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Postcard Marketing Qs

by TeamBringIt
23 replies
Hey offliners,

I am getting read to launch a decent sized offline campaign and wanted the advice of the experts.

1. I am getting my postcards designed
2. I plan on getting 500 postcards
3. I plan on working with eddm

My questions are this:
1. What kind of tool can i use to create my own labels and individually
put them on each postcard?

2.When I meet with the client and show them a sample of my card designs and they agree on one of them. Then I will give them an option of mailing either 500 cards or 1000 or maybe even 2000. How much would you charge per postcard mailed?

I am taking into consideration (card design,postage,copywriting,me mailing)

2.A - once you mail one set of cards or campaign, then can you charge the same price again at next mailing? Will the client pay for the cards that were already designed? will they want a cheaper price next time since you already had the design done the first time?

Can you retain the rights to your card design and copywriting?

3.EDDM - when we are talking routes, we need to find businesses that are in the same route? like practically next to eachother? Is this how eddm works? How can we find if our chosen businesses are in the same route?

Last but not least, how many postcards should a business mail out per month and how many times should they repeat mailing out cards for it to be a successful campaign.

Thank you warriors, sorry for the long post, but these questions would be very helpful to me and others!
#marketing #postcard
  • Profile picture of the author ClayWhite
    You should seek out Bob Ross, hes the expert on Direct Mail. I'm sure he'll reply to this post however.

    Here is my answers anyways...

    1. You can buy some label stickers from office max and print them out yourself... but if you are using EDDM you only have to put the postage box and the address box in your design. They explain this on the USPS website

    2. You need to just work out how much the postcard, design, and postage will cost then add in how much you want to make. This will give you your price per card.

    ex: $100 postcards + $50 design + $260 postage + $300 your take = $710 per X amount of postcards mailed.

    2.A. I would get them in at a lower startup price then up the price on the next month.... that's just me though. Work the rights into the contract, if you want to keep the copyrights state that on the contract.

    3. EDDM works based on carrier routes which are broken down by zip codes. Go to the USPS website and check out the EDDM tool.

    4. How many you send is up to you and the business owner. If its targeted then 500 to 2500 is good, but if you are doing EDDM which is more of a saturate method then I would say 2500 or more.
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    • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
      Originally Posted by ClayWhite View Post

      You should seek out Bob Ross, hes the expert on Direct Mail. I'm sure he'll reply to this post however.

      Here is my answers anyways...

      1. You can buy some label stickers from office max and print them out yourself... but if you are using EDDM you only have to put the postage box and the address box in your design. They explain this on the USPS website

      2. You need to just work out how much the postcard, design, and postage will cost then add in how much you want to make. This will give you your price per card.

      ex: $100 postcards + $50 design + $260 postage + $300 your take = $710 per X amount of postcards mailed.

      2.A. I would get them in at a lower startup price then up the price on the next month.... that's just me though. Work the rights into the contract, if you want to keep the copyrights state that on the contract.

      3. EDDM works based on carrier routes which are broken down by zip codes. Go to the USPS website and check out the EDDM tool.

      4. How many you send is up to you and the business owner. If its targeted then 500 to 2500 is good, but if you are doing EDDM which is more of a saturate method then I would say 2500 or more.

      ex: $100 postcards + $50 design + $260 postage + $300 your take = $710 per X amount of postcards mailed.


      the cards shall cost about 140, design ..very cheap..postage will cost 160 + my take?

      How much should we charge, as our take? And if a client asks what services or tasks we perform for our take..what do we tell them?

      We basically make our profits from our take? Or do we add markups for the postage..design..postcards?


      Thank you!
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      • Profile picture of the author ClayWhite
        Originally Posted by TeamBringIt View Post

        ex: $100 postcards + $50 design + $260 postage + $300 your take = $710 per X amount of postcards mailed.


        the cards shall cost about 140, design ..very cheap..postage will cost 160 + my take?

        How much should we charge, as our take? And if a client asks what services or tasks we perform for our take..what do we tell them?

        We basically make our profits from our take? Or do we add markups for the postage..design..postcards?


        Thank you!
        Okay so if you outsource your design work through fiverr for $5 the total cost to you would be $305. Don't forget to factor in your time and gas for delivering the postcards to the post office!!

        Now you ask this question, "How much is MY time worth to me?"

        If you are ok with making $25 per 500 cards sent then be it, but if you feel you are worth more then up that price

        The business is not going to ask you to break down your pricing structure, so there is no need to say "we are marking up postcard printing by 5%, design by 30%..." Just set your profit line and go with it.

