Short crisp and to the point, postcards are one of the best ways to market most any kind of product or service. Closing sales isn't the priority for their short format.
As I mentioned in my previous article about marketing with postcards, they are cheap, easy, hard-working marketing tools. Here are a few great benefits:
Generate phone calls: 98 percent of the postcards I create for clients have this objective. Call for information. Call for our free booklet. Call for a free quote. Call for ... well, you get the idea. Ask clients to call you enough and they will. Every call is the opportunity to provide better service, as well as increase sales and revenue.
Build brand awareness: These are the other 2 percent of the cards I create. By mailing postcards frequently, customers and prospects keep you in the top of their mind. So when they need anything that relates to your firm, they call you — first.
Build relationships: Sure, you can — it's easy. But not with a single postcard. You need to do this over time, with a series of cards.
Easy to mail: No stuffing, folding, inserting or matching names on letters with envelopes. Just print, inkjet and mail. Sort in zip sequence for great postal discounts.
Paint a picture: Show clients you are on your toes and just waiting by the phone to help them. Fast quotes, industry research, business help, referrals — whatever they need, just pick up the phone and call you right now.
Free quotes: One of the best offers on a postcard is a free quote. Every sale starts out with a phone call asking for a quote, doesn't it? So why not ask for the opportunity to quote? This generates a phone call and ushers in a possible sale.
Generate referrals: Just include a line on the bottom of all postcards saying, "Thanks so much for all the referrals — I appreciate them. Thank you!" This stimulates referrals and lets recipients know they should send more of them.
Free lunch: Yes, offer a free breakfast or lunch. Put a dashed border around the postcard and make it look like a fun coupon. You need to meet with clients anyhow, to make sure they know who you are. Let them call you and receive this free lunch — whenever they like.
Free booklet: The top way to entice people to call is by offering free information. It's cheap to print, and the value is in the relevance.
Be sure to start your postcard the right way. The title triggers the response: the better the booklet title, the greater the response. A mediocre title = mediocre response. A great title = a great response.
What's a client worth to you each year? $500? $1,000? $5,000? More? Here's a proposition: Suppose you sent them a postcard every two weeks — or 26 postcards a year. Your cost? At 50 cents each, that's $13. Even at $1 each, that's $26 for a full year — to generate calls and build a relationship of loyalty, awareness and trust.
Here's the bottom line in marketing with postcards: Small agency? Mail a postcard campaign to your top 200 prospects, and your top 200 customers. Large agency? Mail to your top 2,000 prospects, top 2,000 customers.
Is it worth $26 per prospect to get them to call you? How about keeping clients active and thinking about you (and how great your service is) all year long? How much is that worth?
Home much does it cost for you to get a new client? Or keep a client? Now how does that $26 figure compare to that?
