Why Postcards Are Such A Powerful Direct Mail Piece

There are a few different ways that you can reach new potential clients who don’t know your business exists yet. One of those ways is by sending these clients direct mail pieces. Direct mail marketing is not only a great way to reach out to these new potential clients, but it can be used to touch decision makers at all stages of the buying process - even those who are already clients of yours.

If you really want to capture the attention of the person who receives your direct mail piece, one of the best ways to do that is to send a postcard.

Look at It This Way...

Imagine you want to send a prospect some sort of direct mail piece, but you’re not sure what would be best. You want to capture their attention, and make sure that what is on that piece can’t be too easily ignored - you don’t want it thrown in the trash before they even learn what it is! This would be a huge waste of time and money.

Unfortunately, with the majority of types of direct mail marketing, the pieces themselves are contained inside of an envelope. So, the only way for the recipient to see what you send them would be to open that envelope. But, nothing is forcing them to do so.

You can try to jazz up your envelope by giving them a taste of what is inside once they open it, as a way to encourage them to actually do so. But, you only have so much space to do that. There needs to be space for the stamp, address, return address, and all other required space by your country’s post office. You might be able to add your logo and a few lines of text - or even an image - but this isn’t always enough to get a person to open your direct mail piece.

That’s what makes postcards so great. A postcard doesn’t need to be contained in some envelope - all of that required information is just provided on one side of your postcard. So, even if your recipient intends to throw your direct mail piece away, they're more or less forced to view it when sorting through their mail.

The Visual Appeal

In addition to easily accessible information, postcards will stand out in your recipients’ mailboxes more so than other direct mail pieces due to their aesthetic nature.

Postcards are typically on thick, glossy paper, which will greatly contrast from your typical white envelope. Not only this, but they can be very colorful depending on the design you choose.

Just compare this postcard our MSP sent out to a letter we sent out promoting the same service:

See how many more colors are in the postcard compared to the letter. Which do you think is more visually appealing?

Easier to Digest

Another thing you may have noticed from the pictures above is that the postcard also contains much less text than the letter. Obviously, this wouldn’t be ideal for every type of direct mail marketing campaign that you run - there will be times when a letter would actually be the better fit. Imagine a business owner sitting at their desk during a brief period of downtime going through their received mail. They may only have five minutes or so before they have to move onto another task. Is that enough time to read a letter if they have multiple other pieces of mail to flip through in that short period of time?

A postcard may only contain a couple of paragraphs of text, and may be split up into listed items or bullets. And yes - you could do this in a letter too. But often, you would choose a letter because you wanted to present a lot more information in your direct mail piece.

Again, this isn’t necessarily bad depending on what sort of information you’re providing. But, if you want the recipient to be able to absorb the information contained in your direct mail piece in a very short amount of time, a postcard is the way to go.

Getting Recipients to Your Website

Like most of your marketing, the goal of your direct mail piece is most likely to get the recipient to your company’s website; this is the reason why many companies will steer away from direct mail all together. In physical marketing pieces like this, people can’t just click on a link and arrive on a landing page that you set up.

Thankfully, there are other options.

The first option would be to create a landing page with a rather short alias and include that URL on your direct mail piece. This is doable, but still might involve a decent amount of effort from the recipient if you have a longer domain name.

You could instead include a shortened URL. You can do this through multiple different link shortening services out there - you may recognize bit.ly, goo.gl, and tinyurl. But, keep in mind that free URL shorteners will randomize your alias. This doesn’t matter much online, but does on print - a lowercase “L” (l) often looks the same as an uppercase “I” (I). And, some people not familiar with your company may also be wary to go to these links in fear of a cyber-attack.

If you use a shortened URL, it may be best to get your own domain and use YOURL so that you have your own branded, customizable shortened URL maker.

A third option would be to include a QR code. With a QR code, an individual could just scan the customized code with their mobile device instead of taking the time to type it in. Many mobile phones now come with a QR code built into the camera application. But, keep in mind that you shouldn’t only include a QR code in case not all of your recipients have this built-in feature or have an app installed.

Your Introduction into the World of Postcards

Interested in dipping your toes in the water? Consider trying out our Blog-Tip Postcard service, available to those who utilize our blog service. With this service, our team will select two informative, educational blogs per month and design a branded postcard for each blog that encourages recipients to visit your website. We will design, print, address, and send out these postcard for you to your desired list. Give us a call at 888-546-4384 or contact us here if you’d like to learn more.