Tag: postcard printing

Preparing for a Black Friday Sale? How Postcard Printing Can Help

One of the most anticipated events by shopaholics and online shopping addicts is the big Black Friday Sale. The date for this varies between November 23 and 29 – technically the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. It’s basically the start of the holiday shopping season so if you own any type of business, you need to take full advantage of the hype behind this very American tradition. Let’s say that you are planning to hold a Black Friday sale for your business. How can you start building the hype? Do so in your social media posts and your website so that online users will anticipate what is in store for them. Add to this a good postcard printing campaign, then people are bound to flock to your establishment.

Tips for Printing Postcards for Black Friday

First, make sure to look for an online printing services that can create high-quality postcards for you at an affordable price. Next, keep these tips in mind when printing Black Friday postcards:

  • Send the postcards with plenty of time to spare before the actual holiday. If you already have a mailing list or if you want to send one postcard to every door within your zip code or a mail carrier route, do it a month or so before the actual date of your Black Friday sale.
  • Create a postcard with a catchy headline and an attention-grabbing design. Entice customers to spend their money by designing a postcard using bold colors and a screaming headline. Why should shoppers visit your website or your store on Black Friday? How much discount can they get? Are there many varieties, products, or services available? Tempt them with phrases like 50% off, buy-one-get-one, or free shipping.
  • Do not forget the QR or promo code. Your goal in mailing out the postcards in the first place is to entice as many people as you can to visit your online or actual store on Black Friday. When you mail the postcard, there should be something in it for them – which can only be achieved using QR codes or promo codes. The higher the discount is, the more customers you can attract to purchase your products or services.
  • Extend any promotions that you have to “Cyber Monday”, or make the whole week “Black Friday” in your store.

By following these tips, you can use postcards to market your Black Friday sale, and have customers flocking your store on that date.

Help Professionals & Businesses with Their Taxes: Advertise Your Accounting Services through Postcards

One of the best ways to advertise accounting services is through postcard printing. Whether you’re working on your own or with a slew of other accountants, people and businesses need to be made aware that your services exist. When tax filing season looms, that is usually when professionals and business cram to look for an accountant – so you need to be proactive and make them aware that your services exist in the first place. This is where postcards prove to be useful. By simply printing a headline with maybe a short, bulleted list and your contact information, you can tell your individuals and businesses about your services. 

Tips when Looking for an Online Printing Company

Before counting down the ways for you to look for the best online printing company, it is good to know how you can create good copy in the first place. Postcards have more space than business cards but less space than brochures. With a 4” x 9” or a 6” x 11” card, you do not have the available area to write long paragraphs in, so keep the text short but impactful. There should be a catchy headline, then a bulleted list that includes details about your accounting services.  Try to include an image or a photo to break the monotony of an all-text surface. At the bottom or back of the card, you can include your contact information. If you want, you can even have a QR code which leads to your website, or a promo code that clients can use when booking your services. 

Next, check out these quick tips when looking for an online printing company: 

  • When printing postcards, ask about the printing method that the shop uses. This can be digital or offset or both – they will use one based on the volume of your order.
  • There are almost two dozen sizes of postcards available – choose one that best fits your advertising campaign as an accounting firm. 
  • Check on the material, paper stock, and paper finish that the print shop offers. 
  • Ask about the turnaround time, and research if they have good feedback on the quality of customer support. 

In the accounting business, you are performing a great service helping people and business owners with their taxes. Advertise this fact with affordable yet effective advertising postcards, and wait for the number of your clients to increase in no time. 

Establish Customer Loyalty through Birthday Postcard Printing

If you’re a business owner, some of your priorities when starting out includes advertising your brand, refining your day-to-day operations, and boosting sales. No matter which product or service it is that you are offering, these things will help solidify your presence in the industry. But what if you already have a set routine in running your business? The next thing that you need to work on is establishing customer loyalty. Most customers tend to stick to buying the same brand when they find the product useful, and the same service provider if they are happy with the service they’re getting. To help establish customer loyalty even more, you can use  postcard printing as part of your print promotional campaign. 

