Why Postcards Need to be Part of Your Marketing Mix

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

Humble? Yes. But postcards are effective.

They’re an often-overlooked marketing mix element that can highlight points in your appeals, direct mail packages, e-mail campaigns, and newsletters.

“They have been an essential part of my marketing toolkit for ten years,” says web and graphic designer Martha Retallick, author of Postcard Marketing Secrets. “And they've brought me thousands of dollars worth of business.”

That’s because you can afford to use them often. Postcards are economical to produce and to send. Since there’s less cost involved, you’ll be able to get in front of your readers more regularly – an important key to higher response rates.

“But a postcard is so small!” Yep. Good postcard copy carries a single message. If you try to say too much, your jewel tool will be jumbled and lose its punch. Instead, zero in on one specific benefit for your reader or one particular action you want him to take. (Here's how to write a simple marketing postcard.)

Use Postcards To ...

Give readers a special opportunity

• Announce a private sale
• Offer an exclusive discount
• Contact non-responders with a special offer
• Remind readers about an upcoming event
• Drive readers to a new product or service on your website
• Promote a contest or award
• Offer a free estimate

Share news and information

• Announce your new or updated website
• Introduce a new service
• Introduce a new staff member
• Tease readers by telling them to be on the lookout for an upcoming offer, mailing or announcement
• Send a timely reminder of a seasonal task – changing clocks, preparing taxes, renewing a pledge

Create urgency so readers will act

• Give a deadline for a limited offer
• List urgent prayer requests
• Solicit immediate help for an emergency or natural disaster

Cultivate your list

• Share a piece of helpful information: when to list your piece of real estate, how to write to your sponsored child, what to include in a care package to a missionary
• Create a monthly postcard campaign series
• Thank readers for their support of a specific project or their purchase of a product
• Send a picture of your product and a reminder about how to use it
• Send a picture of a person your product or service impacts
• Tell a short story about how your product or service changed a life

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