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Postcard Marketing - Need Advice

by MsMotivation1
9 replies
I offer a service to offline businesses and need to do a mailing campaign to get customers calling me.

Does anyone have any suggestions about which postcard marketing training program works?

Or if you just have your own tips or ideas for me regarding it?

I need to do a postcard campaign, but I want to do it right and COST EFFECTIVELY.

So if you have suggestions on a postcard vendor and/or someone who can teach me how to do it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!
#advice #marketing #postcard
  • Profile picture of the author jaggyjay
    Hi msmotivation,

    You'll need to plan your campaign in the same way one would do a regular mailing campaign. Keep in mind that when it comes to mailings, the more you mail, the more you save. For example, mailing 100k mailers will be more cost effective *per piece mailed* than mailing 20k. Also, bulk mail is cheaper than 1st class. Presorting saves you quite a bit as well.

    Naturally, the list you choose is almost always the most important factor. Be sure to test it with a modest mailing of at least 2K postcards.

    If you've never done a mailing before I don't advise you attempt to do it yourself just yet. Find a good list via a broker, then hire a mailing house to plan, design and do your mailing.

    Lastly, test and track your campaign results. If it does well -- then simply rinse, wash, repeat... er... or is it wash, rinse, repeat? I'm sure you get the idea

    Hope this helps.

    - jay
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    • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
      Postcards can be very effective for winning new business, but
      you must mail multiple times to reap the rewards because most
      people will throw away postcards on the first exposure. Business
      owners in particular demand to see evidence of your commitment
      before they will do business with you. That means the more times
      they see your postcard the more likely they are to be taking you
      seriously.

      Usually what I've done is use a postcard with a Voicemail (1-800)
      number on it. I emphasize that the caller will NOT be speaking
      to a real person - the reluctance to have a sales conversation
      will in fact cause many people to not call you, so make sure your
      postcard says it's a 24-hour automated message, not a real
      person they have to speak to.

      Then when they call and hear your short pitch they can request
      more information and will usually willingly leave full name, address,
      and phone number.

      Then you mail off a sales letter package.

      Call 3-5 days after mailing the packet to confirm receipt. I recommend
      using a script which gathers some useful information if possible.
      Sometimes this call will turn into a sales conversation so be
      prepared.

      7-10 days after mailing the letter send a follow-up letter asking
      why you haven't heard from them.

      7-10 days after that send another, similar "last chance" type letter.

      If you don't hear back from the prospect after they've requested
      info and got a phone call and three letters from you they are
      probably not interested or having real problems and will get back
      to you when they are ready. Bounce those names back into
      the pool of post-card recipients and start the process over anyway.

      I don't recommend you forgo the voicemail and use a website instead.
      Bad idea because a lot of people barely use the internet. Almost
      everybody uses phones.
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      • Profile picture of the author archivefive
        Click2Mail has an easy inexpensive automated way to send postcards. Just upload a spreadsheet of addresses, and text for the postcard, and you're good to go.

        I've never used Click2Mail for postcards though.
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        • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
          You guys crack me up ... 2k postcards to start - nope.

          A professional list from a list broker - nope

          Bulk stamped postcards - nope

          Professional postcards - nope

          I didn't do any of that crap to make money. I simply focused on a target market and went after it. I think I mailed 250 or 500 postcards to start and bankrolled the project in cash from there. I used a simple back and white postcard on both sides that was made on $30 program and printed at the local office supply store.

          Oh and I got the list online at first for the cost of nothing. I did eventually buy a list of the entire US more out of laziness than anything.

          Ms M. I suggest you read the postcard book you bought and if you have questions let me know. Also like anything else in life - I take advice from people who can PROVE things to me - earning, examples, testimonials, etc.

          Tim
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Riddle
    Tim,

    It reminds me of the post I had earlier where I said I mailed 200 post cards and the folks blasted the post because "You have to mail 5000 to do any good".

    Never mind I was doing a local mailing with local phone number in a city that doesn't HAVE 5000 businesses

    Without know what the purpose of the project is, it is difficult to determine what needs to be done with your postcards.

    • Lead generation to list?
    • Fill a class?
    • Get people to show up for a free concert???

    Mark Riddle
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  • Profile picture of the author TheWealthSquad
    Postcards can be effective at ___________. You can fill in the blank with nearly any result and can see results from postcards. BUT you have to change the way you use them.

    Vistaprint offers some good deals (sign up for the reseller program - it is free and gives you much better deals with weekly emails. You can get free cards sometimes in full color)

    The postcard needs to catch their attention. It needs to have a strong call to action.

    Depending on your market, desired results, etc you mail them differently and use them differently. I do post card mailings every year for my offline business. Haven't mailed 5000 in a year yet. Some of them have been home runs. Some of them utter flops.

    Just like in every form of marketing, test test test. Start small. Develop a proven system to convert them to customers, scale up in digestible bites. If you mail 100 cards and double your money, invest it back into mailing 200 cards. Them 400 cards. then 800 cards. The mailings finance themselves and if you have good back end products you can make money with the list of active buyers. (Make sure you build a list of the people who return the card).
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    • Profile picture of the author TimCastleman
      Mark & All -

      Look you need to do a test, no doubt. But you don't need a few thousand to do so. I tested at several hundred at a time and as the bankroll increased then I can expand the amount I test.

      If you're like Mark and you don't have but a couple of hundred or thousand businesses around you - no problem - just mail them more often.

      Look I live in Texas so when I send out my cards I sent them out all over the state but my friend who lives in Washington gets the same response for sending postcards within 2 hours of where he lives. Point being - it depends on where you live, # of prospects, etc. No two situations are the same.

      Also you can't send 100 cards and expect to double your money. Sorry, don't see that happening. Speaking of price, you really need to understand this to be successful.

      You can't get rich or make money really if you aren't charging a good price for your services.

      Look if you only get 1 client for everytime you mail a postcard then you need enough money to not ONLY make the money back from mailing but also do a little thing called paying bills and eating every once in a while.

      My point - charge more for your services.

      Gotta run ... more later.
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