Let’s say that you already have a pretty solid online presence. When you combine this with printed promotional materials, you can reach that untapped part of your target market. So how can you use printing postcards to establish customer loyalty? Postcards are ideally sent on a regular basis to the doorsteps of customers because they are cheap to produce, yet effective in marketing. You just need to find a good online printing services provider then you are all set in earning the loyalty of your customers by using affordable postcards. 

How Different Businesses Can Use Birthday Postcards for Promos

Postcards come in different sizes and they’re effective marketing materials because there is no envelope to open – so the message can be read right away. If you are collecting information from your clients, you can use postcards as birthday promotional materials to establish customer loyalty. Here’s how different businesses can use birthday postcards for promos:

  • Restaurants

Send a postcard on a customer’s birthday and include a tagline for your promo. For example:  “Happy birthday, Janine! Your next dinner is on us if you book on your exact birthday – or get 50% off the bill if you dine in anytime within your birth month!” Use the back of the postcard to include a promo code or a QR code, and this is something that customers will eagerly take advantage of. 

  • Dental Clinics

You can use postcards to offer free dental cleanings for patients on their birthday. 

  • Hair Salons

Hair salon owners can offer free shampoo, haircut, blowout, or back massage to clients on their birthday. 

  • Chiropractor Clinics

How about a free adjustment on your birthday, (insert client name here)? This is a great way for you to attract patients to your chiropractor clinic. 

  • Health and Wellness Spas

Health and wellness spas can offer free massages or add-on services to their clients who are celebrating their birthday. 

  • Dry Cleaners

After the happy birthday greeting, you can offer free dry cleaning for a certain number of shirts, for example, if you are in the dry cleaning business. 

Be creative in thinking of a promotional offer that you can give to customers who are celebrating their special day, and you will earn their loyalty to your brand. 

Postcard Printing Musts for Photographers

Despite the fact that a lot of people have mobile phone cameras with amazing resolution, the skills of professional photographers are still unmatched. Those who are getting married, having a big birthday bash, or people who simply want professional-looking portraits or family photos are the prospective clients of photographers. If you are one, how can you promote your services? Thankfully, you don’t have to spend much because you can rely on postcard printing to do the marketing for you. When paired with establishing your presence on popular social media sites, a combination of online and offline marketing is the key to making your presence felt and your brand known as a photographer.

Must Do when Printing Postcards as a Photographer

The first thing that you need to do if you want to use postcards marketing to promote your services is to look for an online printing shop. There are digital and offset printing methods available. Do your research and ask about the printing package, the materials, the sizes available, and the turnaround time. 

Next, here are a few things that you must do when designing postcards that will be used to market your services as a photographer:

  • Use stunning photographs. 

Think of your postcards as a sampler of your talent as a photographer. You are basically applying for a job when you send out these postcards – you want people to hire you for their events and photo sessions. Once they look at the postcards that you will send, will they like your style? Depending on the size of your postcards, you can include two or more photos that showcase your style in taking pictures. 

  • Highlight your specialization in taking photos. 

Are you a wedding photographer? Do you like taking portraits of kids or families? There are even those who specialize in pet photography. When choosing which photos to include in your postcard, make sure to highlight your specialization. 

  • Offer seasonal discounts. 

Finally, offer seasonal discounts so that more people will book your services. For example, include a code for 10% off a professional shoot for a family for the fall season. Those who would like to include family portraits in a Christmas card can get 5% off if they book your services early. Be creative in thinking of discounts to offer and include them in your postcard design. 

With these tips, you can maximize the earning potential of your photography business simply by using inexpensive, yet effective marketing postcards. 

