Home
>
Small Business
>
Postcard Marketing Your Small Business

Postcard Marketing Your Small Business

One of the best marketing strategies a business or organization can use is postcards. Even before the arrival of online postcard printing and mailing services, postcards had a good reputation amongst guerilla marketers because:

They are fast, easy and relatively cheap - making them a boon to small business owners who are short on cash and time, yet need to build their brand and stay in front of their customers.
A beautiful, full color glossy postcard is not going in the trash without first being read.
You can add a personal note. Plus, postcards create a pleasant emotional response because they are usually received by friends and family.
When you advertise your business anywhere else, your competition knows it. But when you use postcards to communicate with your customers, it is direct to them and your competition will have no idea.

With the new web technologies for postcards, it's super- convenient to just send one or as many as you need without the effort of hand writing, addressing and mailing each one.

What is particularly nice about postcards is that nearly any business or organization can benefit from a structured, targeted postcard marketing strategy. Take a look at some of the ways postcards can be used.

Thank you notes. You can send a quick thank you to anyone for any reason and they will be so surprised and pleased that you took the time. If someone sends you a referral or business lead, gives you some information you needed, mentions you in an article - send them a note that shows you appreciate it!

A follow-up offer or service. Within 30 days after a purchase of a product or completion of a service, send them a discounted offer for a related service or product. Don't miss the opportunity for an after-sale contact.

Gift certificates or coupons. Show your best customers that you appreciate them by sending a gift certificate that they can use any time in the next year. Even better, leave a space on it for them to fill out a friend or colleagues name and give it to someone else to introduce them to your business.

Announce a new project or completed work. Postcards are perfect for photographers, web designers, architects, graphic artists, or anyone else who wants to keep their clients in the loop on what they are working on, with something visual and tangible.

Secret sales and pre-sales for preferred customers. Treat your existing and favorite clients to a sale that no one else knows about - or give them an advanced peak at your new product line.

Introduce products or services. Postcards are an economical way to inform people about your product or services, or announce new ones.

Announce a new web site. Create an announcement of your new web presence and invite everyone you know to come check it out.

Remember special days. Send your contacts a holiday greeting or thank you note for Thanksgiving. If you keep track of special dates in your customer's lives like birthdays or anniversaries, you can send them a colorful postcard letting them know you are thinking of them.

Reminders. Businesses that rely on repeat business can take advantage of postcards to send reminders and its not just for dentists any more! Why not remind your past customers of upcoming birthdays or anniversaries, or special holidays like secretaries' day or thanksgiving, at just the right time? Or perhaps your database tells you when they have likely run out of whatever they bought so you can send them a reminder that its time to visit you again.

Just staying in touch. People like to be remembered and postcards are an economical and easy way to say "thinking of you."

Recognition. Send out a postcard to let people know your good news about accomplishments and awards or reviews you have received.

Invitations to an event. Postcards can be used to announce seminars you are speaking at, open houses, book signings, and any variety of special events.

Think about all the ways you can use postcards, and then explore the many ways that you can automate the process of sending them out quickly and cheaply. This is one of those marketing strategies which looks much more costly than it really is, and will return more than you put into it. The best part is, practically any small business can benefit.

? 2003 Eileen P. Parzek, SOHO It Goes!

About The Author

Eileen 'Turtle' Parzek is a veteran marketing designer and online communications consultant who has been working from home and virtually since 1995. You can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter called Increase Your Reach: Infuse Your Marketing with Technology at http://www.soho-it-goes.com

NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to http://www.soho-it-goes.com

cleaning help near Mundelein ..

In The News:

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.