Good Postcards
Sunday, January 24th, 2010Good Postcards
Using direct mail postcards what's a good rule to use in determining how many to send out?
Direct mail postcards are my main avenue of promoting a course I teach. My goal is about 30-45 students per class. How many postcards should I send out in order to reach my goal?
Well put, Kevin. But I'd like to encourage you, Teacher, to think of marketing your class online in addition to or instead of through direct mail. Postcards involve printing costs and postage. And if you're marketing by email, you can bring those costs to almost zero. If you use your own email program and spruce it up with some color and graphics (not too fancy since you want people to be able to read it on a mobile device as well as on their computer), you can reach an unlimited number of people for free.
I've taught a writing class for nearly 10 years and have done all of marketing for that class through an email newsletter. At first, I used my own email as I've just described. But once my mailing list went over a few hundred people, it was easier to use a newsletter service since I wanted to send several mailings out per year and I wanted to manage the list in ways I couldn't do through email.
For a small monthly fee (ranging from about $15-$60 depending on the kinds of bells and whistles you add and how many mailings you send), you can reach thousands of people just by hitting the send button. Online newsletters offer a slew of other benefits -- the biggest being information about your recipients. The moment you send out your newsletter, you can start tracking who has opened it and which links they've clicked on. If this interests you, check out ConstantContact.com or MyEmma.com, two good online newsletter providers.
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Step-by-step Guide to Postcard Marketing
Starting a postcard marketing campaign takes more than just having a postcard and sending them out for distribution. To have an effective marketing strategy, you need to know your consumers and what appeals to them marketing does not solely involve advertising. The latter is a parcel of the whole pie.
To get a better idea of the basic process of postcard marketing, here is an overview of the preparation steps:
1. Research your market
Before you create your product, you must know who would benefit from its use. You should also get better idea of which individuals your product specifically caters to and much more. If your products are household cleaning materials, you can zero-in on mothers, housekeeping companies or accommodation businesses like hotels and resorts. If your commodity comes in the form of a service like auto detailing and maintenance, you target car owners. You can also be age- or gender-specific.
You can also look into their spending patterns, and get an idea of what affects their decision when it comes to purchasing products and services. For instance, if your potential consumers are those aged 18 – 25, you can study their common source of funds, as well as their usual purchases and needs.
By getting an idea of who your target market is, you will know who to communicate with and who are likely to respond with a purchase.
2. Conceptualize your postcard designs
Create a good postcard design that you deem would click best with the population you are aiming for. If they are young, bright colors may appeal more to them. For the older community, one that has a more formal tone may be more engaging. But it really depends on what commodity you are marketing.
Cardinal rule is to make sure that the design is clear so you can effectively convey the message of your postcard ads.
3. Have your postcards printed
You may have walk-in printing shops, or you may go to an online printer for convenience. Submit your postcard design file and get the prepress proof that you will need to check how your postcard design would look like once printed. It is also your chance to check for typographical errors and other faulty details in your design so you can correct them before your project proceeds to printing.
4. Create a mailing list
Based on your target population, you can determine your mailing list --- a collection of the names and addresses of your potential customers. Narrow it down based on gender, age range, location or even zip code.
Determine if you want a consumer list or business list. To get this, there are brokers of mailing list addresses. You can also approach data providers. Remember to check their reliability and see how comprehensive their lists are.
5. Mail to your target audience
Send the postcards to each individual on your mailing list through direct mailing. You can actually shorten the process of designing, creating the address list and mailing through some online printing companies since they offer ready-to-use design templates, mailing list preparation and direct mailing.
One way of indirectly soliciting response from them is by adding promo coupons which they can use when they purchase your products, and then you will know that the postcard enticed them to try your product.
Follow these basic guidelines to launch your postcard marketing campaign smoothly.
About the Author
Please visit our website Postcard Marketing for further information. For other inquiries and services please visit Online Full Color Printing Services