We communicate through a variety of mediums today, each time, painting a picture of who we are. Sometimes it’s accurate, sometimes it’s not. If you’re going to take the time to communicate with someone, regardless of whether they are an employer, employee, client, prospect or any other type of contact, be sure to take the time to communicate effectively and professionally. I can’t tell you how many times each day I see an email with no regard for spelling, grammar or punctuation, and each time, my reaction is the same. If someone isn’t willing to put in the effort to compose a proper email, what on earth would make me think that they would put any more effort into anything else? Nothing, so I move on.

What does your communication say about you?

If you do any direct mail marketing, especially dimensional mail, be sure to download this handy PDF of the USPS rates and sizes.

Does your marketing strategy consist of a little newspaper advertising here, some direct mail there and maybe email marketing from time to time? If so, it’s pretty similar to that of many other small businesses. That’s not a good thing because it’s inconsistent and your marketing channels are not working together.

Marketing is a collective activity in that when multiple channels are used together, the results are almost always far greater than the sum of the channels. Direct mail, radio and television can support internet marketing to bring you results that you could never achieve with the same budget used in any one of those mediums. This is because after the creative aspect of any marketing campaign, the effectiveness is due largely to repetition and consistency. When your prospect is on their way to work and they hear your ad, they may be only slightly convinced that your product or service is right for them. When they arrive at work they’ll probably do a little more research online, and if they come across your marketing message again, they will likely become a little more convinced. Later that night when they’re watching an episode of The Big Idea on their local cable channel and they see your television ad, chances are high that they’ll be very convinced that your product or service is the right choice for their needs. Now this doesn’t mean that the will buy from you just yet, but you will be standing on significantly higher ground than your competitors at this point.

To develop a marketing campaign where all of the channels work together you’ll need to determine what your desired outcome is to be. If you’re trying to educate your prospects about a complex product or service, all of your marketing channels should be used either to drive them to your web site where they can access the applicable information or to encourage them to schedule a meeting with one of your representatives. If your goal is to push sales in a particular retail location, all of your marketing channels should be focused on driving them directly to that location. In a nutshell, choose one goal and utilize all of the marketing channels available to you to foster achieving that goal.

Businesses that utilize direct mail marketing to promote their business will be in for a shock soon due to a proposed rate increase. The average increase is expected to be 7.6% but could be as high as 40% for some mailers, which will certainly affect businesses of all sizes.

We recently posted about the impact that email has made on direct mail and mentioned that direct mail was still a powerful tool in your marketing tool box, however that may be changing. As direct mail continues to increase in cost, many businesses will mail to smaller and more selective lists to maintain a cost-effective ROI. Ultimately, direct mail will stay around for a long time, but like other traditional mediums, it’s use will evolve to meet the needs of marketers.

Do you remember the last time you went to the mailbox? Chances are that you shuffled past the bills, set aside the credit card and mortgage offers and perhaps glanced at a postcard or two but when you got to that handwritten envelope , you probably stopped what you were doing and opened it right there on the spot. You’re not the only person that reacts this way and you can use that to help market your company.

Handwriting adds a personal touch that can’t be achieved with any graphic design technique or font. It’s that personal touch causes response rates to increase dramatically when it’s used in direct mail. Obviously you can hand-write names and addresses on envelopes but it doesn’t have to stop there. Handwritten sales or thank you letters can have a tremendous impact and you can even add handwriting to any of your printed marketing materials.

You’ve finally got your web site up and running and you’ve been handing out business cards to anyone who will listen to you. Now you’re ready to move up to the next level and one of the most cost effective ways to do that is with postcards. Unlike other printed media like a brochure or sales letter, postcards let you put your message right in front of your prospect with nothing to open or read through. Even though you are starting off with a natural advantage, you can get even more out of your next campaign by ensuring that you use a clear and powerful call to action. Instead of trying to tell your prospects everything about your company, focus on one message that they will remember. You will see far more results that way.

With all the industry buzz-words flying around lately, the simple little postcard seems to have been pushed to the back burner. After all, how could it be expected to compete with the kings of cool, like guerrilla marketing or podcasting?

As business owners, we’re not really interested in looking cool though. We are interested in making a reasonable profit, and when it comes to direct marketing, there really isn’t much that can beat a solid postcard campaign. When compared to other forms of direct mail, postcards have a far higher response rate because there is nothing to open or sort through. Your message is right there in your prospects hands. The cost can also be significantly lower than other forms of direct mail.

So how do we get the most from a postcard mailing?

• Start with a highly targeted mailing list. A broad, shotgun approach to direct mail will lower your ROI in a big way. By using a highly targeted list, you are ensuring that only people who would truly benefit from your offering get your message. This keeps your initial costs down while improving your conversion ratio.
• Make an offer they can’t refuse. People can get a 5% discount anywhere, anytime. They will break down your doors for a 20% discount. You’re offer doesn’t have to be a discount though. It could be a 100% money back guarantee, a free product or service with their purchase or anything else of a reasonable value. Just make sure that you don’t give away so much that you are loosing money.
• Have your postcards professionally designed. Yes, you can get your nephew to whip something up for free but doing so will not generate much business for you. Think of it this way ? you probably could perform your own liposuction in your garage but the results would be significantly different than those of a real plastic surgeon. A skilled graphic designer is well worth the investment because they will generate more business for your company.
• Have your postcards professionally printed. Printing your postcards on your own ink jet or laser printer looks unprofessional, is time consuming and actually ends up being more expensive than having them printed professionally. You can have 5,000 4″ x 6″ postcards printed on a heavy gloss stock for less than $250 and present the right image while saving yourself time and money.

As business owners we’re always looking for the silver bullet to add to our marketing campaign. There are tools in a variety of price ranges and complexities to market your business but one tool that often generates a tremendous response and can bypass many of the “filters” that reduce the effectiveness of other marketing methods is postcards . Postcards have the ability to get your message across quickly and easily since they don’t have to be opened like other forms of direct mail and they’re a very inexpensive way to reach a large number of people quickly - often for about half of the postage required for a standard letter.