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Should You Use Postcards or Envelopes When Marketing Your Business? The Answer is--Both.
Which is really better for your business. Marketing with postcards or envelopes?
The arguments are endless. One expert recommends envelopes and never uses postcards. Another expert swears by postcards. There are countless theories on this. So who's right?
First, take a look at what you get in the mail--Postcards AND envelopes! Yes, we get both. But why? Isn't one method clearly better than the other? If so, you'd think that everyone would use the better method. Is there a way to cut through the complexity of all this, to determine which is better? Or does it depend on certain conditions? If so, what are they? Questions, questions, questions. What we need are some answers.
First of all, either method, if done really well (and under the right conditions) can produce awesome results. With that said, one might jump to the conclusion that you should always use postcards due to their affordability as compared to an envelope package.
Not so!
If not so, then WHEN should we use postcards and WHEN should we use envelopes?
Well, folks, there's a simple rule you can use to quickly determine which method to pick in your advertising strategy. Here it is:
A. If a prospect is requesting information from you, the envelope wins the debate.B. If the prospect has NOT requested information from you, the postcard is the winner.
Of course, there are always some exceptions to any rule of thumb. But for the most part, the above rule is the way to go. The main difference is that in Option A, you already have a prospect. In Option B, you're looking for a good prospect. That's the critical difference.
In Option A, you've already developed an initial interest through some type of advertising. It may have been through a classified or display ad or from a postcard that was previously mailed. Regardless of the method, you now have a live hot prospect that is hungry for more information.
Since in this case you have already created the interest, it's time to mail a powerful package to close the sale. The package, at a minimum, should include a cover letter as well as a circular outlining the benefits of your product, service or business opportunity. The material should be customer focused. You should list customer benefit #1, benefit, #2, etc. The focus should be on your customer. Always center the focus on the customer.
You may even want to include a product sample if it's practical. For example, if one of your products is specialty envelopes, why not mail your literature inside the special envelope? That way your prospect gets a free product sample as well. This may go a long way in helping you close the sale.
This is not a cold call. This is a case where a real live breathing prospect is asking you for more information. Don't send fifth generation copies that people can barely read. It's time to make a good impression. Your information should be easy to read and crystal clear. Yes, this is the time to send a dynamite package. Make your offer irresistible.
You may be thinking, "Wow, that's what I should send to all prospects. There's no need to consider postcards."
Or is there? Read on...
Remember, we already had a live prospect requesting information when we used envelopes. However, what if our strategy is to mail our offer to a purchased mailing list? Does it make sense to send out an expensive envelope package BEFORE we've got a hot prospect requesting information? The answer (again, the rule of thumb) is NO! For mailing lists, postcards are wonderful to use for developing the initial interest in your offer. Postcards should be used for "cold calls."
In our first example, we used some form of advertising such as classified or display to make the cold call. In this case, we're using the postcard itself to make the cold call. That's the big difference.
Obviously, you run ads to save the expense of mailing information to each prospect. The ad does the screening. If you advertise in a publication with a circulation of 100,000 it would cost a fortune to mail your materials separately to each person.
The same reasoning applies to a mailing list. It can be very expensive to mail cover letters, envelopes, and product samples to each and every person on a mailing list. That's where postcards come in. They do the screening similar to a classified or display ad. And they do it very economically. Compare the tiny cost of a postcard to an expensive envelope package. And compare the cost of postage. There is a dramatic difference.
Yes, postcards can be very cost effective and very powerful if done well in conjunction with a mailing list. Mailing lists are quite popular in mail order businesses. If mailing lists are part of your advertising strategy, consider using postcards to develop the initial interest. As stated earlier, there are always exceptions, but for the most part, this is the way to go.
But remember, the use of an envelope package never goes away. Even when using postcards, you're likely to use an envelope package as the follow up for the hot prospect. In other words, envelopes should be used as the SECOND STEP in your mail order strategy. Postcards (as well as classified and display ads) should be the FIRST STEP.
Mark Smith, B.A., M.S.M., is the country's largest distributor with a well-known MLM company. His personal success and phenomenal downline growth is attributed to the remarkable upline support system he has developed. Smith's proven training materials teach "real people" how to sponsor ever-increasing numbers of qualified distributors. Smith is offering free samples of his monthly newsletter (USA only). Write him at:
Mark Smith 1112 Baxter Ln Freeport, IL 61032
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