VerticalResponse for AppExchange Blog

Create a Successful Postcard Campaign

My last blog post covered why and how to start using direct mail postcards for your business.  Today I'm going to look at some best practices that will help you get the most from those postcard efforts.

Here are ten steps to building an effective postcard.  Note that many of these steps would apply to just about any kind of marketing:

1. Start with an Idea

You can’t build an effective postcard if you don’t have an idea of what you want it to be about. 

Why are you creating a postcard?  Are you looking to invite new residents to your neighborhood business?  To increase attendance at an event?  To sell a particular item?  Figure it out before you start.

2. Decide On an Offer

You know why you’re sending the card.  Now what exactly are you going to offer up to your recipients to get them to take action?  Is the item, service, event, etc. compelling enough on its own?  Or are you going to offer a discount or provide some other incentive?

3. Identify Your Audience

Is the idea a good fit for your entire list?  Or do you want to reach out to only a certain segment based on their interests or location?

You can also use purchased or rented lists for direct mail postcards, something that is generally an awful idea with email (VerticalResponse prohibits the use of third party lists for email campaigns).  So consider if your offer could generate prospects for your company. 

If you’re looking for direct mail lists, then sites like www.hoovers.com, www.onesource.com and www.infousa.com are a good place to start. 

4. Select an Eye-Catching Image

With the possible exception of the offer itself, the image is probably the most important part of the card.  An eye-catching image could land your card on a recipient’s refrigerator for the next three months, or, even better, make them want to flip the card over and see what you’re offering them.

An image that fits your offer and is funny / striking in some way is never a bad choice.

5. Write Your Headline

The headline on the front of your card is like the subject line of an email.  It should usually be short and interesting, and (in conjunction with the image on the front) make recipients want to flip the card over and read what you have to say. 

6. Clarify Your Message

It can be tempting to write a long explanation of what you’re offering and why people should take action with it.  But that is the wrong way to go.  Your offer should be easy to read and understand in the time it takes a recipient to go from their mailbox into their house.  Otherwise your card could end up in the garbage without it having achieved the impact you wanted.

7. Design Your Card

Now that you know your offer and chosen your image, you’re ready to design your card.  You can do this with a tool like photoshop or using the tools in VerticalResponse. 

Try to keep the design simple and easy to scan, because (again) you really only have until the recipient reaches the trash or the recycling bin to get your point across. If you can say what you need to say in a sentence, then don’t say it in a paragraph.

8. Include Tracking

Tracking an email is easy.  You just have to send them email and we’ll immediately tell you who opened it, who clicked a link and can even tell you who made a purchase or otherwise converted from your message.

Postcards are not quite so easy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be tracked.  If you’re linking recipients to your site, send them to a landing page that is specific to the card.  If you’re pushing them to make a purchase, include a postcard specific promo code.  If you’re doing a sale at your store, require that they bring the card in with them. 

Doing some kind of tracking is important, because otherwise you’ll have no direct way to measure the success of your card.

9. Send Your Card

Once your card is together, you’ll obviously need to send it out.  And I know of this great service that makes it easy for you to do that. 

Err, if you just happened upon this article, the service to which I’m referring is VerticalResponse.

10. Track Responses in Salesforce

If you’re tracking your responses in such a way that you can see exactly who took action, then make note of that on your Lead & Contact records.  And if a postcard is returned to you as undeliverable, then be sure to note that the address on the record is no longer correct.  Otherwise you’ll be wasting your money on a bad address again and again in the future.

Have questions?  Let us know in the comments!

Richard Huffaker, Education & Training Manager

Do You Know the Way to VR Postcards?

When you first install VerticalResponse, we add three tabs to your account: VR Email, VR Postcards and VR Statistics.  Though plenty of you use the VR Postcards tab, I'd guess that most skip right over it while jumping back and forth between the other two tabs.

