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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

DPP Solutions: Promo Postcards

This marketing staple is still as essential as ever

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Elon Schoenholz relies on promo cards as his primary marketing spend.

However you print it, your postcard only can be as effective as the list of people to whom you send it. This isn't mass media—it's targeted marketing. Refine your own list of clients (past and present), then augment it with a list from Agency Access, highly targeted to buyers who need what you're selling.

"Eighty to 90 percent of your postcards are going to be 'recycled' into the trash bin," Clark says. "If you have a targeted list, your return on investment will be a lot higher than if you send postcards willy-nilly. When I send out postcards, I usually send out a batch of 500 to 750 maximum."

"If you send 300 cards," Fram says, "and 10 people keep them, is it worth it? I think so."

Just do it, keep doing it, then do it some more. To be most effective, it's commonly accepted that you must "touch" a prospect at least three times before making an impression. That means supporting postcards with other marketing and social networking. Do be careful about inundating a prospective client, though; you don't want to come off like a spammer or, even worse, a stalker. A quarterly marketing cycle is ideal, albeit easier said than done.

"The old adage 'out of sight, out of mind' is the entire reason for postcards," Clark says. "Sometimes all it takes is a gentle reminder to get an assignment. My marketing plan is to send out e-promos every six weeks, the newsletter quarterly and postcards quarterly, as well. That's obviously a ton of work. It's rare that I actually get four cards mailed in a year."

"I wish I could make and send them four times a year," Schoenholz agrees. "In my experience, they always pay for themselves. I figure I need a 1% success rate—one job out of 100 cards sent—to make it worthwhile. I judge success by checking my web traffic after a promo goes out. It always spikes dramatically. Every time I've sent out postcards, I get a call for work within the next couple of months. Maybe it's coincidental, but I doubt it.