        So you would say, "Hi Mr.Businessman we are going to design, print, and mail your postcards to 500 local residents from our targeted list for only $395! All you have to do is approve the design we create for you and we handle the rest"
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        • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
          Originally Posted by ClayWhite View Post

          Okay so if you outsource your design work through fiverr for $5 the total cost to you would be $305. Don't forget to factor in your time and gas for delivering the postcards to the post office!!

          Now you ask this question, "How much is MY time worth to me?"

          If you are ok with making $25 per 500 cards sent then be it, but if you feel you are worth more then up that price

          The business is not going to ask you to break down your pricing structure, so there is no need to say "we are marking up postcard printing by 5%, design by 30%..." Just set your profit line and go with it.

          So you would say, "Hi Mr.Businessman we are going to design, print, and mail your postcards to 500 local residents from our targeted list for only $395! All you have to do is approve the design we create for you and we handle the rest"
          I agree 100% with you, on that. I will have 3-4 designs done...and i will show them those designs...If they choose 1...I'll tell them for my entire service it shall cost them $400.

          If they say, "yes"...I will go ahead and roll out the campaign...Can I bill them $400 each time? What if they say that the design is already done and they want to pay less?

          Thanks
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          • Profile picture of the author ClayWhite
            Do not design it until they have agreed/paid for your service.

            You should however, create a mockup/sample that you can take with you when presenting your business. This will give them something to see and hold. It will also show them that you are a real business and you have the right skills they need.

            What I did was make a special offer postcard for my business on the same paper type I use. This way i can show them the quality and at the same time I can use it for my own marketing mailers

            So tell them, "I normally sell these for $549 but if you sign up with me today I'll run your first campaign for only $400."

            That way the are given a great discount but know that it is a limited time offer so they need to act now. This also let's them know that next time they will be paying full price... that's if you do not offer another discount for them to market with you again.
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            • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
              Originally Posted by ClayWhite View Post

              Do not design it until they have agreed/paid for your service.

              You should however, create a mockup/sample that you can take with you when presenting your business. This will give them something to see and hold. It will also show them that you are a real business and you have the right skills they need.

              What I did was make a special offer postcard for my business on the same paper type I use. This way i can show them the quality and at the same time I can use it for my own marketing mailers

              So tell them, "I normally sell these for $549 but if you sign up with me today I'll run your first campaign for only $400."

              That way the are given a great discount but know that it is a limited time offer so they need to act now. This also let's them know that next time they will be paying full price... that's if you do not offer another discount for them to market with you again.
              I'm gonna get some samples, designed on fiverr..The front image...how can i get the backside designed...?

              The back side will have the information, bullet points and call to action...

              Once both sides are completed..How can I get them printed on a postcard? I want to only print 1-3 postcards as samples to show the client...

              Thanks a lot people...you guys are truly caring warriors
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              • Profile picture of the author ClayWhite
                Originally Posted by TeamBringIt View Post

                I'm gonna get some samples, designed on fiverr..The front image...how can i get the backside designed...?

                The back side will have the information, bullet points and call to action...

                Once both sides are completed..How can I get them printed on a postcard? I want to only print 1-3 postcards as samples to show the client...

                Thanks a lot people...you guys are truly caring warriors

                I forgot to ask..is the $400 your take additional, to the cost of the postcards..design...postage?
                I really suggest that you create one for your own business then go to an online printer like gotprint.net and have 100 printed. It will only cost you about $35 (that's printed and shipped).

                This way you can leave these cards with the business owners you meet. It's worth the $35 trust me.

                No, in that example I was using $400 as the total price (printing, design, postage, and profits).
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            • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
              Originally Posted by ClayWhite View Post

              Do not design it until they have agreed/paid for your service.

              You should however, create a mockup/sample that you can take with you when presenting your business. This will give them something to see and hold. It will also show them that you are a real business and you have the right skills they need.

              What I did was make a special offer postcard for my business on the same paper type I use. This way i can show them the quality and at the same time I can use it for my own marketing mailers

              So tell them, "I normally sell these for $549 but if you sign up with me today I'll run your first campaign for only $400."

              That way the are given a great discount but know that it is a limited time offer so they need to act now. This also let's them know that next time they will be paying full price... that's if you do not offer another discount for them to market with you again.
              I forgot to ask..is the $400 your take additional, to the cost of the postcards..design...postage?
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  • Profile picture of the author CudaFish
    Originally Posted by TeamBringIt View Post

    Hey offliners,

    I am getting read to launch a decent sized offline campaign and wanted the advice of the experts.

    1. I am getting my postcards designed
    2. I plan on getting 500 postcards
    3. I plan on working with eddm

    My questions are this:
    1. What kind of tool can i use to create my own labels and individually
    put them on each postcard?

    2.When I meet with the client and show them a sample of my card designs and they agree on one of them. Then I will give them an option of mailing either 500 cards or 1000 or maybe even 2000. How much would you charge per postcard mailed?