And that's a shame, not only because ignoring the VR Postcard tab in this way almost certainly hurts its feelings, but also because Direct Mail Postcards are still a powerful tool in a marketer's arsenal.  Yes, even in this day and age with our blogs and tweets and Segway polo teams.

So in today's post I'm going to detail how you can use the VR Postcards tab and talk a little bit about why postcards can be a useful part of your marketing efforts. 

First, why use postcards in this modern era?

Because you don’t have the email address.  There is a good chance you’re missing the email address for at least some of your customers and prospects.  If you have their postal address, a postcard can be a great way to point them to sign-up for your email list.

Because you’re looking for new customers.  It’s a bad idea to use purchased lists for your email marketing because using such lists can have a direct impact on your ability to see your own email delivered, since there is such an incredible amount of fraudulent email that goes out everyday.  In fact, VerticalResponse doesn’t allow the use of purchased lists for email.  But you can use purchased lists for sending out postcards without worrying that the postal service is going to suddenly stop delivering your mail.  So postcards can be a great way to reach out to a potential audience.

If you run a neighborhood business or a business that focuses on a certain city, postcards can also be a great way to reach out to people who have just moved to town.  The Postal Service generally does not forward Commercial mail when someone moves, so a new resident’s mailbox will likely be emptier than normal. 

Because an email address has bounced.  If an email address bounces back as undeliverable, then a postcard can be a great way to get the correct address.

Postcards are also useful for:

Announcing Events
Mailing to Lists Provided by Tradeshows
Reaching Out to People who Don’t Respond to Your Emails

How does the Postcard tool work?

• You can upload your own image or select an image from our royalty-free stock photo gallery.  If you upload your own image, it needs to be in JPEG (*.jpg) format and 150 DPI or larger.
• You can create either 4x6 or 6x9 sized postcards.  You choose which size you want during the editing process.  As you might expect, 6x9 cards are more expensive than 4x6 cards. 
• We print the cards on 30% recycled, Forest Stewardship Council certified paper and mail them out to your list.  You can build a postcard list from the VR Postcard Tab using the same tools we provide for building an email list.  There is no minimum order size, either - we'll print and mail a single card if that's all you need.  But do note that postcards can only be mailed to US Addresses.

Every account includes one free 4x6 card so you can check out the quality of the postcards.  If you’ve never sent yourself a free card before (or never used the postcard tool), here’s how to get going:

1. Go to VR Postcards.
2. Click the New Postcard link.
3. Select whether you want to upload your own image or select an image from our free Stock Photo Library.  If you choose to upload your own image, you’ll just browse your computer for the file you want to upload.  If you select the stock photo option, a dialog box will appear from where you can search for images.
4. After you make your selection, you’ll be able to edit the front of the card.  From here you can select between 4x6 and 6x9 card sizes (be sure to choose 4x6 if you want to send a free card), add text to the front of the card by clicking anywhere on your image, and do some very basic image editing.
5. The next step is to add text to the back of the card.  There is a single provided box in which you can add text.  You should also enter your return address here.
6. When you’re done, you can view PDF proofs for both the front and back.  Each proof includes a 3 digit proof code.  You’ll need the codes for both front and back later in the process, so be sure to jot them down somewhere.
7. Now you select the lists to which you want to send your card.  Any list you select will need to include postal addresses for what I think are obvious reasons.  You can also select the option to send yourself a free card at this point - you’ll be prompted to enter the address where you want the free card to be sent later in the process.
8. The next option is to schedule your launch date.  You can schedule the postcard to be processed in advance or have it processed immediately.  Note that your scheduled data determines when the card will be sent to the printer, not when it will actually be mailed.  It can take a few business days before it is printed and sent out. 
9. The final step in the process is to actually pay for the mailing (unless you’re sending the free card as that doesn’t require any sort of payment) and launch it.  You’ll need to enter your proof codes on this page before you can actually send your card out.

Need more help?  Don’t forget to check out our How To Do Everything site:

http://www.verticalresponse.com/tutorials/salesforce/

Next week I’ll take a look at some best practices for creating an effective postcard.