Postcard Printing for Tailors and Seamstresses

Not a lot of people know about tailors and seamstresses. With the popularity of ready-to-wear clothes, these professionals in alterations and making clothes may not necessarily have a booming business. This means that if you are in the alterations business, you need to exert some extra effort into advertising your work. So what can you do? First, establish your presence in the most popular social media websites. Create official accounts in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Engage your customers here then ‘talk’ to the part of your target market who are not online through postcard printing. 

Postcards are cheap yet effective. When you send out these mailers to every door within your zip code, for example, you can reach the part of the market who may or may not be online, but has a high possibility of requiring your services. Everyone can have a pair of pants that need alteration, or maybe a dress that requires a few minor adjustments to have a perfect fit. With postcards, you can advertise the fact that there is a professional that they can hire for such tasks, so go ahead and have those postcards made.

Things to Remember for Postcards Printing

To get you started, here are a few things to remember about postcards printing:

  • Do your research when looking for an online printing company to order postcards from. 

You can go for either a digital print shop, or one that uses offset printing with huge printing presses. The latter is suitable for big print jobs because once set up, the machines can easily print hundreds of copies in a matter of minutes. For smaller volume requirements, digital should be suitable. Some print shops offer both. Aside from the printing process, also ask about the turnaround time, quality of customer support, and the rates for postcard printing packages. 

  • Pay close attention to the design and the material used. 

You want to make a great first impression when sending postcards, so pay close attention to the design and the material used. Postcard sizes range from 4” x 6” to 9” x 12” while for the paper type, there’s silk-laminated, premium, or basic. For the paper finish, you can go with either matte or glossy. Make your decisions for these aspects based on your postcard design, and the image that you’d like to have as a brand.

  • Send postcards regularly. 

Finally, do send out postcards regularly. After introducing yourself through postcard marketing, you can again send postcards during the holiday season, on a customer’s birthday if you have that information, and when you have any type of promotion to offer customers. 

For tailors, seamstresses, and alteration specialists, postcards are the perfect advertising material to make people aware of your skilled services. 

The Basics of Travel Company Postcard Printing

People are slowly going back to travelling and if you have a travel company, now’s as good a time as any to jump right back in. So how can you tell travellers about the services that you offer? One of the best yet cheapest ways is through postcard printing. Here, we will look at the reasons why you should advertise using postcards, what to look for in a printing company, and how you can effectively distribute these mailers.

Why Should I Advertise Using Postcards?

First, why should you advertise using postcards? If you’re a travel company, here are some reasons to consider: 

  • Everyone is going digital these days so print advertising is actually a novelty. Instead of clicking links from email advertisements, some of which go straight to spam folders, having a printed postcard that is tangible will make people remember you more. 
  • The message on the postcard can be read instantly since there is no need to open an envelope. 
  • If you will include a time-sensitive offer (example: 10% off if you will book by a certain date), you are bound to get immediate results from your marketing efforts.

Second, custom postcard printing is very affordable. At a few cents per piece, you can have a set of postcards printed out, ready for mailing to your travel-addicted clients. 

What Should I Look for in a Printing Service Provider?

Next, what should you look for in an online printing services provider? Aside from the per piece price of the postcards, ask if they offer direct mailing or EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) services to make distribution easier. With direct mailing, the postcards can be sent to your mailing list if you already have one. If you don’t have a mailing list, EDDM mailing is easier because the print shop will partner with the USPS to send your postcards to every door within a zip code, or a more specific group of addresses if you have a niche market. 

Also check on the length of experience that they have in the printing industry. Make sure that they use high quality materials, that they offer good quality customer service, and ask about the turnaround time. 

For the postcard design, keep the message short but succinct. Include high-definition images that will make the reader want to instantly book a ticket with you to a dream destination. By learning the first thing about postcard printing, you can use this marketing material to entice travellers back onto discovering different destinations in the world. 

