|
|
Getting the Most from
Postcard Marketing
By Eric Young
One of the most popular forms of direct marketing is the use of
postcards to reach your target audience. Postcard postage is much
cheaper than standard first class postage and the postcards themselves
are relatively inexpensive to produce. However, if your direct mail
campaign is not properly planned, and the postcards are not
strategically designed your response rate will suffer. This article will
outline how to effectively plan a direct mail campaign that will yield
favorable results.
First and foremost you have to ask yourself if direct mailing is worth
it for you. Marketing experts agree that the standard response rate for
a direct mail campaign is 1-2%. Let’s break this down a little bit: If
you spend $350 on 5000 postcards, $1200 on postage and $200 on a mailing
list of 5000 prospects your expenses total $1750. If you yield a 2%
response rate that means you have 100 positive responses or sales. How
much you make per sale will be the final determining factor in deciding
whether or not direct mail campaigns are a worthy investment.
Let’s say you sell novelty t-shirts and make a profit of $10 per sale.
At a 2% response rate that’s 100 sales yielding $1000. This is $750 less
than it cost to run the campaign and it is a major loss. However, if you
sell custom furniture at $50 profit on each sale, the postcard campaign
will yield 100 positive responses totaling $5,000. This particular
scenario shows a major gain and would be quite worth the investment.
Once you’ve crunched the numbers and figured that a direct mail campaign
might be worth your while, it is time to plan your campaign. Setting up
the right plan is the key to making sure you achieve at least a 1-2%
response rate. The basic elements of the plan include selecting your
mailing list, writing effective marketing copy, including a special
offer, and making a strong call to action.
Selecting the right mailing list is the cornerstone to overseeing a
successful direct mail campaign. There are many list brokers that sell
leads that can be custom tailored to your needs. For example, if you
sell high end automobiles you would most likely want to target those
with a specific income range. Most list brokers make it possible to
narrow down your mailing list according income range as well as many
other criteria.
Once you’ve selected your target market and purchased your mailing list
it is time to actually design your promotional piece. This is where most
campaigns go wrong. Most people aren’t familiar with the proper
marketing techniques that ensure a better response rate. For example,
they tend to highlight the features of their product or service rather
than emphasizing the benefits the consumer will reap by purchasing this
product or service. Prospects are not really interested in YOU, they are
interested in THEMSELVES. By highlighting how your product or service
can alleviate a burden they might have or save them some money you are
on your way to grasping their full attention. For example, if you are a
landscaping company you do not want your headline to read “Over 20 Years
Experience!” This headline does not appeal to the needs of the prospect.
Try instead, “Spend your weekends relaxing, not weeding!” This
particular headline uses the alleviation of a burden as its marketing
approach and would be much more effective than the former.
Including a special offer in your message is crucial to its success but
you don’t have to give away the farm. A simple discount for first time
customers is enough to cut through the competitor’s offers and give your
prospect the incentive to consider you first. Again, it is important to
first crunch the numbers and calculate how much you can afford to
discount and still come out ahead. Other special offers might include
the offering of small gifts, coupons or gift certificates.
The “call to action” statement is a phrase in which you urge your
prospect to be proactive. CALL NOW, ORDER NOW and SIGN UP TODAY are just
some of these phrases that we hear everyday. Often times these
statements will be tied in with the special offer to give them some more
teeth- ORDER NOW AND SHIPPING IS FREE!
Though these statements may seem superfluous countless marketing experts
agree that they work. They motivate the prospect to take that extra step
and move beyond just considering your offer to acting on it.
Once you decide that postcard marketing is for you, adhering to these
guidelines will help to ensure greater response rates which ultimately
lead to more sales.
back to top
back to
articles
|
