Postcards are an effective yet commonly overlooked form of direct mail marketing.
Sending out postcards lets you reach a targeted audience using promotional print pieces, such as coupons and offers.
Postcards also have a near-100% open rate since they don’t require envelopes. The recipient doesn’t have to decide whether to tear it open. As soon as they retrieve the postcard from their mailbox, the promotional messages on the card strike them immediately.
However, a postcard will only achieve its perceived promotional benefits if creatively printed. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the top five most ingenious postcard printing tips to optimize your direct mail advertising campaigns.
1. Pick a Premium Cardstock
Discussing smart postcard printing tips without emphasizing the cardstock quality is impossible.
Marketing experts recommend thicker cardstocks due to their durability and aesthetic appeal.
Postcards that appear in thicker and heavier cardstocks preserve your advertising messages longer than those designed in thinner and lighter cards. They also have such an enduring appeal that the recipient will happily bring them to their homes.
Besides, thicker cardstocks are easier to write on than lighter ones. Whether you want to make your promotional messages appear professional by typewriting them or prefer to give them a personal touch through handwriting, you can trust a thicker cardstock to deliver.
A standard 16-point paper is arguably the best cardstock thickness for your postcard printing. The cardstock is ultra-thick and comes in a semi-gloss paper, which adds to its luxurious appeal.
2. Designate a Purpose for Your Postcard
Postcards vary depending on the marketing goals you’re aiming for.
Like other advertising techniques, you could use a postcard to stimulate demand for a new product. In this case, adding an appropriate product image would be prudent. The image will be the highlight of the postcard, even if the card also contains plain text.
Resist the urge to include your company’s entire inventory in a single postcard when the intention is to raise awareness of a specific product. The highlight of the postcard should be the first thing that strikes the recipient when they retrieve the card from their mailboxes.
You can make the image the central theme by zooming in and cropping it as required.
Remember to also pick a suitable background for your postcards. Avoid fancy colors or dynamic backgrounds as these may distract the recipient from the central theme. Instead, pick a neutral color for the background.
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3. Incorporate Striking Imagery
Incorporating visuals into your marketing materials is an excellent way to pique the target audience’s interest.
Multiple findings have shown that imagery can attract customers from diverse demographics. It also amplifies and eliminates any ambiguities in your advertising message.
Therefore, a postcard without an image is unlikely to achieve the intended marketing objectives. More importantly, the imagery should be both relevant and captivating.
Pick an image that resonates with the postcard’s promotional message. The selected imagery should be instantly relatable.
Then, spice things up using colors and patterns. Highlight key graphic elements to give the image a striking appeal.
However, take care not to over-embellish the image. While you can use a dynamic color scheme in the postcard, it would be counterproductive to incorporate all the rainbow colors.
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4. Keep the Message Short and Simple
Postcards are primarily designed to be small enough that the messages on them should be equally brief and to the point.
A postcard isn’t the right medium to remind the recipient of your company’s mission and vision. The card should be used purposefully for a specific marketing purpose.
Note that only 24% of cold mail recipients open those emails. While postcards do not require tearing envelopes or clicking on the ‘Inbox’ folder, recipients can easily chuck the cards into the trash if they look too chaotic.
Experts recommend writing only a line or two on the postcard. The first line is typically an attention-grabbing headline, while the second bears the promotional message.
The writing should be legible enough but not too overwhelming. Remember that the focus is on the imagery.
You can play around with multiple typefaces, colors, and graphic elements.
In addition to brevity, keep the messages sweet and enticing.
5. Don’t Forget Whitespaces
It’s tempting to utilize every inch of postcard whitespace, especially if you want to create a detailed promotional message. But as we’ve mentioned, postcard advertisements should be brief and to the point.
Capture as much detail in as few words as possible.
A bigger danger to utilizing the entire whitespace is that it overloads your postcard and makes it too chaotic. The card may overwhelm the recipient when only a tiny fraction of the whitespace remains visible.
The general rule is to put most of the information on the upper half or the central part of a postcard and leave the rest of the card unwritten.
The plain space will give the card’s visual elements enough breathing space, allowing the recipient to read every bit of information.
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Wrap Up
Implementing the above-highlighted tips can help you print an impactful postcard that leaves a lasting impression on the recipient. Remember that, like other forms of direct mail marketing, postcards should only be sent occasionally and when there’s a genuine need to pass a message.
Sending out postcards every other day may be counterproductive to your marketing campaigns as it portrays your company as too intrusive.
