shurlock walrus: How to Get More Leads Using Postcard Marketing

Before pay-per-click was born; before opt-in became a part of a marketer's vocabulary; heck, even before the whole darn internet was even invented, direct response postcards were generating leads and building businesses. Why hasn't this vintage marketing tool been retired yet? The answer is simple; direct response postcards are highly effective at generating new leads in places where email marketing can?t go.

Who Needs Direct Response Postcards When We Have Email?

That was the panic some years ago by the direct mail industry. Email and electronic communication were seen as the proverbial "salt" that was about to be poured on the back of the poor little snail mail. But the truth today is that direct response postcards have never been more effective than ever. Why is that?

First of all, postcards are still the cheapest form of direct mail to send out - cheap enough to fall within the grasps of most small business marketing budgets. Second, email marketing?s ?ugly side? shows up in just about everyone?s inbox these days in the form of spam. Because of spammers, we?ve been trained to be very quick at judging the quality of an email and even quicker to hit that delete button. Not good when you?re trying to communicate a marketing message to your list.

That's where direct response postcards have an advantage. Postcards are delivered by mail, so that need to be handled and examined even if they they're tossed in the trash. Second, since everyone and their Grandma sends emails, receiving a piece of direct mail conveys a higher level of importance than an email does. Third, you can't legally send email to a purchased list of emails that have not opted-in for marketing communication from you. But, guess what? You can with postcard mailers. If you have a very clear idea who your target customers are, then there's probably a list out there that can target them. Send them a postcard so they can opt-in to your email list and then you'll be fully compliant with federal CAN-SPAM laws.

The Benefits of Marketing with Direct Response Postcards

Postcards get read. The message on a postcard is out there to read in plain view. There's no need to open an envelope to get to the message. Unlike email, the suspect needs to examine the postcard to determine whether the message is relevant or not before throwing it in the trash.

Postcards allow you to inexpensively test a list or a new market before investing in a larger campaign. If you're planning a large direct mail campaign, it's often wise to test out a list or a market with a smaller direct response postcard mailer before plunging head first with the expensive campaign.

Postcard printing and postage are relatively cheap. A wide variety of printers offer great deals on bulk postcard printing and 1st class postage for a postcard is much cheaper than letter rate. This allows pretty much any business of any size to use postcard marketing as a marketing channel.

Postcards can be used to clean your lists. If you're sending postcards to your house list then use 1st class postage with a ?return to sender? label underneath. That way, any undeliverable postcards should be returned back to you so that you can update your house list and keep it as current as possible.

Using Postcards to Generate Leads Via the Two-Step Approach

When marketing to purchased lists using direct response postcards, you should, in most cases, use what is called a two-step approach. This is where you don't directly sell to the prospect from the postcard, but rather offer something for free or at a very low cost so that you acquire leads. Once you have leads then you can market to them directly using a sales letter or sales person to overcome their objections, stress benefits and close the deal.

The important part of the postcard in the two-step postcard marketing approach is to stress the freemium offer because you'll want to make it worth their while to: 1) Not throw the postcard away, and 2) take the postcard over to their computer and pull up your website squeeze page where they can give you their information and get their freebie. Probably the most important part of the postcard is creating a captivating headline that will immediately grab the reader's attention and make them read and examine your offer more thoroughly.

Additional Postcard Marketing Tips for Success

The key a successful postcard marketing campaign is in your mailing list. The most important factor in your postcard marketing campaign will always be the quality of your list. You want to get your list from a reputable broker and make sure that you're targeting suspects that'll actually be interested in your offer. Use my target market worksheet to help you.

The headline is the second most important piece of your postcard. Let's face it - There?s not a lot of space on a postcard, so you?ll want to craft a concise, powerful headline that grabs the reader and makes them want to read the rest of the copy below.? A good headline can be responsible for dramatically improving the response rate of your mailer.

Focus all your efforts to get the suspect to request your freemium offer. Forget trying to sell directly to the suspect with a postcard. You?ll only waste your time. Instead, focus all your efforts to get the suspect to request your free offer by giving up their contact information. Once they do that, then they become a viable lead and you can then try to sell your products/services to them with a beefier form of communication (sales call, sales letter, webinar, etc.).

Beautiful rarely improves response?and sometimes decreases it. This is true for most, if not all of direct response marketing. Beautiful graphics, high-gloss stock and clever branding makes your postcard mailer worthy to be framed and hung up in your office, but it doesn?t do anything to improve your response rate. Your response rate from postcard mailers comes from your headline, copy and having a very compelling offer. Work on those critical elements first, then ?prettify? it if you want afterwards.

About the Author
Tristan Loo is a Copywriter and Marketing Strategist based out of San Diego, California. His passion is helping businesses of all shapes and sizes generate more sales through better written communication. To contact Tristan, click here.

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