Creative Marketing for Interior Designers: Post Card Campaigns

Piotr Lewandowski

Postcard Marketing : Big success at a Low Price

Marketing is the process of making customers aware of products and services, attracting new customers to a product or service, keeping existing customers interested in a product or service, building and maintaining a customer base for a product or service.

Marketing includes the activities of listening to customer needs, assessing the competitive landscape and then designing and creating products and services accompanied by messages that shape audience perceptions, leading to opportunities for revenue.

The primary objective of marketing is to deliver products and services to the right audience at the right price and right time, thereby increasing brand loyalty.

Now we are clear with meaning of marketing. We have immense mediums to market & promote our businesses. Cost, speed and response rates are key attributes in any campaign.

The modern marketing era has introduced many levels of promotion. However, TV ads,  newspapers, magazines and celebrities are considered in heavier & more expensive mediums. If you are looking for less expensive, effective and speedy mediums, send your good news to your customers through postcards.

"Any business. Any service. Any product. Any target." – is a simple definition of promoting through postcard marketing.

Postcard marketing is a key promotion medium for small and middle scale firms and retailers to attract a large customer base.

Since the early days, postcard marketing has been a  favorite for guerilla marketers. Why?

1. Postcards are the fastest, easiest, most reliable way to dramatically increase your sales and profits without spending an extra dime on advertising or promotion.

2. Postcards are eye-catching. A beautiful, full-color, glossy postcard is not going in the trash without first being read.

3. Postcards don't need to be opened. They're "naked" mail. No more trying to write envelope copy to get your prospects and customers to see what's inside.

4. Postcards are 'guerrilla marketing' at its finest - they target your customers one-by-one instead of mass advertising.

5. Postcards are associated with happy memories. We all like getting postcards from friends and family on holidays. Postcards create a pleasant emotional response because they are usually received by friends and family.

7. It is hidden from your competitor’s eyes. When you advertise your business anywhere else, your competition knows it. However, when you use postcards to communicate with your customers, it is directed to them and your competition will have no idea.

8. If you are asking recipients to bring the card into your store for a special discount then it is easy to track campaign success rate also.

9. Postcard marketing is affordable, even for the smallest of businesses.

10. Cost of 5,000 postcards sized of 4.25"x6" be somewhere $200. Isn’t it cost effective to convey your message?

11. Postcards achieve almost 100 percent readership and generate a high rate of response.

Now you've agreed to send postcards to your client pool but what will you send inside?

1. Thanks letter

2. Gift Certificates & coupons

3. Sales after service

4. New services & products

5. Make them your favorites and invite them for special sale

6. Announcing your web presence

7. Special days – Holidays, birthdays & festivals

8. Reminders

9. To be in touch

10. Gratitude. Make your customers part of your every success. Thanks them on your success or awards.

11. Invite customers to special events

12. The firm's move to a larger office

What do you need to promote yourself through postcard marketing?

1. Identify your best customers or target market. Manage customers database and details on their first visit. Your first letter may be to invite them to your shop or nearest show room but later on it should be personalized.

2. Print beautifully designed & full color postcards.

3. Hire an advertising & promotion agency if needed.

4. Use online media or web to promote through e-cards.

5. Make your marketing plan genuinely.

6. You can use Microsoft Publisher to design postcard your own way.

7. Use portal like needpostcards.com to design cards.

Postcard marketing is an unconventional marketing method intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. Thus, it is advisable to use postcard marketing as a healthy tool to promote yourself. Before closing, here's the caveat: Sending too many postcards may negatively affect your reputation. Use it for select times and  the  right place.

Happy Message Dropping!

By Jay C.