Planning Your Postcard Campaign

Planning is the key to a successful postcard campaign. There are a number of questions you need to ask yourself beforehand. Your answers will help drive your campaign to success.

What do you hope to achieve from your postcard campaign? Do you want more sales, brand awareness or do you want to announce a new product or service to both potential and current clients? Who is your target audience? The more specific you can make your target audience the more successful your campaign will be. How often do you want to mail these postcards? Keep in mind that repetition is helps with name recognition and what you have to offer.

Once you have answered these important questions, it is time to establish your goals. Establishing your postcard campaign goals is essential to evaluating the success or failure of your campaign. If one of your goals is to reach every resident and business within specific zip codes you need to make sure your mailing list contains those specific zip codes. If you are offering a buy one, get one free that is only available for a specific time period, you must allow enough lead time for printing and mailing the postcards. This time sensitive message also determines whether or not you use Standard Class (bulk mail) postal rates or First Class mailing rates.

Create a sense of urgency to respond such as an expiration date on the offer. You can also instill a call to action with offers such as “Only while supplies last” or “Present this coupon during checkout before December 15, 2006 to receive a 15% discount.” Timely responses help to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.

Also, it is important to outline the advantages you offer in comparison to your competition. Your audience wants to know how your services and products benefit them. Outlining these considerations during the planning helps to frame the content and message contained on the postcards. This process also serves as a guide for your selection of an attention grabbing headline, graphic or photograph. Remember, you only have a few seconds to get the attention of the reader.

Don’t forget the quality of the postcard is a reflection of your business. Plan the size and type of postcard to be used and make sure it reflects well on you. Remember, first impressions are lasting impressions.

Taking the time to plan your postcard campaign can save you time, money and effort. The Plan keeps your campaign congruent with the success criteria you established by asking yourself the important questions up front.