    I am taking into consideration (card design,postage,copywriting,me mailing)

    2.A - once you mail one set of cards or campaign, then can you charge the same price again at next mailing? Will the client pay for the cards that were already designed? will they want a cheaper price next time since you already had the design done the first time?

    Can you retain the rights to your card design and copywriting?

    3.EDDM - when we are talking routes, we need to find businesses that are in the same route? like practically next to eachother? Is this how eddm works? How can we find if our chosen businesses are in the same route?

    Last but not least, how many postcards should a business mail out per month and how many times should they repeat mailing out cards for it to be a successful campaign.

    Thank you warriors, sorry for the long post, but these questions would be very helpful to me and others!
    Hey TBI,

    1. Now, as far as an automated tool for this purpose is concerned, I personally don't know of one. I'll leave that to someone else. However, in my opinion, if you want the biggest impact, and since 500 post cards isn't THAT big of a number, my suggestion is this.

    Go to amazon.com and pick up a pack of mailing to: from: labels, like THISTHIS or something similar. I know these are big, and I don't know if it will take up too much space on your post card, depends on the size and design.

    However, if you use something like this, you can HAND address and label these postcards, which, 500 of them shouldn't take more than a few hours (trust me, it'll be worth it) Now, I'm NO postcard expert by far, I have nominal experience (I'm branching out more and more with post card mailers), and if you really want expert advice, Steve the Copyrighter on warrioforum can help you. But I know in my limited experience, sending out hand address and labeled post cards/flyers/letters etc. is a HUGE way to ensure they WILL read it.

    Just think, have you EVER thrown out a hand addressed piece of mail before reading it?

    Now, I know that your doing this for a client, and I can't say I have too much to add, I just thought I'd drop in and share that my admittedly nominal experience in post card mailers have shown a HUGE (as in double to triple) increase in replies to hand addressed post cards.

    - Mark Cuda

    Btw, if you are looking for a guide to setting up a letter campaign to promote your OWN business, jump on the newsletter of my almost launched site, it's a subject I'll be talking about soon.
    Signature
    cudafish.com | marketing | design | work / life balance
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    • Profile picture of the author Biz Max
      Will this be a B2B campaign?
      Signature
      Small Business Marketing & Branding Specialist
      http://BrandWhisperer.net
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      • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
        Originally Posted by OfflineGold View Post

        Will this be a B2B campaign?
        For my clients, it will be a business to client/residential campaign...
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        • Profile picture of the author Biz Max
          In that case postcards are fine. I would not do handwritten unless I had them printed out that way. I would put more thought into what design/imagery that will be on the piece. First thing they will do is look at the card as a whole. The design can kill it no matter what is written or how it is written.

          I believe once something is mailed it becomes copyright protected (not totally sure). Just make sure you put a copyright notice on the card.
          Signature
          Small Business Marketing & Branding Specialist
          http://BrandWhisperer.net
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          • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
            Originally Posted by OfflineGold View Post

            In that case postcards are fine. I would not do handwritten unless I had them printed out that way. I would put more thought into what design/imagery that will be on the piece. First thing they will do is look at the card as a whole. The deign can kill it no matter what is written or how it is written.

            I believe once something is mailed it becomes copyright protected (not totally sure). Just make sure you put a copyright notice on the card.
            Oh, I know..design and layout is everything on postcards...They look for that first and trash it based on it....thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
      Originally Posted by CudaFish View Post

      Hey TBI,

      1. Now, as far as an automated tool for this purpose is concerned, I personally don't know of one. I'll leave that to someone else. However, in my opinion, if you want the biggest impact, and since 500 post cards isn't THAT big of a number, my suggestion is this.

      Go to amazon.com and pick up a pack of mailing to: from: labels, like THIS or something similar. I know these are big, and I don't know if it will take up too much space on your post card, depends on the size and design.

      However, if you use something like this, you can HAND address and label these postcards, which, 500 of them shouldn't take more than a few hours (trust me, it'll be worth it) Now, I'm NO postcard expert by far, I have nominal experience (I'm branching out more and more with post card mailers), and if you really want expert advice, Steve the Copyrighter on warrioforum can help you. But I know in my limited experience, sending out hand address and labeled post cards/flyers/letters etc. is a HUGE way to ensure they WILL read it.

      Just think, have you EVER thrown out a hand addressed piece of mail before reading it?

      Now, I know that your doing this for a client, and I can't say I have too much to add, I just thought I'd drop in and share that my admittedly nominal experience in post card mailers have shown a HUGE (as in double to triple) increase in replies to hand addressed post cards.

