Marketing with Post Cards by Jeffrey Dobkin
Short crisp and to the point, post cards are one of the best ways to market most any kind of products or services. Closing sales isn’t the priority for their short format but here are a few great benefits for post cards.
Generate phone calls. 98% of the post cards I create for clients have this objective. Call for information. Call for our FREE booklet. Call for FREE quote. Call for… well you get the idea. Ask readers to call you enough and they will. Every call is the opportunity to provide better service and oh, yea… increase sales and revenue.
Build brand awareness. These are the other 2% of the cards I create. By mailing post cards frequently, customers and prospects keep you in the top of their mind. So when they need anything that relates to your firm, they call you – first.
Build relationships. Sure, you can – it’s easy! But not with a single post card. You need to do this over time, with a series of cards.
Easy to Mail. No stuffing, folding, inserting, or matching names on letters with envelopes. Just print, inkjet and mail. Sort in zip sequence for great postal discounts.
Paint a vivid picture. Show clients you are on your toes and just waiting by the phone to help them. Fast quotes, industry research, business help, referrals – whatever they need, just pick up the phone and call you right now.
FREE Quotes. One of the best offers on a post card is a free quote. Every sale starts out this same way – with a phone call asking for a quote. Doesn’t it? So why not ask for the opportunity to quote. This generates a phone call and ushers in a possible sale.
Generate referrals. Just include a line on the bottom of ALL post cards saying “Thanks so much for all the referrals – I appreciate them. Thank you!” This stimulates referrals, let’s recipients know they should send more of them.
FREE LUNCH. Yes, offer a free breakfast or lunch. Put a dashed boarder around the post card and make it look like a fun coupon. You need to meet with clients anyhow, to make sure they know who you are. Let them call you and receive this free lunch — whenever they like.
FREE BOOKLET. The number ONE way to entice people to call is by offering FREE information. It’s cheap to print and the value is in the relevance.
The title triggers the response: the better the booklet title, the greater the response. Use the Jeff Dobkin 100 to 1 Rule: Write 100 titles, go back and pick out your best one! Works for me. A mediocre title = mediocre response. A great title = a great response. What’s a client worth to you each year? $500? $1,000? $5,000? More? Here’s a proposition: suppose you sent them a post card every two weeks – or 26 post cards a year. Your cost? At 50¢ each, that’s $13 bucks. Even at $1.00 each – that’s $26 bucks for a full year – to generate calls, and build a relationship of loyalty, awareness and trust. Here’s the bottom line in marketing with post cards: Small company? Mail a postcard campaign to your top 200 prospects, and your top 200 customers. Large company? Mail to your top 2,000 prospects, top 2,000 customers. Is it worth $26 per prospect to get them to call you? How about keeping clients active and thinking about you (and how great your service is) all year long? How much is that worth? Home much does it cost for you to get a new client? Or keep a client? Now how does that $26 figure compare to that?
Jeffrey Dobkin is a heck of a writer, a fun and motivational speaker, and a seriously great consultant. His advertising and direct marketing agency specializes in creating highly responsive letters and direct mail packages, website copy, brochures and booklets. He is heavily experienced in marketing, writing & communications strategy. 610-642-1000 rings on his desk. Visit www.jeffreydobkin.com. Oh, wait… you’re already here! Welcome. Might as well buy some of his books: Order Page.