Going Solo: Postcards and Solo Mailings
Don't expect the postcard to act as a stand-alone prospecting tool, however. Instead, think of it as a traffic driver or the first part of a two-step acquisition tactic.
Because the amount of selling space on a postcard is limited, “you'll be hard pressed to acquire a customer with it unless you use it to drive people to the Website or to request a catalog,” says Shari Altman, president of Altman Dedicated Direct, a Rural Hall, NC-based consultancy specializing in acquisition and loyalty marketing.
That's not necessarily a drawback, though. “Postcards are inexpensive enough that they can allow catalogers to significantly expand their prospecting universe,” Altman continues. “Potentially, you can use a postcard to reach markets where you can't afford to send solo mailers or a catalog.”
Wertens agrees. “We're looking to find ways to find new leads to send more catalogs,” he says. “Using postcards is very economical, and it's a very high-impact vehicle to do that. We can do it repetitively and look at the nature of our offer. Printing catalogs can be very expensive. We like the flexibility of postcards.”
Another attractive aspect of using postcards, Wertens says, is the speed of the production process: From conception to mailing takes only about three weeks.
“Much of what we do is graphic,” adds Wertens, referring to the assorted styles and personalization options of A4's uniforms, “so postcards are an easy way to reach our customer base.”
Indeed, the graphics of your postcard are critical to ensuring that the card stands out from the rest of a recipient's mail, especially given its small size. Altman advises using dramatic visuals and colors to make the offer pop, and be sure that the message is clear.
As for the offer itself, Altman says to make sure it's a solid one—for a lead-generator, for instance, try $5 or $10 off or free shipping for a first order—and establish a time limit for the offer to drive immediate response.
A common mistake among catalogers using postcards is trying “to squeeze a catalog onto a postcard,” says Keith Goodman, vice president of corporate solutions for Modern Postcard, a Carlsbad, CA-based provider of mailing products and services. “We run into this a lot in the consumer electronics industry where they try to cram 30 products onto a postcard.” Instead, Goodman advises, “Put your coolest, most universal loss leader on the postcard.”
And particularly if you're cutting back on catalog frequency, says Goodman, take advantage of the ability to customize postcards. “It's very hard to short-run catalogs, but it's very easy to do customized versions of postcards, like for new product offers based on past product purchases,” he explains. “It gives you an opportunity to create a highly personalized message.”
Solo ActsThirdwave Research's White says many of her company's clients use solo mailers. “We're certainly seeing them test the smaller mailings with personalized URLs driving customers to a personalized landing page,” she says.
Solo mailers can be postcard-size, though letter-size pieces are more common. As the name indicates, a solo mailer “really requires one offer, one thing,” says Altman. “The recipient either responds or doesn't respond. With an envelope mailing, you almost certainly diminish your results by offering multiple things.”
