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3 Reasons Your Postcard Gets TRASHED


postcards-trashedHere’s an image that will haunt your dreams: your ideal prospect receives the card you’ve spent good money designing, printing and mailing to get into their hands… and they toss it right into the garbage.

Nooooooo!!!

As a business owner, I know nothing is scarier about marketing than possibly throwing your money away. While this probably isn’t the case (unless your mailing list is a terrible match for your message), let’s assume that the scenario above IS real and it’s YOUR reality.

How do you transform your garbage-bound postcard into an inbound lead and traffic generating machine?

Here’s where to start…

ATTENTION.

Getting it —  that’s the key. Even if a prospect doesn’t act right away, if you get their attention, that impression is made.

There are three factors that go into garnering the attention of your target market.

And here’s where you might be going wrong with each of them:

1. Your postcard is the wrong size

Your postcard’s size plays a more important role than you may even realize for one very simple reason — the larger the card, the easier it is to see!

I went over using the wrong sized postcard a bit last week, but I’ll expand on it now — specifically the questions you should be asking yourself to determine if your card is the right size for your needs.

Here’s a quick quiz/brainstorming session to help you find your postcard’s perfect size:

How frequently do other businesses in our area market themselves?

  • Not too often/It’s pretty much just me (You can afford to go with a smaller card)
  • Light to Moderate Amounts (Probably need a bigger card)
  • Moderate to Heavy Amounts (You definitely need a large card)

Do your competitors also mail postcards (not letters, but postcards)?

  • No (Okay to lean towards a smaller card)
  • Yes (You need to lean towards a bigger card)

How much explaining does your offer require?

  • Not that much/Easy to grasp  (Smaller card is fine)
  • A little background info (Medium should do the trick)
  • A lot/Details are important (Go big or go home)

2. Your postcard’s headline is confusing or uninteresting

Once you’re confident that the postcard size you’re working with is best for your needs, shift your attention to your headline — one of the most vital parts of your postcard.

An effective headline should be able to:

Clearly and concisely explain to the recipient how your product or service can improve their life/solve a problem/make their life easier in a way that is IMMEDIATELY clear.

If you have a unique selling proposition (USP — and I hope you do!), you can incorporate it into your headline. Or even use it as your headline in many cases!

THE most important takeaway from this?

Don’t sacrifice clarity for cleverness!

Bad Headline: Is Your Electric Bill COOL Enough for You?

Good Headline: Reduce Your Electric Bill Up to $50/Month – Guaranteed!

3. The images on your postcard don’t reinforce your message

If the image on your postcard doesn’t serve the purpose of reinforcing your message (i.e. making your headline THAT much more clear), then it isn’t a good image for your campaign.

When your image supports your headline, the force of your message is multiplied.

What does that mean?

You’re grabbing (and keeping) even more ATTENTION!

(Oh, and the people who are paying attention and reading your postcard are immediately understanding exactly what you can do for them… See how this all fits nicely together?)

Here’s a visual example of how image selection can make or break your postcard…

This is the good example:

1621-vd-good

 

And here is the not-so-good example:

1621-vd-bad

 

The difference is clear! The first image supports the headline and makes it immediately clear HOW you can lower your power bill — with an HVAC tune-up. The second one, you’re not really sure what’s going on. The image doesn’t drive home your message.

Make sure your postcard doesn’t check yes on any of the above mis-steps, and your next campaign will by that much more likely to succeed.

As always, you can call my marketing consultants for a free consultation anytime at 800-628-1804. Questions and comments can be left below in the comment section or emails to me directly at Joy.Gendusa@PostcardMania.com 

Best,

Joy

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2 Comments

  • We are a group of small business owners that service the home exclusively. We are called home helpers. We are putting together a postcard to pass out to our customers which enable us to refer to each other. We have a logo that I may need some help putting it together and we I would like to purchase 5000 6x 9 Postcards. I have been in touch with Samantha but I also wanted to enter this comment

  • Marla, you are in great hands with Samantha! Thanks for choosing us for your marketing. (:

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