Direct-mail postcard marketing remains a powerful strategy in the digital age; in fact, postcard-to-website marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive targeted web traffic. Maximizing your return on investment by increasing your response rate and minimizing your investment lends itself to strong business growth. The following details seven ways you can increase postcard ROI today.
1. Send to a highly-targeted mailing list
The 40-40-20 rule of direct marketing states that 40 percent of your success is based on the quality of your mailing list, another 40 on your offer, and the remaining 20 on everything else. The more targeted your mailing list, the greater your response rate. The greater your response rate, the greater your ROI.
Resist the urge to send your postcards to anyone who might be interested; rather, pre-qualify your mailing list according to the product or service you’re offering and the demographics of your best customers for said product and service.
A B2B company that serves small startups might limit its mailing list to those companies that have originated in the past three months, that have fewer than ten employees, and have projected revenues greater than $500,000, for example. A discount children’s clothing retailer might limit its mailing list to middle class moms of school-aged children. These examples are overly generalized, of course, but they should lend an idea of how you can begin to develop your mailing list.
The bottom line: your mailing list should be comprised only of those people who are most likely to respond to your offer.
2. Develop an attractive, relevant, and profitable offer
So, if your mailing list is made up of potential customers who already want what you sell, how do you get them to want it now? With an attractive offer they can’t refuse.
Let’s say you sell high-end consumer camcorders, and you’ve found price is often a barrier to families who would like your camcorders to record their children while growing up but can’t justify the expense. Now, let’s say you have an opportunity to mark down one of your most popular models by 25 percent and still turn a respectable profit. For a lot of families, that 25 percent might be the difference between “pass” and “buy.” In this scenario, your postcards could present a well-targeted audience with a well-targeted offer, one they’re likely to take advantage of.
You’re offering your customers something they already want with an incentive they’d love to have. It doesn’t have to be restricted to price, either; you might offer a free add-on, a service plan, or a buy-one-get-one deal – anything that sweetens the deal and makes now the best time for customers to buy.
3. Create a sense of urgency
Not only should your offer be outstanding, it should have a deadline. Make “now” the time to buy not only because the deal is so good, but also because the deal won’t last. Adding a sense of urgency to your postcards makes it less likely your recipients will place your postcard to the side and forget to follow up in time to take advantage of your offer.
The best way to create a sense of urgency is to make your deal a “limited time offer.” Your offer could be good for just a few days, a couple of weeks, or even a month. Don’t extent your offer too far out unless you intend to follow up with another mailing closer to your deadline (which is actually a very good idea, since repetition dramatically increases response rate).
4. Command attention with design
An attention-getting design will ensure your postcard gets noticed apart from the junk mail and draw customers into your postcard copy, or text. You can employ visuals in your design that are exciting or that depict happy customers. Humor and the unexpected can also grab attention.
Bright colors, contrasting colors, large text, and relevant images all help make your postcard more attractive. Keep in mind that your visual presentation has a direct influence on how customers perceive your brand and your products. The same goes for your paper stock: thick, heavy, smooth postcard paper lends the impression that your company is solid and trustworthy. The role of touch and weight in tangible marketing materials is proven to make customers more likely to buy.
5. Write benefit-laden copy
Customers want to know what’s in it for them, so your postcard copy should focus on solving their problems and making their lives better. It should create desire, so your customers want what you have to sell. This element – desire – along with your special offer should be the one-two punch you need to motivate targeted customers to take the next step in the purchasing process.
Your copy should focus on a key benefit or related benefits. Resist the urge to promote too many products or services at once – remember, targeting is the key to success.
6. Make a guarantee
We all love a solid guarantee, and if you can offer one you should definitely include it on your postcard. Offering a satisfaction guarantee, a 100% money-back guarantee, or a no-question return/refund policy guarantee are great ways to make customers feel more comfortable doing business with you.
If you’re worried about unethical buyers who might want to take advantage of your guarantee, you can apply conditions. For example, you can require your product to be returned in its original condition and packaging. Or, you can require customers to follow all your instructions before deciding they want their money back. Finally, you can limit the guarantee period. Be ethical, of course, and honor your guarantee when necessary; but take measures to protect yourself, too.
7. Minimize printing and postage
Last but not least, invest only in premium postcards printed at discount prices. You can often find deals for as much as 60 percent off postcard printing, which can significantly increase your ROI without increasing your response rate.
If you’re renting a mailing list, be sure to rent it from a reputable vendor. You need to make sure the people and addresses on your list are real and accurate so you don’t waste deliveries on wrong addresses or non-targeted audiences.
Keep in mind your printing company can probably offer mailing lists, addresses, and even postal deliver in-house, saving you time and money and eliminate shipping charges to your location. Some postcard printing companies will even allow you to send postcards via their Indicia, if you don’t have your own, in order to receive bulk postage rates.
All direct-mail postcard marketing campaigns are investments that carry expected returns. Employ these seven tips to boost your response rates and ROI so you can turn greater profits from your postcard campaigns.