"One of the most frustrating parts of owning a business is trying to get your target customers to act. You know they are out there. You know that they need your product. You know that they are willing to spend money on your product. But, for whatever reason, they just will not take action and buy your product.



So how can you get those pesky customers to act? Well, one potentially cost effective way to do this is through direct mail postcards. A well designed postcard printing project can produce some well deserved activity on the part of your inactive customers. And, best of all, postcards are not that expensive.

To produce a powerful and useful postcard campaign, however, you have to have a good plan. And this plan consists of 5 parts.

1. A Mailing List

Your mailing list is the most important part of the entire project. It should consist of all of the people that you have identified as potential customers based on their demographic data. If you have not already collected this type of data….well, you are in trouble.

Your list should also include past customers who have not purchased from you in a while. This is why it is important to keep good records and to get as much information from your customers as you can. That way, you can contact them later and “activate” them.

2. An Offer

Your postcards should include an offer of some sort to the customers who receive it. Turning the postcard into a coupon is one option. You can just include an announcement of a special offer on the postcard if you wish.

Whatever method you decide to use, make sure you offer something good. The goal is to “activate” your customers, so your offer needs to be at least mildly impressive.

3. A Good Design

The way your postcards look is nearly as important as the offer you make. They should look attractive ad include colors and images that will appeal to the type of people you are targeting.

4. A Healthy Dose of Persistence

Sending out one postcard may activate a few customers. But in order to get a truly marketable result from your efforts, you will have to send out more than one. You can choose to send the same postcard several times through a few different mailings. Or you can design a couple of different postcards to send out at different times. The latter method, of course, is the most effective, but also costs a good deal more money.

5. A Record of Results

Do not just send out your postcards and call it good. You have to have some method in place to record how well they work. Keep track of who you have sent a postcard to, so you can identify them if they purchase from you. Use these results to help determine your future course of action.