Postcard Marketing is a Lead Generator-Not a Brand Builder

I would like to make two important points about postcard marketing:

Point #1 - "Learn More" is Not an Offer
Here's the reason I stress this point. While working in the postcard marketing industry, "learn more" was one of the most frequently used calls-to-action I saw put onto postcards. The problem was, these companies gave the reader no reason to learn more. No incentive was mentioned. No compelling argument was made. No mention of the value to be had. Just a plain old "learn more."

I call this the "so what" factor. I get postcards all the time that tell me a little about the company and close with a "learn more" statement. "So what," is my immediate reaction. How does this apply to me?

You could also call this the "we exist" approach to marketing, where the company sends a postcard to thousands of people just to prove their existence. Trust me, in this day and age, you have to do a lot more than exist if you expect your marketing to generate a response.

Here's the bottom line. "Learn more" can no longer stand on its own as an offer or incentive. It will not spur anyone to act. You need to include something of real value if you expect any kind of response.

Point #2 - Postcard Marketing is Not a Branding Tool
Visit the websites of a few postcard printing companies, and you'll hear the phrase "top of mind awareness" tossed around a lot. The idea is that by sending a constant barrage of postcards, you will be "top of mind" with your potential audience.

I don't know about you, but on a given day, I don't have any companies at the top of my mind. Nor do I remember the postcards I received yesterday or last week. If a postcard has a valuable offer that's relevant to me, I'll hang on to it for later consideration. I might even respond to it right away. But if it follows the "we exist" approach to marketing, it gets a big "so what" from me.

Postcard marketing is a response-based medium, not a branding tool. If you're engaging in postcard mailings just to build awareness, you're on a slippery slope that will eventually blow your marketing budget with little to show for it.

In postcard marketing, repetition does help. But it's not a magic cure. The key is to repeat the mailings that work, not just the mailings in general. A failure repeated many times rarely becomes a success -- not in my experience.

Focus on building a successful postcard first and foremost. Set your sites on response generation and/or lead generation. When a postcard generates leads, it can then be repeated and improved upon. But don't repeat a postcard failure just because a vendor tells you to. They stand to gain in such scenarios; you do not.

Good luck with your postcard marketing!

* Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett. You may republish this article online as long as you retain the author's byline and the active hyperlinks below.

Brandon Cornett is the publisher of PostcardSmart.com, the Internet's largest library of postcard marketing advice. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on postcard marketing, due out on March 1, 2007. To stay informed about the book's release, you can subscribe to the blog located at http://www.postcardsmart.com/directmailblog/