      - Mark Cuda

      Btw, if you are looking for a guide to setting up a letter campaign to promote your OWN business, jump on the newsletter of my almost launched site, it's a subject I'll be talking about soon.
      Thanks for the reply! So you are saying that I should buy these labels and write each address by hand? I will most likely send 1,000 postcards for each client..so that will take some time indeed!
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      • Profile picture of the author CudaFish
        Originally Posted by TeamBringIt View Post

        Thanks for the reply! So you are saying that I should buy these labels and write each address by hand? I will most likely send 1,000 postcards for each client..so that will take some time indeed!
        Hmm if you're doing 1,000 per client that might be too much work. Although, since they are business to consumer, you have an even bigger advantage hand writing them. The time bottleneck would be big in this case though.

        - Mark Cuda
        Signature
        cudafish.com | marketing | design | work / life balance
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  • Profile picture of the author jrod014
    Are you trying to label postcards for you or your clients? EDDM doesn't allow for labels/address.
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    • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
      Originally Posted by jrod014 View Post

      Are you trying to label postcards for you or your clients? EDDM doesn't allow for labels/address.
      I never used eddm before, so yea..I am learning, that they don't allow it....Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author jrod014
    Ok, cool.

    The EDDM tool is useful for selecting zones. Before you select any zones, try using melissa data for average household income. You can then target zones based on the household income level you want (good for niche markets). That's if you are not just doing a blast campaign.

    EDDM is awesome. Here are some results I've had. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help!

    Also, I know where to get the best pricing on printing.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...y-results.html
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  • Profile picture of the author TeamBringIt
    Lets say that my client wants to send 1000 postcards. In your opinion folks, is it best to mail them all at the same time or send 3 mailings of 300+ done over 3 months or do a mailing of 300+ every week or so.....

    I know the conversion rate is 1% to 3% at best, but I am targeting high end clients only so they'd still make bank off that 1 to 3%...
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    • Profile picture of the author SashaLee
      Originally Posted by TeamBringIt View Post

      Lets say that my client wants to send 1000 postcards. In your opinion folks, is it best to mail them all at the same time or send 3 mailings of 300+ done over 3 months or do a mailing of 300+ every week or so.....

      I know the conversion rate is 1% to 3% at best, but I am targeting high end clients only so they'd still make bank off that 1 to 3%...
      Hi there,

      The first question is can your client handle that amount of business? We ran a mailer for one of our French clients where we ended up flooding them with 20-30 extra calls per day. The extra load caused problems.

      That being said - 300 is just not worth worrying about. Get them out and done with. That's not a number with which you can do any kind of testing.

      When you get into the 5,000++ range you can start messing around with delivery schedules as a test.

      All the best,

      Sasha.
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  • Profile picture of the author xlfutur1
    If you are doing postcards, get the Bob Ross M3 WSO and it will open up LOTS of possibilities for what you are trying to do. Actually all of Bob's (i.e. Jake's) WSOs are terrific so they are worth the investment.

    I am doing an M3 mailing soon that targets married individuals in a local wealthy zip code that have birthdays in April. So each offer has a birthday theme. I have 2 clients on board after just one email to them. I also found a terrific designer locally so things are coming together nicely. I think the response will be excellent but I guess you never know. Sharing the postcard makes it a no brainer for the business owner too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    Hi Team,

    A quick word of caution when you send any amount of Postcards (300 - 30,000 plus).

    I should say this applies mainly to the UK - things may be different elsewhere in Europe or in the US of A.

    Don't send them in one big "batch" all at once. Split them up and use different Post Offices.

    Why?

    It's rare - but sometimes a big volume of cards can get "inadvertently lost" in the system.

    To be fair this can happen to a single letter - but you don't want all your hard work, printing, design and post costs - to vanish.

    Anyway...

    If you (or anyone else wants to experience the magical powers of Postcards) then get my "Secret Formula" which make them create big profits. Just send me a pm and I'll rush it to you.

    I promise I'm not touting for any business - the formula is for people who want to produce their own Postcards or Flyers.

    Over the years I've sent 100,000's of them. Which let me learn what works and what doesn't.

    And this "top secret" formula explains the very best proven techniques to get a high response.

    Which of course makes you a stack of money.

    All done with "pure" advertising. Ink on pieces of card.

    I always think, and I hope you agree - it's a pretty cool way to do it.


    Steve
    Signature
    http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...right-now.html
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  • Profile picture of the author CudaFish
    I can vouch for Steve's Methods guys, his secret formula has helped me in my print endeavors, which I must say, I'm having great results with, but is a new prospecting aspect OVERALL for me.

    I'm going to be documenting some of my print prospecting ideas and results on my new blog too! CudaFish - The Online Ramblings Of An Offline Marketer

    - Mark Cuda
    Signature
    cudafish.com | marketing | design | work / life balance
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