“Keep it Simple Stupid”

Sometimes I come across a marketing article that says it far better than I could say it myself . These tips are from a small business consultant and marketer named Bob Leduc. The points are simple but worth thinking about in a world where we as marketers are constantly being asked to “keep up” with all the latest marketing platforms. Sometimes the old K-I-S-S adage, “Keep it Simple Stupid” is worth considering.

Why Postcard Marketing Works so Well
By Bob Leduc*

You may be surprised to know that postcards produce better results today than they did before the development of the Internet. There are seven major reasons why this is happening.

Postcards use a modern communication style.
A postcard delivers information the way people want to get it today. It arrives open and ready to read. The message it contains is always brief because there is not a lot of space for it. Therefore a postcard is quick to read and easy to comprehend.

Postcards have high impact.
It’s hard to ignore a postcard – even if the reader is sorting his or her mail over a trashcan and discarding everything that looks like advertising. An attractive postcard with any eye-catching benefit statement will be read by almost 100% of the people who get it… and anyone else who happens to see it.

Marketing with postcards saves money.
Postcards are small; therefore it doesn’t cost much for printing. More importantly, you can send postcards by First Class Mail in the United States for much less than other types of First Class mail. Currently the First Class Postage for a postcard is .28 cents if you make it between 3.5 high by 5 inches long and 4.25 high by 6 inches long.

Marketing with postcards saves time.
Because postcards are small, it doesn’t take much time to develop a marketing message for them, complete the printing and get them out in the mail. It’s not unusual to see results with poo9stcards within a week of mailing them.

Postcard marketing is easy
Don’t try to put a complete sales presentation on a postcard. There’s not enough space for that. Instead, just list one or two major benefits to arouse the reader’s interest. Then direct them to do something to get more information. For example, go to your web site where they can get more details – and where you can close the sale.

Postcards are versatile.
Postcards are easily adaptable to any business. They work equally well for selling either products or services. They’re also adaptable to any kind of marketing activity. You can use them to generate website traffic, develop sales leads, generate visits to a store, promote repeat sales or additional sales to current or previous customers, or …well, you get the idea.

Postcards are personal
People are used to getting postcards from friends and relatives. Its something they enjoy. Take advantage of this. Don’t design your postcard to look like a magazine ad. Design it to look like a message from a friend at first glance. You are not doing this to deceive the reader. They will immediately recognize your postcard as advertising. But they will give it the same psychological reception they give to a personal message – and that will produce significant more replies to you. Use personalized data on your postcards to increase your response rates.

If you are interested in exploring a postcard marketing strategy – let us know. We can print and mail your cards, help you get a mailing list or bulk mail saturation discounts and even print and ship your cards to you to mail yourself.

*Article reprinted with permission by Bob Leduc. Copyright 2008 Bob Leduc. All Rights reserved. To reach Bob go to http://BobLeduc.com.