Be in Control of the Information You Share When You Print EDDM Postcards

If you are thinking about using eddm mailing as part of your print marketing arsenal, you are on the right track. Every Door Direct Mail allows business owners to send one postcard to every door in a zip code, for example, without having to manually collect mailing addresses. For this, the USPS partners with print shops to distribute mailers to a specific group of addresses. EDDM postcard printing is cheap, effective, and efficient so it’s a must-do for entrepreneurs. 

Information to Include in EDDM Postcards

For EDDM postcard printing, the first thing that you need to do is look for an online printing service provider. There are offset print shops that offer 24-hour offset, two-sided, free color print. Just do your research and you should find a suitable print shop to order from. 

Next comes designing your marketing postcards. Remember why you are sending them out in the first place. Do you want people to come to the soft opening of your restaurant? Would you like them to come in droves on the first day of your store’s big sale? Or maybe you simply want new customers to be aware that your business exists? For all these, it is important to know which information to include in your EDDM postcards. Here’s a quick list: 

  • A headline

Postcard sizes range from 4.25” x 11” to as big as 9” x 12”. Even if you’re going with the big-sized postcards for maximum impact, your copy should still be short but succinct. Start with a headline and when writing this, keep in mind the purpose of creating the postcard. If you want people to book your cleaning services, for instance, the headline could be “Want to reclaim your lost me-time?”. 

  • A subheading 

Following the above example, the subheading could be “Let our experts clean your house and spend the time saved to pamper yourself”.

  • A call-to-action

For the call-to-action, something like “Book our cleaning services before (date) and get 5% off!” is effective. This provides a benefit to the recipient of the postcard and there’s a time sensitive aspect to it – so you can get quicker response. 

  • Your contact information

Finally, make sure to include your complete and up-to-date contact information. Use the back portion of the postcard to include a QR code where they can get more information about your cleaning services. 

No matter which business it is that you are operating, knowing how to take control of the information that you will share makes for a more effective postcard marketing campaign.

Postcard Printing for Mom-and-Pop Establishments

Mom-and-pop establishments are retail stores, bakeries, grocery stores, drug stores, bookshops, clothes stores, restaurants, and other retail shops which are independently run. They’re usually family-owned businesses passed on from one generation to the next or have family members running the entire operation. If you own a mom-and-pop establishment, you may want to go for postcard printing as a form of advertising. It also pays to establish an online presence, but this is best combined with printed advertising materials.

What To Do and Not to Do When Self Advertising

What’s good about self-advertising using postcards if you own a mom-and-pop establishment is that it is effective without being pricey. To make the most out of your self-promotion using printed marketing materials, here are a few things to remember:

  • Do your research when choosing which print shop to go with.

There are many online printing service providers offering either digital printing services, offset printing, or both. The printing process used will be based on the volume or your order, or the availability of the printer. When choosing between different print shops, always check on the quality of postcard prints they offer. Also check on the quality of customer support that they have, and compare different printing packages.

  • Do use a casual tone when writing your postcard copy.

Formal language may be suitable when promoting law firms or corporations but for independent businesses, opt for a more casual tone. Postcards have more space than business cards but less space than flyers, making them the perfect advertising medium. Keep the message short, casual, and succinct since you only have limited space.

  • Do not aimlessly distribute your marketing postcards.

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make when mailing out postcards is aimlessly distributing them. You won’t only fail to send the right message to your target market, but you will also be wasting your hard-earned advertising bucks. If you are selling women’s products, for example, there is no need for you to mail postcards to every household because not all of them have members included in your target market. For this, you can narrow down your mailing list based on demographics like gender, household income, household size, occupation, whether they are homeowners or renters, etc.

  • Do not forget to include a call-to-action.

Lastly, always include a call-to-action. Whether you want the recipient of the postcard to give you a call, visit your website, or sign up for a mailing list, this should be made clear in your copy. Also include a promo code with a deadline, if you can, so that you can get better response rates.

