Postcards for Your Small Business

Postcards are a great marketing tool and an efficient way to get information in front of prospective customers. By using direct mail to market your business, you are investing in a tried-and-true marketing method.

On average, Americans receive 605 emails each week and only 15 pieces of physical mail! The average lifespan of a marketing email is 17 seconds, whereas direct mail lives on for 17 days. This means that a postcard sent directly to someone’s address sticks around 86,000 times longer than an email and has a much longer period to convince someone to use your services.

Why are postcards so effective?

Direct mail postcards have a unique combination of low cost, high return on investment (ROI), and a measurable impact on the potential customer that digital marketing does not.

Postcards are cost-effective

Postcards cost less than other direct mail alternatives. Other direct mail options typically require an outer envelope, an internal letter or brochure, and a reply envelope. Postcards are a unique format that allows you to send direct mail on one piece of paper without the customer having to open it.

Because of the simple reality of less materials used, postcards take less time for our team to design, which contributes to the lower costs of postcard mailing campaigns. Postcards can be addressed and personalized via inkjet addressing systems, which is the most cost-effective way to address mail. Also, postcard postage rates are very low, especially if you are using a marketing program like EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail). They are also allowed to be the same size as the most significant letters USPS will deliver without requiring an envelope.

Postcards have a high Return on Investment (ROI)

Because postcards offer a lower initial cost than other direct mail marketing methods and do not need to be opened by the receiver for them to be read, they outclass other forms of direct mail. A typical direct mail campaign is twice as effective as an online ad at generating ROI for your business. The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) found postcard response rates around 9% in 2018. While this number may not be impressive on its own, it is essential to remember that measuring the response rates of direct mail campaigns is much more complex than a digital format. In a digital ad, the user’s response is counted when they click a link or ad banner.

To give context for why 9% is an impressive response rate, you can look at the statistics for email marketing. Email marketing has a click through rate of 3%, and a response rate of .6%. We are all bombarded by emails from companies that we often send directly to trash without opening. The USPS found that 98% of people check their mailbox daily, and since postcards do not need to be opened to be read, they are scanned by nearly 100% of those who receive them. This means you are almost guaranteed to have your prospective customer’s attention for some time when you send them a postcard. This is staggering compared to email’s click-through rate of 3%.

Postcards are high-impact and “sticky.”

As we mentioned, postcards stay in a person’s life for an average of 17 days before being discarded. The likelihood of your postcard being scanned when it first arrives is almost 100%. Unlike email, your potential customers can interact with this piece of mail several more times over the next two weeks.

Postcards are the only type of mail, digital or physical, that does not need to be opened to be read. The receiving party does not have the option to ignore your brand entirely. If they are not interested, they may throw the mail away, but they will have read the message you intended to convey. This effectively builds brand awareness, regardless of response rates.

Physical mail evokes emotion. The USPS reports that over half of the country looks forward to receiving mail and indicates that getting physical mail is a pleasure. Postcards have the benefit of being colorful in design, and they can catch the attention of those who would not look twice at a plain letter design. Being able to clearly display your brand’s message in full color with eye-catching designs is an attribute unique to postcards.

While postcards are scanned by almost 100% of those who receive them, DMA research indicates that ver 50% of postcards are read in full by at least one household member. Claiming that 50% of households will read your marketing message in full is unparalleled in today’s marketing landscape. It is worth remembering that email has a cclick-throughrate of just 3%, and this statistic does not guarantee that your email was read in full.