A Wide Array of Ways to Use Custom Postcards for Marketing Your Brand

Did you know that according to the United States Postal Service, custom postcards are marketing materials which are most likely to be scanned or read? Also, more than half of customers said that they have read postcards over sales letters, and more than 23% said that they have responded to postcards which are relevant to them. These numbers mean that if you are not using postcard printing as part of your promotional campaign, you are clearly missing out.

Numerous Ways to Use Postcards for Marketing

As you may already know, postcards are printed marketing materials sent to customers over the mail. There are many printing companies that can create cheap postcards and even mail them out for you. The question is, how will you use the postcards in order to push your marketing agenda? Here are a few creative ways to utilize them:

• Distribute postcards to announce an in-store or website event. Whether you have a physical or online store, you can mail out postcards to announce a store opening, an online store sale, or similar event.

• Turn postcards into discount vouchers or coupons.

Customers will not even bother reading your brochure or flyer if they will not get anything out of it – so use postcards to offer benefits. If you’re using an envelope, indicate that there is a discount coupon or voucher inside. Recipients are more likely to open the mailer and keep the postcard for future use if there’s something in it for them.

• Use them as greeting cards to build customer loyalty.

Postcard marketing is effective if you will send out postcards with just the right frequency: not too often that it feels spammy, but not too infrequent that they will totally forget about your brand. One way to increase the frequency of your mailers is to use postcards as greeting cards, especially during the holiday season. This is a great way to establish customer loyalty.

• Send a postcard birthday greeting to your customer, and make sure to include freebies.

Who wouldn’t want to receive freebies during their special day? When you are first getting the mailing address of a customer, have that person include his or her birth date and mention that you send out freebies for such occasions. It can be a discount on your products or services, or a buy one get one offer.

• Use postcards to introduce a new program, product, or service.

When you’re cooking up something new, introduce it using postcards. These are cheap enough to produce but are really effective marketing tools.

With a multitude of creative uses, there’s no reason for you to say no to the prospect of using postcards for marketing your brand to your target audience.

Custom-Made versus DIY Postcards

What’s the difference between a do-it-yourself and professionally-made custom 4 x 6 postcards? Obviously, one is made for personal use while the other is made for professional promotional purposes. Postcards make for a great personal card that you can send to loved ones while travelling, or for special occasions. For business owners, they can use postcards as a cheap way to promote their brand, product or services.

Now, whether you are making a DIY postcard or for professional use, there are a few steps that you can follow:
1. Plan the design of the postcard by visualizing how you’d like it to look. If it’s a DIY card, go online and look for postcard design templates that you can use. This can also be done by entrepreneurs, although it’s better to have the card professionally-designed especially if you would like to impress your clients.
2. Think about the elements that you would like to incorporate and highlight in your postcard. Pay close attention to the font, images, text and overall look of the design. Depending on the purpose of the postcard, you can incorporate as much or as little text as needed.
3. Keep the back part of the postcard simple, because this space is used by the sender for writing notes.
4. If you’re making a DIY postcard, print a sample first before having a huge batch made. If you’re having the postcard printed out by a professional printing company, ask to see a sample of the postcard first so that you can approve the design – then wait for the number of pieces that you ordered to be delivered straight to your doorstep.

With companies like BlockbusterPrint.com, you can have custom 4 x 6 postcards and different sizes of postcards made for a very reasonable price. Be it a DIY or a custom-made postcard that you are creating, it’s important to pay close attention to the small details so that you can achieve the purpose of having the postcard designed and made in the first place.