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Postcard Designs that FAILED


494000305I spend a lot of time talking about how we at PostcardMania track our campaign results so we can show you examples of what has already worked for businesses like yours. I do this because it is basically the biggest thing that separates us from the competition, but there is another side to that coin…

I can also show what has ABSOLUTELY NOT worked for businesses like yours. And thanks to a little digging, I can also tell you why those campaigns failed. So let’s start with these three…

Postcard Designs that HAVE NOT Worked

1.     This Denture Card

  • 2 Mailings of 6,000 postcards
  • Targeted 44–81 year-olds with $75,000+ income
  • Generated only 2 calls and 0 new patients
PETER-RUMACK-DDS---PARTIAL---90853_3-1

OK — this pains me. No pun intended! I’ve seen this before where the client insists on targeting a market that is WAY too specific when we know it won’t be a great result. In MOST cases, the more specific, the better. But in this case, there was no way to know that the people on the list were even interested in dentures! Plus, new patients in this market are generated almost exclusively by referrals. So while the design is not great, the target market was the real culprit here. No design would have stood much of a chance. I’m so glad he did another more general card (with good results!) and didn’t give up on marketing with postcards!!!

See some GOOD dental marketing samples here…

2.     This Hearing Aid Card

  • Mailed 5,184 postcards
  • Targeted age 56+ with $60,000+ annual income
  • Generated 3 calls and 0 sales
CARLTON-ADAMS---PARTIAL---92264_2-1 (1)

Oh boy. You know how I said the last one wasn’t the design’s fault? This one is definitely the design’s fault. I mean, at first glance, would you have ANY idea that this was a postcard about hearing aids? Me neither. The image does not support the headline in any way I can think of. I guarantee most of these cards went in the trash without the recipient even knowing what the message was. I can’t say it enough: you have to be CLEAR in your messaging. Otherwise, even the best prospects won’t respond – because they won’t bother to read your offer!

See a great Hearing Aid card (and the results) here…

3.     This Home Care Card

  • Mailed 10,700 postcards
  • Targeted zip codes in Russian/Polish speaking sections of NYC
  • Generated 8 calls and 0 new patients
CONTINENTAL-HOME-CARE---FULL-87865_9-1

Here we have a failed campaign that wasn’t the fault of the design OR the list. The fault was in the execution: They mailed one time! Deciding on a home care professional is a HUGE decision for people. They need to see the message a few times before they’ll even consider it. This client needs a great landing page to pair with the postcard to really get prospects to trust their company. There isn’t a URL anywhere on the card. This is sooo important so people can go online and learn more! I can’t stress this enough! Repeat message!!!

If this client had used DirectMail2.0 paired with a great website, they would have made a ton of money off of this card. We try so hard to get our clients to mail more than once to the same list, and if you read this FREE chapter of my book and you will understand why!

See a home care card that WORKED here…

What do you think? Do you like seeing examples of what DOESN’T work? Thanks so much for reading! As always, let me know if I can help you in anyway. Drop me a line at Joy.Gendusa@PostcardMania.com!

Best,

Joy

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10 Comments

  • Hi Joy,

    I just wanted to reach out and tell you how impressed I am by your service and staff thus far.

    My name is Donnie and I am the CEO of Drillionaire Dreams. My company is a marketing arm of a Utility Connect company based in Dallas, although I am actual based in Australia.

    Our campaign was simply to do a letterbox drop of postcards to people who are moving soon and provide our services of free moving quotes, free mail forwarding and also compare, save and transfer their existing utilities to their new home upon moving.

    I initially found PostcardMania through a simply Google search. your service immediately stood out from the crowd as you were light years ahead of your competition based on the range of services you offer and the up to date technology that comes with it, i.e. mail and phone tracking as well as re-targeting through FB and Google. The price was comparable as well so it really was a no brainer to to go with your service to start our first campaign.

    Upon calling I spoke with a young man name Tyler Bradford and as someone who has been is sales for over the last 25 years I was thoroughly impressed by not only his knowledge of the products you offer but by the fact he designed a campaign that was specific to what I needed. He did not attempt to force things down my throat that were irrelevant to our campaign just to make a sale. As a customer I appreciate that very much and it made it much more easier to business with you using that approach.

    Since the account has been established I have been working with Kalya Barkalow and she has been just as tremendous as Tyler. She has walked me through the process step by step, keeping me up to date on what needs to be done, what stage the order is in and making sure that everything has been communicated to me properly. As I’m sure you know when a company grows that first things that usually suffer is communication and service, but with you guys it has been a seamless transition from the sales team to the account management and the service has been exceptional.

    I just wanted to personally take the time to acknowledge them and the customer service reps, the way they represent themselves and your company. I am looking forward to getting our first campaign in the mail, seeing the ROI, then reinvesting and scaling up our campaign to attract more customers to our service.

    Thanks for you service and your time.

    All the best,
    Donnie Roberts
    Drillionaire Dreams

    • Hello Donnie!

      What an awesome comment to read!! Thank you so much – not only for your business – but for taking the time to acknowledge my company and our incredible staff! These types of messages are precious to us and just so appreciated. I’ll be reading this at staff meeting on Monday to all 267 staff! Again, thank you.

      -Joy

  • We need something to get attention of college students..I do have a flyer printed out if you want to use that

    • Willie – absolutely! Give us a call at 800-628-1804 for a free consultation to hear what works best for your industry!

  • I like this idea of sharing what works and what doesn’t. Thanks for this valuable info.

    You might like to know that your link to the “7 deadly sins” ferret download does not work! Too bad… I wanted to read it!

    MBT

    • So glad you found it helpful, Mary! And thank you – we have updated the download link with a new report. 🙂

  • Joy,
    Posting what didn’t work was a great way to make me feel more connected to the marketing industry. I appreciate you taking the time to open more avenues on marketing to reach more people, I am one of those people.

    • Jacqueline, that makes me sooo happy to hear! I love helping small businesses grow! Thank you so much for your comment!

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