While there are many types of direct mail pieces, few, if any, offer more benefits than postcards. They’re the perfect direct mail tool to build awareness, announce new products or services, retarget marketing efforts, and extend promotional offers to new or existing customers. Continue reading to learn insightful postcard marketing ideas, including eye-catching design elements, enticing copy, and more.
Direct Mail Postcard Design Tips
Postcard mailer ideas should focus on the two essential elements of copy and design. There’s no definitive answer to which is more important. However, you can rest assured that the two must complement each other for your postcard marketing ideas to succeed.
Before you send any postcards, use these invaluable direct mail postcard design tips to ensure your marketing campaign excels.
Don’t Bury the Lede
If your postcard campaign‘s goal is to get people to call for an estimate, make that the headline. With dwindling attention spans and handfuls of other mail pieces, you have a limited window to catch consumers’ attention. Don’t risk them missing your enticing offer by placing it in a less noticeable area or surrounded by less compelling content.
Force readers to notice by using easy-to-read fonts for your headlines and calls to action. Take, for example, a restaurant offering a weeknight buy-one-get-one-free entrée special. It’s an enticing offer, but if it’s in small text at the bottom of the message, how many people are going to notice?
Use Colors That Pop
Think of your own experience when reaching into your mailbox. You probably shuffle through each piece, quickly overlooking the plain white envelopes or drab-looking pieces. But even if you’re not immediately aware of what a postcard is for or who it’s from, an eye-catching color scheme always makes you take notice.
Some color-related promotional postcard ideas are:
- Use complementary colors with aesthetically pleasing qualities or contrasting colors to draw attention to a specific area.
- Use your brand’s color scheme for branding pieces.
- Use the color schemes of corresponding seasons, holidays, or events.
- Use two or three colors to avoid looking too busy or distracting.
Use White Space Effectively
Another helpful direct mail postcard design tip is to take advantage of white space. White space can include margins, areas between lines of copy, or gaps between a block of text and a logo or other image.
These areas naturally attract the eye. A well-placed call to action, header, or offer surrounded by white space emphasizes your crucial message point. The right amount of white space depends on the intent of your postcard marketing campaign.
Integrate Multichannel Marketing Elements
Working a URL, social media handle, QR code, or discount code into the design helps potential customers visit your website and take the next conversion step. For example, your postcard marketing idea is to retarget shoppers who left items in their e-cart. Then a multichannel marketing approach like using a QR code that takes customers directly to their cart with a discount code to complete the sale is a great way to reach your objectives.
Promotional Postcard Ideas For Copy
Now that you’ve learned some direct mail postcard design tips, let’s focus on what your mailer should say. When considering postcard mailer ideas, clarity and actionability should be top of mind. Not only does your call to action or headline take up prime real estate, but it also has the most significant impact on influencing users.
Because of this, you need the central message of your mail marketing campaign to be clear and catchy. Think of the header as the way to catch a reader’s attention and the supporting subtext as the reason to follow up. When brainstorming postcard marketing ideas, be sure to consider:
- The goal of your postcard
- How much space do you have to work with
- What are the main benefits to highlight
- What kind of verbiage motivates your target audience
- The ideal shape and size for your postcard
- Where do you want your call to action to lead targets?
Your postcard’s content should focus on the benefits of what you’re offering instead of features. People generally don’t make purchases based on features but rather on how they improve their lives.
To avoid confusing readers, stick to a main promotional postcard idea and action. Prompting your target to call, email, scan a code, and visit your website is off putting. Having a clearly defined goal also helps track each postcard’s success.
Personalization
Personalizing the copy on mail pieces can transform a good postcard marketing idea into a robust sales tool. How much more likely are you to read a postcard addressed to you than one that says current resident? Personalization builds a relationship and adds a feeling of exclusivity.
Customized URLs and discount codes that include your target’s name also provide a sense of belonging. These feelings of being valued help develop bonds with customers or lead new ones to try your offerings.
If You Have Postcard Mailer Ideas Presort Inc. Has Solutions
Presort Inc. combines effective strategy, creative design, and quality mail pieces to generate more sales for our partners. Our in-house designers and copywriters can help bring your postcard marketing ideas to life with eye-catching layouts and engaging content.
Our comprehensive direct mail marketing services include mailing list development, targeting, printing, and warehousing. If you’d like to transform promotional postcard ideas into beautiful, sales converting reality, reach out to Presort today.