The Postcard Playbook: 7 Tips on Postcard Marketing Optimization

Imagine marketing that fits into the palm of your hand, packed with staying power, and capable of delivering your business’s message or your event details directly into the homes and hearts of your customers. It’s snail mail for the win—behold the power of the postcard!

In this article, we dive into how to make the most of your postcard marketing. From irresistible designs to compelling calls-to-action, we cover what you need to know to see return on investment in your postcard marketing campaign.

The power of postcard marketing

As a small business owner, you want the most bang for your marketing buck—and postcards are an excellent way to stretch your budget. They are less costly than producing brochures or booklets for bulk mailings, and they cost less per piece to send (as long as you’re hitting optimal volumes—more below). They are also highly versatile, equally effective at generating leads as driving attendance for your events and advertising special deals or sales. 

Postcards also have remarkable staying power with customers. Think about the last time you held onto a postcard featuring event information or that included a coupon. Compare this to the hundreds of promotional emails you delete from your inbox daily without even glancing at them—you can see that the postcard definitely stands out.

Now that you know more about the power of the humble postcard, it’s time to create one that sails right into the sweet spot for your customers. Not sure where to start? Partner with the marketing professionals at AlphaGraphics Wood Dale for custom postcards that make the phones ring and bring customers through your door. We can help design and produce postcards for lead-generation, mailing campaigns, direct mail, local events, and much more.

Tips for postcard marketing optimization

Here are seven tried-and-true tips to use in your next campaign to ensure postcard marketing optimization:

1. Clearly define your objectives. Are you running a postcard campaign to generate sales? Promote new products, services, or events? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Defining your objective will help you determine what kind of postcards can give you the best results for your campaign.
2. Identify your target audience. Are you hoping to reach new or current customers? Are they young or old? Male or female? Married with families or single and working a job? Your greatest return on investment will come when you have clearly identified who your target audience is and run your postcard marketing campaign with them in mind.
3. Create a compelling design. The human eye will always linger longer on beautiful designs. You want to create designs for your postcards that are on-brand and eye-catching. Need help designing eye-catching postcards? Our experts at AlphaGraphics Wood Dale are here to help!
4. Focus on clear, persuasive messaging. Postcards are not large, but their simplicity is part of what makes them such a powerful marketing tool—the customer should easily be able to read your most important information. Be sure that your postcards have clear, concise headlines, explain your offers and benefits well, and always include your call to action (what you want the customer to do in response to your message). By the time a customer finishes your card they should know who you are, where you are, what you are offering, and what the next step they should take is.
5. Always include your logo. Including your logo increases your brand awareness and consistency across all of your marketing channels. Maximize your marketing investment by making it really clear who the postcard is from—and where to go to take the next step.
6. Optimize your layout and size. Postcards come in a variety of sizes from standard 4.25x6” to jumbo, and what you don’t know can cost you. Be smart with your sizing choices and purchase volume to get the best per-piece postage fee and avoid “oversized” penalties. A knowledgeable printer can help guide you. 
7. Track your postcard performance metrics. Track how your campaign performs so you can refine in the future. You can track postcards through phone numbers, unique URLs, or coupon or QR codes.

Times—and marketing tactics—may have changed, but postcards are still relevant, cost-effective, and pack staying power.

Looking to do business with an expert marketing and printing company that can do it all, including postcards? It’s easy to get started with AlphaGraphics Wood Dale. Simply send us a file to get a quote or call us for more information on your project. Need more help? Learn more about our print services. At AlphaGraphics Wood Dale, we provide great choices at great prices. Remember, a free quote is just a click away. Or give us a call at 630-595-6800. We are conveniently located at 165 Hansen Court, Suite 111 in Wood Dale.

AlphaGraphics Wood Dale is proud to be recognized as the “Regional Center of the Year”, Great Lakes, 2022, for the best-run business in the Great Lakes Region—awarded by the entire AlphaGraphics network. We want to thank our amazing community for supporting our business—you continually inspire us to be our best.