By knowing the things to do and avoid when self-promoting your mom-and-pop establishments, you can maximize the response rate of your postcard marketing efforts.

Postcard Printing for Artists

Artists contribute a lot to the local community and if you’re an independent artist with no connection to the big galleries, how can you promote your work? First, you can establish your online presence by creating official social media accounts. There are also websites where you can upload samples and sell legit prints of your work. Once you already have that digital presence,  postcard printing comes next. This is a form of print advertising where you can mail out postcards to a specific mailing list, or use the Every Door Direct Mail service offered by the USPS to send your postcards to a specific address group. Postcards are cheap to produce, easy to carry around, and can be sent to customers regularly. You simply need to look for online printing service providers who can do a good job of printing out your postcards for you. When choosing which color postcard printing service provider, make sure that they use state-of-the-art color matching technology for your postcards to stand out. 

When Can I Use Postcards to Market Myself?

Next, how can you use postcards to market yourself as an artist? Here are some instances when you should think about sending postcards to prospective clients:

  • When inviting people to gallery openings

If you already have a good collection of your artworks and you’re ready for a show, you might be ironing out the details of your exhibit. Or maybe you are participating in an art show featuring several artists. For you to promote your work specifically, you can send out postcards with the details about the show. Make sure to send out the postcards a month or two in advance to give people time to clear out their schedules and check out your work. 

  • When inviting people to book your services

If you’re an artist who commissions work, you can use postcards to invite people to book your services. If a business owner needs a mural painted, for instance, how can they get in touch with you without seeing samples of your work? You may want to create a postcard that showcases a sample of your art. At the back, you can include a QR code that leads to your online portfolio so that they can learn more about your style as an artist. 

  • When selling your work at local art shows

When joining local art shows, you need to have something handy to distribute to folks who are interested in your work. You can also mail out postcards beforehand so that art enthusiasts would know what to expect coming into the art show. 

Whether you are a struggling or a seasoned artist, postcards can easily provide information about your work without having to engage in small talk – let your work and the printed advertising material do all the talking. 

Print EDDM Postcards vs. Digital Advertising

Whether you’re manufacturing a unique product, if you are into retail, or offering a service that everybody uses on a regular basis, you need to have a form of advertisement for your business. You may already have a regular slew of clients but it can’t hurt to have new people to provide services or sell your products to. Here, we will compare traditional print marketing, specifically  print EDDM postcards and digital advertising. Does one work better than the other? How about the costs involved? Read on to find out the answers to these questions and more.

EDDM Mailing Benefits

EDDM stands for Every Door Direct Mail. Here, an online printing services provider works with the United States Postal Service to deliver mailers to every door in a specific address, thus the name. As you know, postcards are cheap yet effective advertising materials. If you are just starting out, it is very convenient to take advantage of EDDM mailing because of these reasons:

  • You don’t have to put together your own mailing list. Simply choose which zip code, address based on demographic, or individual mailing route to send the postcards to. This saves a lot of time and is a more effective form of postcard advertising.
  • You don’t have to spend a lot of money. If you order more postcards from an offset print shop, the costs actually get lower as the volume of your order increases. For the postage, it only costs as few cents per piece to have the cards mailed out via EDDM.
  • You don’t have to take care of the USPS requirements or even bundle the postcards in stacks of 100 – the print shop takes care of all the dirty work for you. Once done, they will deliver the postcards to a local post office for mailbox distribution.

What about Digital Advertising?

Digital advertising is very popular with new businesses. They maintain official pages on different social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. For this, it is important to always upload content and interact with followers so that your brand name will make an impact to them.

Combining Digital with Traditional Print Marketing

Although some business owners focus on either digital or print advertising, it is best to combine both. For example, with postcard printing, you can include a QR code on the postcard which leads to your website. You can also include promo codes and make sure that the postcard has a call-to-action.  What’s important for entrepreneurs is to know which type of advertising works for them, and maximize their efforts on that to get the best results possible.