Direct mail is expensive.
It’s outdated.
People just throw it out anyway.
Wouldn’t it be wiser to invest in digital since everyone’s online?
Isn’t digital just. . . better?
When it comes to direct mail marketing, plenty of myths and biases like these are floating around in the business sphere. You might start to feel like direct mail marketing is always second-best to digital.
But the truth is direct mail marketing is still very relevant and is actually becoming more relevant, according to a recent video by influential marketing and CRM giant Hubspot Marketing. Based on studies they cite, Hubspot says, “Direct mail has an effect on the brain that digital simply can’t replicate.”
At the same time, building an effective postcard marketing campaign requires nuance. A lot depends on your industry and product, and the tiniest tweaks can make a world of difference in whether your postcard stays on your prospects’ desk or the waste basket.
In this article, you’ll hear from small business owners who deal in sheds and manufactured homes. You’ll also learn valuable tips from a range of Rosewood disciplines: an experienced Rosewood designer, expert marketing guides, and practiced messaging team members.
Let’s dig in to discover how to build an effective postcard marketing campaign!
What do people often get wrong with postcard marketing?
1. Giving up too fast.
Derlyn Musser, a designer at Rosewood, says that a common mistake people make is “only sending a single card and giving up when it doesn’t get the results they expected. Most postcard campaigns see the best results after 4-6 mailings.”
If you’ve tried postcard marketing in the past and it hasn’t paid off, consider trying again. Stephen Ebersole, a Rosewood marketing guide, says, “It might be worth changing the messaging, format, or size. Making those changes could be a game-changer for someone who feels like postcards haven’t worked before.”
2. Thinking it’s outdated.
“There are a lot of people who still enjoy getting postcards,” says Stephen. “Because a lot of people go the digital marketing route, if you want to stand out, direct-mail marketing is a good way to do that.”
Hubspot says the average clickthrough rate of a digital banner ad today is 0.05%, noting that “ad blindness” is a common malady. Simply put, many people don’t even see the ads playing on the edges of their screens. This causes many companies to lose a lot of money on marketing. In 2022, 44% of money spent on digital ads was wasted, according to a Next & Co statistic shared by Hubspot.
If you’re a small company that serves locally, postcards are an excellent way to get your latest offers in front of potential customers.
3. Paying attention to only one side of the postcard.
“By far, most business owners, marketers, and designers put all their attention on the front side and very little attention on the address side,” says Jake Lorraine from High Response Marketing. He sees this as a big mistake.
Most customers will see the “back” of your postcard first since they determine what’s keepable by looking at the sender. Lorraine says, “You’re wasting this space if you’re not putting your strongest offers and graphics on the side of the address.”
A postcard has two sides for a reason. Use both to their full potential.
4. Confusing and losing.
It’s a StoryBrand mantra that we quote often here at Rosewood. It’s especially true when it comes to postcard marketing.
No matter which side they’re looking at, steward your customers’ glances by concisely communicating what you can do for them.
Take this postcard, which successfully brought in leads for Architon, a high-end remodeling company. Elaine, a copywriter at Rosewood, says, “The copy is very concise. It says exactly what they do and nothing extra.”
When your graphics and copy work together, as they do in this example, your customers can comprehend almost immediately how you will help them. If the match is right, your postcard will bring in leads.
5. Playing it (too) safe.
You know the drill. You grab your mail, slam the mailbox door shut, and walk to the house, flipping through your mail. According to a statistic by Matterhorn Business Development, those businesses vying for your attention have a quarter of a second to grab it.
Your postcard or mailer needs to give your customer some reason to pause during their mail sorting habit. For Derlyn Musser, designer and print specialist at Rosewood, that means “finding ways to make the postcard stand out in the mailbox, whether through bold design, unique printing aspects, or striking photography.”
To create a striking effect, Derlyn edited the image on the postcard above to “show the progression from idea to finished product.” He says, “I think this photo, combined with the new brand and copy, all worked to grab attention.”
Caleb Yoder, marketing guide for this company, agrees, noting that their recent rebrand increased the level of professionalism.
