Driving Maximum Results via Low Cost Direct Mail Postcard Campaigns

When planning a direct marketing campaign, every company has two primary goals: reaching a large target audience, and keeping costs as low as possible.  One of the best ways to accomplish both of these objectives is through the use of direct mail postcards. Mailing postcards to promote your company’s products and services is an inexpensive and intelligent approach to driving direct response and making sales.  The first step is to work with a list broker or online list provider to establish a comprehensive mailing list for your postcards. PsPrint provides such a service, and is a great online resource for customizing your own mailing list.  The next step is to design the postcard, and have it professionally printed by a respected printing company. The final step is to utilize a bulk mail service to send out your finished piece at the lowest price possible. Some companies, such as PsPrint, offer both printing and bulk mail services, which will save your company both time and money. Here are a few more tips to driving maximum results via low cost direct mail postcard campaigns. 

Do a Sample Mailing

Sending out a test postcard to a small sample mailing list can be a good way to determine how effective your final campaign will be. Record the results of your sample mailing to determine if you will need to make changes to your marketing piece. Perhaps you will need to make a better offer to entice new prospects, or give a more detailed explanation of the services your company provides. Often, simply changing the order of your text will make a significant difference in your postcard’s response rate.  A small test can help ensure that the message and offer you are sending out to the public is clear, concise, and something that will be valuable to the customer.

Establish a Budget. and Stick With It

It is essential to understand the constraints of your budget, and to stick with that budget. Postcard direct mail promotions are perfect for companies with small budgets - though even the largest corporations rely on them to boost ROI.  The most important thing is to budget for the right things.  While having a striking design will get your prospects’ attention, it won’t do any good if the prospect is not interested in your offer.  For this reason, funds should be allotted for a high-quality, highly-targeted mailing list first.  Decide whether your best market is businesses or consumers, and build your business mailing list or consumer mailing list accordingly.  Once you have the mailing list, then you can focus on stellar design and captivating copy.

Market Your Company - Even If the Going Is Tough

When the economy takes a bad turn, the budget for marketing and advertising is generally one of the first things many businesses cut. This is the perfect opportunity to take control of the market since many of your competitors aren’t likely to be marketing. It is imperative to keep your company name and brand in the public eye, and therefore imperative to allow a budget for marketing purposes at all times.

Direct mail postcard campaigns have the clear benefit of reaching people in their homes, or professionals in the office - in the places they’re most likely to need the products and services you offer.  People enjoy receiving postcards, and are much more likely to read them than many other forms of direct mail. If you want to jump start your marketing campaign, remember to establish a budget and stick to it; locate a reliable company that offers targeted mailing lists, professional printing and bulk mail services; and reap the financial rewards that direct mail postcard campaigns have to offer.

Tradeshows are a great way to expose your business to a captive crowd and have the chance to meet people from all over at one time. When picking give aways many things should be considered .

A. Tradeshow giveaway items should be designed to effectively and clearly promote your message. The items should also fit with your line of business or the theme you have selected.

B. Budget- How much do you want to spend on your giveaway items-Establish a budget for promotional items as part of your tradeshow marketing plan.  Avoid items that will be too expensive to have enough on hand to cover all of your expected customers as well as new ones.

C. Do my promotional items coincide with the marketing message I am trying to convey? Be sure and pick items that not only reinforce your brand, but also follow your marketing message with prospective  customers.

D. Avoid putting items out on your table for people to just come by and scoop up. Qualify your prospects with a few questions, and then offer  them with an item for spending a little time with you and to remember your company with .

E. After the show, discuss the effectiveness of  your giveaways with your team. Did it draw quality prospects to the booth?   Did your customers find them to be  useful?  Did your items  project the proper corporate image?

There are many great items to choose from that will allow you to avoid the same old beverage coolers and pens. Choose items that will work for you and help you get the most for your budget.

The staff at Carroll Printing and Promotions will help you in making the right selections and getting your products to your show on time and on budget.

When a candidate is planning for his or her campaign, there are a few points that are worth mentioning. If you will give some serious thought to these factors, the process can and will go much more smoothly:

1. Start planning early and outline your goals, and desired dates for completion of all campaign literature.

2. Do some research, and collect political pieces that appeal to you and are in tune with your direction.

3. Establish an initial budget for design, printing, and mail house services for the campaign.

4. Have a logo or icon designed or sketched out (even a rough version) that will carry the theme for your campaign. Carroll Printing’s trained design staff can help take your thoughts or ideas and transform them into a winning presence for your push cards, brochures,fund raising pieces, signs and banners, and other related items.

5. Make the time to be available to review and approve proofs to keep the project on schedule.

As an approved USW vendor, Carroll Printing offers many great services to locals throughout the United States. We design and produce Union made outdoor signs, to display your local’s number and location. A USW online store is located at our site at www.carrollprinting.com , which features a host of wearables, printing items(letterheads, business cards, bumper stickers, envelopes etc.) and Union pride items for all of your local’s needs. We design custom Identity themes for different areas within USW as well, such as the Oil Worker theme shown on our site.

Carroll Printing takes your company’s safety awareness seriously. Our creative artists will take your ideas, and turn them into well designed and focused vector art . From there , custom digital banners,from small poster sizes to large scale banners to fill up a wall or fence can be produced to deliver your team’s message. Be sure and look at examples of banners on the site @ www.carrollprinting.com

In the spring of this year, Carroll Printing was contacted by the Obama for President campaign to provide printing services for the 2008 March primary in Houston and surrounding cities . We provided podium signs, placards, sample ballots, tickets to the rallies held at the Toyota center and other venues, and specific campaign literature over the course of a few weeks. All products were delivered on budget and on time to positively impact the Obama for President campaign. We are prepared to accommodate any political campaign’s needs, large or small. Give us a call to discuss your campaign printing needs. Our staff is ready to assist you in planning a positive and successful campaign, from design, layout, and written copy to printing and when needed, full mail house services to distribute your printed pieces .

Digital printing is the future of printing. But, even though you don’t have negatives, plates, or costly setups there are many factors that can cost you money!

1. Do pick your Stock (paper) carefully- Picking a stock that is not ready available or properly calibrated to the job can be costly.

2. Consider bleed vs. non-bleed when designing your printing piece. A bleed is attractive but will necessitate using an oversize sheet to trim out to proper size.

3. Large digital printing runs of 1500 and more (unless they are run many up on a sheet) can be more costly than offset.

4. Special die cuts- These are attractive, and can set your piece apart from the crowd, but will add time and expense to the project.

5.Do have correctly prepared files and images- This is the most important factor in getting your job done on time and on budget. Although quicker, and easier to set up digital printing must be prepared properly to be printed right the first time! A professional designer with a knowledge of printing and a professional printer have the right tools to make your project successful.

6. Do call Carroll Printing and Promotions for your next printing and design project.

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