rarely does the offer go unused in my house.
Use postcards to remember special dates.
If you keep
track of many of your customers’ anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
this is a wonderful way to wish them good tidings. You will be amazed at how surprised and pleased he or she is
when they get a greeting from you in the mail.
Remind them that you are in business.
Do you depend on repeat business?
Postcards keep you at the top of the customer’s mind.
Postcards make great invitations.
I am having a book signing for the Career Compass for Women
on March 11, 2004. 1,000
people will get a postcard announcing the event.
In many of my nonprofit organizations we use them as
“save-the-date” announcements for upcoming fundraising events.
This puts people on notice and gives us the opportunity for
some good pre-event publicity.
We have even recruited volunteers and received donations
simply because we sent a “save-the-date postcard.
Turn your postcard into an order form for almost any type
of product. Are you hosting a seminar?
Use it as a postcard sign-up form.
They simply fill it out, put it in an envelope with the
proper postage and send it to you.
Magazines and newspapers often use these to make it easy
for their customers to renew subscriptions.
If the postcards are not getting the response you expect, a
number of factors could be contributing to the low response rate.
The list. The people you are sending to
are not your target audience.
The offer. You may be offering something no
one wants or needs.
The design. The postcard is poorly designed.
The response. You haven’t clearly stated the
action you want readers to take.
Timing. You picked a time of year (season) day that didn’t work.
I once worked on a political campaign for a friend who was
running for Judge. My
job was to help with the postcard mailings. Timing was crucial to
the outcome. I was
told the postcard needed to reach the voters by a certain date.
No sooner, or no later.
They must have known what they were doing because my friend
won the election.
To get the best results,
TEST your message. Run
several tests to see what works best.
Change or reword the offer, change the action step, send to
different mailing lists.
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