Playing it too safe will make your postcard blend in with all the other junk mail. So don’t be afraid to branch out. Try using some humor or playfulness. Experiment with an out-of-the-box photo. Even if all you do is bring a little happiness to someone’s day, your effort won’t be wasted. Cheering people’s day is a valuable thing to do in and of itself, but it will also likely give them a positive impression of your brand.
Nathan, a copywriter at Rosewood, offers a helpful perspective on being adventurous in your postcard marketing. “Just because it sounds strange to your ears as a company owner doesn’t mean it’s going to sound strange to your customers. Try to think like the customer who will be hearing it. You’re reaching out to people who may use different words or turns of phrase.” So, a joke or a turn of phrase that you wouldn’t typically use may catch your customers’ attention, bring a smile to their faces, and cause them to hang the postcard on the fridge rather than sailing it into the trashcan.
6. Putting all your eggs in one basket.
We’re all tempted to stuff our marketing materials with lots of text. We want our customers to know everything great about what we can do for them. However, sometimes in our eagerness, we say too much and end up turning them off with too much information.
“Resist the urge to promote too many products at once–you don’t want your postcard to look like a page from a catalog. If you focus on only a couple of items, you could miss a sale or two, but it’s likely that you’ll capture more people’s attention by keeping things simple,” Nathan advises.
Derlyn also sees “trying to pack too much onto a single postcard” as a frequent mistake that small businesses make.
Keeping your postcard focused will keep your customer focused.
What are must-have tips for marketing effectively with postcards?
1. Figure out if direct-mail marketing is “worth it” for your company.
Stephen, a marketing guide, says, “Postcards are not for everyone. You have to weigh the possible outcomes with the cost.” A postcard campaign is easier to pay off if you’re selling larger ticket items, like remodeling projects or sheds.
At the same time, Stephen says, “Brand awareness is valuable. Sometimes, you have to invest and be okay with a longer or more subtle payback.”
2. Ask “who’s getting it?”
The answer to this question will guide all your decisions regarding your postcard’s design, message, zip code selections, and more.
Caleb, a marketing guide, advises targeting your postcard to a certain segment of your audience. The message and design on the postcard should all be geared toward a “specific need in the market segment you are targeting,” Caleb says. You will then want to discover where these people live so you can send your mailing straight to them and avoid wasting postage on people not interested in your offer.
For example, say you’re marketing high-end remodeling. Research which zip codes carry a higher concentration of higher-income families. You can narrow it even more. If most people remodeling right now are upper-class retirees rather than upper-class families, research where upper-class retirees live and send only to those zip codes.
Sometimes, you can capture different segments of your audience with one postcard. Friesen Homes is a California-based company that builds and sells trendy manufactured homes as ADUs (additional dwelling units). A headline from a recent postcard campaign they did was: “Upsize. Downsize. Your Size.”
Nevin, the owner of Friesen Homes, appreciated this headline because it speaks to different personas with one message. First-time homebuyers (upsizers) and retirees (downsizers) are both important segments of their audience. The message also implicitly points the customer to an important aspect of their brand: the ability to customize.
Asking who you want your message to reach is the foundation for efficient postcard marketing.
3. Determine the purpose.
Brand awareness.
Does your target audience know a lot about your brand? If you are a new company or are trying to reach a new area, consider sending postcards that raise brand awareness.
Product awareness.
Michiana is a company in the Midwest that sells agricultural products and equipment for homesteads and large operations. Not every item they advertise is a high-ticket item. If you crunch the numbers from each campaign, they may not pay themselves off in technical ROI. However, for Michiana, keeping themselves front and center as the farm supplier for their customers is an indirect investment that is worth it.
Education.
Are there myths about your product that you can debunk? Are there aspects of your product or service that people don’t realize could save them money or offer them immense convenience?
The purpose of Friesen Homes’s postcard campaign was both to educate and raise awareness. Nathan, a copywriter for Friesen Homes’s postcard campaign, says the people they sent to didn’t “know about their product and how useful ADUs are.” In addition, he says, “People have a misconception about what a manufactured home is today. They picture the traditional mobile home when, in fact, ADUs are a whole different breed of houses.” Friesen Homes’s postcard campaign needed to educate their customers on the possibilities, including putting a second home on their property to rent out or using the ADU as a retirement home. Telling people, “Hey, did you know that an ADU is a fairly easy way to get a home that you couldn’t afford otherwise?” can spark big ideas for their customers. And it worked!
