Marketing has always been a driving force of commerce, including the web space. It helps companies to improve brand awareness, target the right customer, and increase sales and thus, revenue.
Marketing has developed deeply in recent years, trying all the possible and impossible methods to grab and hold the customer’s attention. The progress of marketing seems to have reached its limits, as the whole sphere is getting back to the traditional style. The reason is quite obvious, people are overwhelmed with the digitalization of their life to such an extent, that they barely notice all the efforts the marketing group makes. Instead, they crave something different, and simplicity in particular.
Having lots of advertisements and e-mails, people will barely take a look at them, showing nothing but a lack of interest, however, if they have a postcard, physical evidence, that will really make a difference, as it will definitely contain an element of surprise.
Sending a postcard via mail is something unusual, as a snail-mail is mainly used for official correspondence. Carefully prepared marketing postcards can become a key to your potential customer. The main features of a “working” postcard are the following:
Personalization
The first surprise comes with the postcard itself, but seeing one’s name written on the card will just strengthen the first impression. People value everything which contains an individual approach. Just having one of many postcards sent to everyone is also spamming. Yet getting a personalized card is definitely an eye-catcher. It’s just the way our brain works – when seeing our name, -we’ll read a notice, when hearing our name in the crowd, we’ll turn our heads toward the source of the sound.
The layout
A typical postcard is a horizontal one, with mainly some nature-related details. Everything that is typical is not suitable for the advertisement and will never work as a hook for a customer. Be different and make the difference – make vertical, or diagonal, upside-down. When seeing something out of regular perception we tend to check for more details.
The ‘interface’
The way everything is organized matters a lot. The postcard shouldn’t be too cluttered and detail-oriented, yet leaving it with almost no information will make no use either. Conciseness is important as it gives aesthetic pleasure. The heading or a slogan, factual or surprising information, topic-related image or graphics – and the postcard is balanced. When lacking ideas at the initial stage, check for the patterns of postcard designs offered online, as they will help to organize ideas properly, making the message clear.
Fonts
Another important or rather, the crucial thing to check – is the fonts. When creating digital and animated postcards, it’s easy and necessary to play with the fonts, as they help to add some livelihood to the picture, However, with regular postcards, it’s better not to cross the line with crazy ideas. Give preference to simple and classic fonts, as they are the easiest in terms of eye perception. When the client or a potential customer needs extra effort to make out what is written – you lost them. Besides, basic fonts add some reliability to the company image, as they are mainly taken as a sign of stability.
QR
Having a physical card is enough to catch the person’s attention, then you need to direct them to your store or website. Instead of writing the name of your website, or social network page, just add the QR code as it is a quick and easy way to lead your customer-to-be further through the marketing funnel, and just adds some modernity touches on the overall traditional picture.
Just keep in mind, people want to have instant access to everything, and they are not going to waste time typing the name of the website.
Promotions
Everyone loves to save money, even those who have a lot of it. It is good to mention the bargains, as the clients will see the value of their wallets. A redeeming or promotional code will increase the chances to catch the attention of the customer, as it is an offer impossible to resist – get what you need and save money as well. Such a tactic can work well with new products and goods, creating the list of the first buyers.
Call-to-action
Ask people to do something – “check it’, “try it”, “follow the link”, “call us today and get a discount”, etc. When mentioning the direct appeal, you make sure that there will be a response, as the majority of people will get hooked by the appeal to action. It may be an additional encouragement and motivation to proceed to the website and check the goods on offer.
Quoting
Short and clear quotes from the customers’ testimonials will add another layer of reliability, as it will state that there are people who like the product and declare its quality. It shouldn’t be long, yet it must be concise.
Sending marketing postcards is a good idea, as nowadays, in the era of a digitalized life, physical items are the ones that can differ from others and stand out from the crowd. This type of marketing will especially be appreciated by people with tactile memory, those who need to touch and try something, before buying it. However, the value of such a method will only work when all the details are properly elaborated on. It’s important to keep the balance, as people get tired of a lot of information, too vivid and too bright colors. Sophisticated simplicity will deliver the message clearly, as it’s the best way to communicate with the customer of today.
