In my experience with postcard marketing, and in dealing with small business owners who use postcards, I would put most postcard problems under the following three categories:

1.    Over-reliance on technology
2.    Over-reliance on weak offers
3.    Over-reliance on vendors

Some marketers experience one of these postcard marketing flaws, while other are afflicted by all three at once. To avoid these flaws altogether -- and to create the kind of postcards that generate a strong response -- we have to examine each flaw in turn:

Postcard Marketing Flaw #1- Over-Reliance on Technology
You first need to realize that technology alone won’t lead you to postcard marketing success. If it were that easy, all postcard marketers would enjoy record-breaking responses from their mailings. Obviously that's not the case.  

Believe it or not, technology is the most straightforward part of the postcard equation. A postcard marketing service can handle all of the technology for you. But there’s the rub. Technology can help you deliver a powerful message, but it cannot create that message in the first place. That’s your job. Your postcard message, and everything that brings it to life, must begin with you.

Here’s a prediction for you. I predict your prospective customers will never use the following phrase: “Well, the message is a little unclear … and I’m confused about what exactly I’m supposed to do ... and come to think of it, there’s no mention of what’s in it for me. But this postcard sure is unique, so let me pick up the phone and call right away!”

Postcard Marketing Flaw #2 - Over-Reliance on Weak Offers
Does this line sound familiar? “Call today for a free consultation.” Or how about this one: “Call today for your free quote.”

I'm betting they do sound familiar, because while working in the postcard marketing industry, I saw those words on more postcards than I could count. That's the first thing wrong with free quotes and consultations -- they're overused, and they have been for years. As a result they're practically meaningless.

Here's what else is wrong with them. Your prospects expect a free consultation and/or quote, and they know they're going to get one ... if not from you, then from one of your competitors.

Here's the bottom line. A direct mail postcard cannot rely on the "free consultation" as its primary offer or incentive. It will not spur anyone to act.

Or to state it differently...

Commonality + Overexposure = Invisibility
 
Postcards are a response-based marketing medium. Their entire purpose is to generate a response, usually in the form of a website visit or a phone call. Such responses will increase or decrease in direct correlation to the strength of your offer. The stronger your offer, the better the response. 

Postcard Marketing Flaw #3 - Over-Reliance on Vendors
Postcard marketing vendors can certainly make your life easier. I know, because I've worked for a couple of them. But you shouldn't let a vendor run your postcard marketing program completely. Such vendors are expert at handling the logistics of printing and mailing. But they are rarely experts at marketing to your target audience. How could they be? Their target audience is anyone who wants to print postcards. Trust postcard companies with the logistics -- develop the strategy yourself.

Also keep in mind that postcard marketing is like any other industry in that you'll find a wide variety of vendors. Some of them will truly care about your success. Others just want you to mail a lot of postcards and spend a lot of money, regardless of your success.

I read a lot of postcard marketing articles written by postcard companies, and many of them seem to be saying the same thing: "Send lots and lots of postcards, and don't question the fact that people aren't responding. Just keep doing it."

These vendors will get you all pumped up with the notion of persistence. They'll have you thinking, "Well, that last mailing didn't produce anything. But they're the experts, and they say I should keep repeating the process."

Translation: "Keep spending money with us, regardless of the fact that you're not generating anything in return. Keep mailing those postcards. Be patient. Don't ask questions. Just keep mailing ... and spending."

In postcard marketing, repetition does help. But it's not a magic cure. The key is to repeat the mailings that work, not just the mailings in general. A failure repeated many times rarely becomes a success.

Focus on building a response-generating postcard before you do anything else. When a postcard generates leads, it can then be repeated (and improved upon). But don't repeat a postcard strategy that fails just because a vendor tells you to. They stand to gain in such scenarios -- you do not.  

No postcard marketing company will care about your success as much as you care about it. Seek their advice, sure, but always remember that they make money from the number of postcards printed and mailed, not the number of responses you get.

Good luck with your marketing!

* Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett.

Learn More!
If you like the kind of honest, nuts-and-bolts advice contained in this article, you'll love the author's website dedicated to postcard marketing. Learn more by visiting http://www.postcardsmart.com