Nevin, owner of Friesen Homes, reports, “We had a person or two who got the postcard and literally walked into our office holding it. They had written ideas and questions all over it. They showed it to us and said, ‘This is why we’re here.’
Another customer picked up the phone the day they got it, called us, and came down the next day and bought the house.”
Since Friesen Homes sells large-ticket items, they received a return on investment when they sold to a tiny percentage of the customers who received the postcard. One or two home sales more than pay off the expense of their postcard campaign.
4. Understand your brand position.
Are there several competitors vying for the same market in your area? If so, you will need to carefully determine how your company’s offerings are different and communicate that in your marketing.
If you have carved out a unique niche in your area or in neighboring areas, the response rate will likely be higher. Architon, the high-end remodeling company represented by the postcard above, received a good response from their mailing. This response is likely due partly to the fact that they offer a turnkey remodeling experience that is rare for their area’s industry.
Remember how we said that you typically need to send out 4-6 postcards before you start seeing results? There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if your company has carved out a niche in your area, you may get responses on your first mailing, as both Friesen Homes and Architon exemplify.
Nevin, owner of Friesen Homes, says, “The reason we got calls on the first postcards we sent out is partly that we don’t have much of a footprint in the area north of us. I would be slower to send them out in our area because we’re already top of mind here.”
The folks north of Nevin “didn’t even know there was a local option” for ADUs. When they got the postcard, “it was a surprise to them. They went, ‘Oh, there’s somebody right here.’”
5. Start small if you’re not sure if postcard marketing is the way to go.
Lamar owns Breezy Acres, a shed company we recently assisted with a postcard campaign. He appreciated the ability to dial in the parameters of where the postcards go. Lamar says, “A postcard gets our products in front of them without them having to drive past our location. They can either throw it away or keep it for later reference.” Since Breezy Acres was rolling out a new product, he “thought postcards might be a way to get it launched.”
However, they chose to start small since Lamar knew that “postcard marketing can be a way to waste a lot of money,” and he didn’t know how his audience would respond. Lamar says, “We wanted to test the waters with our garages. Whether we continue will be determined by the success.”
6. Find ways to measure your campaign’s effectiveness.
As we said earlier, it’s not always possible to know what effect your campaign has had. Sometimes, you can gauge its effectiveness by things you observe; for example, customers who visit your business and ask for the product you advertised on the postcard.
Finding a more numbers-based way of measuring helps discern whether postcard marketing is worth the expense for your company. One of the easy ways to do this is through CallRail numbers. CallRail is a company that generates unique phone numbers for different marketing channels. When you put a CallRail number on your postcard, and customers call your business using that number, you can measure how many responses your postcard triggered. If you really want to dial down, you can put a different number on each postcard. This will help you discover which message or design communicated most effectively to your audience.
Tying your campaign to your digital presence is vital since interested customers will likely visit your website first after viewing your card. A way to measure how many customers visit your website after seeing your postcard is through a handy code called a UTM (Urchin Tracking Module). A website developer can add this code to the end of your website’s URL to track how many visits are sourced from your postcard campaign.
Wrapping it up
As I mentioned at the beginning, postcard marketing requires nuance. Because it can be pricey, you want to be wise in running a campaign. Yet being concise, creative, and adventurous is often a wise way to market with postcards. If you want help with both the strategic and the creative side of postcard marketing, check out our Rosewood Marketing Guide Path.
Sources:
- Hubspot Marketing, “Why This Old School Marketing Method Is More Effective Than Ever,” Hubspot Marketing, published on June 6, 2024, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsUaXF5z9kI.
- Jake Lorraine, “How I Make Postcard Mailings 10x More Effective (for Small Businesses)” High Response Marketing, published on March 7, 2023, YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyYOZTNMgzI.
- Neil Winteregg, “How to Improve Your Direct Mail Marketing (With Examples!),” Matterhorn Business Development, published on August 6, 2024, YouTube video, 1:28-1:44, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbmQq56kzEk.