Don’t forget to write! Using postcards to stay in touch

Many of us will still send a postcard back to the office or to friends at home when we are away on holiday. Why choose this medium in a digital age? Well it’s effective, it’s inexpensive, and the format allows us to convey as little or as much as we like. From the recipient’s perspective, a postcard is personal, fun to receive, quick to read and demonstrates that the sender is thinking about them. What’s interesting is that all of these same attributes apply in a business context too.

With a little imagination, postcards can make a valuable contribution to your sales and marketing effort, especially when they are used alongside other online or offline communications, as part of a campaign. Over a period of time, postcards can help to build awareness, develop relationships, and ensure your brand stays front of mind.

Postcards are a very versatile communication medium - use them to distribute a series of messages over a period of time, or drip-feed a story in parts to create interest and intrigue - we’ve worked on projects involving both these routes recently:

·         A client offering a high-tech service ran a campaign using postcards designed to look like iPads. We printed a stock of cards, leaving the ‘screen’ area clear to overprint digitally with a series of messages which changed throughout the campaign. Printing all the postcard stock in one go, but overprinting messages digitally was a cost-effective way of enabling our client to tailor messages according to responses as the campaign progressed.

·         Another client made very creative use of postcards by designing a series based around a town centre street scene. While all postcards showed the same view, the scene changed progressively over the course of several mailings with shop fronts changing, lights coming on, cars moving and so on.

Summer is a great time to mail out postcards; here are a few basic things to keep in mind as you plan how to use them in your next campaign:

• Grab attention with an eye-catching image and a strong headline
• Be clear about why you are making contact – don’t just list your services.
• Have a strong call to action – say clearly what you want the recipient to do next!
• Consider using a ‘handwritten’ font to give more personality to your communication.
• Be sure to use other communication channels in conjunction with postcards.

We’re sure you will have plenty of ideas on how you might use postcards to boost your sales and marketing, but if you’d like some help developing creative concepts; our studio is brimming with inspiration!

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