10 Easy Steps to a Successful Postcard Marketing Campaign

Want an inexpensive yet effective way to market your business? Then think postcards! They less expensive to mail than letters and they almost always get read because your message is out in the open for everyone to see. If you follow these 10 steps, you'll discover how effective and lucrative marketing with postcards can be.

1. Keep Design Simple
Don't confuse your prospects. The design needs to be simple. Remember the saying a??less is more?a?? You must make it easy for the prospect to get the message. In fact, using color on both sides is unnecessary and confusing to the recipient. Save money and print color on the main side and black and white on the address side.

2. Avoid Too Much Information
Do not give in to the temptation to cram copy onto every square inch as you try and fit a sales letter onto the postcard. This will overwhelm the prospect and dilute your message.

3. One Idea per Postcard
If your product is efficient, inexpensive and comes with a lifetime guaranteea?|choose one feature (and of course, the corresponding benefits) to promote on the postcard. This is a great opportunity for multiple mailings. Send a separate postcard detailing one benefit of your product or service.

4. Powerful Headline
You must pay the closest attention to the headline. The headline is what will compel the prospect to keep reading. The best type of headline has a direct benefit to the reader.

5. Promote Your Website
Don't forget to promote your website on the postcard. This is a great opportunity to drive extra traffic to your site. It also gives the prospect an easy way to get extra information.

6. Make an Irresistible Offer
Don't forget to entice the prospect with an offer. If you are giving a special discount or trial offer, make sure the offer is in the forefront, not buried in mounds of copy.

7. Strong Call to Action
Do not forget this critical step. Instruct the prospect to do whatever you feel is the appropriate next step. Just make it simple. Prospects don't want jump through hoops to get to your product or service. Do you want your prospect to call you? They tell them what to do.

8. Build a Great List
You can have the best postcard out there but if you don't have a good list, it won't convert well. Check out a service like InfoUSA.com or your local Chamber of Commerce to build a good list. And don't forget to maximize your website by including an opt-in page to create the best list of alla?|customers who are interested in your product or service.

9. Repeat Mailings
If you want your campaign to be effective, you must send more than one postcard! I can't tell you how many times I've heard people complain that postcards don't work because their one-time mailing failed to convert. Once-a-month mailings can be quite effective. But if your budget is tight, the minimum you should send is 3.

10. Follow-Up with Phone Calls
If you really want to add extra mileage to your campaign, follow-up with phone calls. After you send the postcards, the a??cold calla?? isn't so cold and you'll be on your way to finding new customers.

Remembera?|making sales is a numbers game. The more prospects you contact the more sales you will make. It's that simple.

Need more sales? The solution is as easy as your next postcard campaign!

Evy Schwartz is a successful sales and marketing copywriter. She helps businesses boost their sales through writing crisp, compelling copy for their marketing collateral including postcards, sales letters, web content, brochures, direct mail and more. More information can be found at www.elsvirtualsolutions.com

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