Grab And Run Postcard Marketing Ideas

With its compact little shape, postcards can go anywhere!

Already this marketing strategy is catching on everywhere: countless real estate agents fill mailboxes with advertisements of homes just listed or sold.

Here's more postcard marketing ideas to whet your appetite...

Cosmetics superstore Sephora regularly have new postcards at their checkout, which inform customers of not only popular products in the store, but also how to utilize them to create a whole new makeup look.

If you're itching to try a cost-effective way to advertise, first consider how you intend to go about getting your postcards to the people:

Postcard Marketing Ideas To Run With

Targeted distribution: This can involve either placing the postcards in a fixed place for the consumers to take at their own will, or handing them out the old fashioned way to specific types of people.

Ready to brainstorm?

(For example, handing out a postcard flyer for a new children's clothing store in a mall to parents walking around with their kids).

This is one of the most effective postcard marketing ideas since only people that are interested in your product get your postcard.

Random handouts: Distributing postcards usually in a high-traffic area to get your information out to a large group of people.

Who gets your postcard is not so much the issue, rather, how many get it.

Direct mail: A very popular postcard marketing idea simply because it works. While the right mailing list is key, more important is the general idea of the postcard.

Hone your offer or incentive so it not only makes readers eager to learn more, but so it translates well into a snappy headline as well.

Ideally, there should be one idea per postcard so that it's not bogged down with dull-looking text.

Choose the most attractive benefit of your product or service, and save the rest for when you're trying to close the sale.

Only One Chance To Impress

When you're marketing with postcards you really only get one chance to impress the recipient, so ensure your message is perfectly clear with no errors, and that you choose a suitable image.

Resist the urge to splash a variety of colourful pictures on your postcard, or use one solely because you thought it looked great.

Your image, to be effective, should support the headline and be relevant to the reader, on top of being eye-catching to start!

There are a lot of little things that will make your postcard marketing go a long way.

Consider the following ideas that can pay off big in the long run:

Keep it simple - in the headline, the image, everything
Make your postcard look like it is from a friend
Constantly resend to build name and brand recognition
Send by First-Class Mail to stand out from other junk mail
Time your mailings to arrive mid-week - your postcard won't have to compete as much with other mail and the recipient is likely to be less busy on those days
Always proofread!

There are no rules that say you have to follow a certain 'look.' Be different! With postcard marketing quickly catching on, here are some ways to set yours apart from the competition:

Use sizes other than the standard 6x4
Turn the postcard into a mini-portfolio - include customer testimonials or samples of your work for new prospects to see
Use real stamps instead of a postage meter
Take your logo off the return address so readers think it's from a real person rather than from a business
Address it in handwriting rather than print