Low-Cost Marketing With Business Postcards by Bob Leduc
Modern, low-cost business postcards can drive a high volume of traffic to
your web site, generate a flood of new sales leads, or promote any other
business activity you want. They are easy to use, cost very little and produce
results almost immediately.
Brief And Personal Works Best
Keep the message on your postcard brief. Announce a major benefit. Then ask
the person reading the postcard to visit your web site or respond in some other
way to get more information.
Set up your postcard to look like a personal message instead of a sales
promotion. Prospects cannot resist reading a postcard if looks like a brief
personal message - even when they quickly recognize it as a business
communication. This happens for several reasons.
Your message on a postcard arrives already opened and ready to read.
It creates the feeling of reading a note from a friend instead of reading an
advertisement.
Your brief message cannot be overlooked - even by people quickly screening
their mail over a wastebasket.
Nearly everybody will actually read your postcard ...intentionally or
unintentionally. Therefore, you will get the maximum number of responses.
Simple And Low-Cost
You can print postcards with your own computer for about 1 cent each or have
them printed professionally for about 7 or 8 cents each.
One cost-effective method when using your computer is to print four postcards
on an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of standard index paper. Then cut each sheet into
quarters to produce four 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch postcards. 100 sheets will produce
400 postcards for about 1 cent each.
For small quantities, print your postcards individually on the 4 x 6 inch
blank index cards available from any office supply store.
Reduced Postage Rate
The current postage for mailing a postcard in the US is just 23 cents. That's
almost 40 percent less than the postage for sending a letter - yet the Postal
Service processes postcards the same as First Class Mail letters.
To qualify for this special postage rate, your postcard must be at least 3
1/2 inches high by 5 inches long but not over 4 1/4 inches high by 6 inches
long. The paper thickness must be similar to an index card. All office supply
stores carry paper designated as 67 pound card stock. This is ideal for
postcards and it meets the thickness requirement.
Non-Us Advantage: Business postcards used outside of the US do not enjoy a
reduced postage rate. But, non-US business owners tell me their postcards are
very cost-effective even without a reduced postage rate. Since postcards are
rarely used for business purposes outside of the US, they attract a lot of
attention and generate a high rate of response.
Hidden From Competitors
Postcard marketing enables you to conceal your marketing efforts from
competitors. Nearly all other advertising uses mass media where your competitors
hear or see what you are doing - and copy it.
Postcard marketing is personal. Only you and your prospects are aware of your
strategy. And only you know how effective it is. When competitors become aware
of your postcard marketing program, they will not be able to evaluate your
activity. And they will not know how to copy it.
Postcards achieve almost 100 percent readership and generate a high rate of
response. Use them to drive traffic to your web site, to generate sales leads,
or to promote any other business activity you want. You can create and send
postcards within a few days of deciding to use them. And you will enjoy the
results they produce in less than a week
