Get the Word Out With Postcard Newsletters

Postcards are an ideal vehicle for sending short bits of news to your mailing list on a frequent basis. Unlike their traditional 8.5 x 11 counterparts, postcard newsletters are less expensive, quick reads, and easy to carry and pass on to others.

When designing your postcard newsletter, take full advantage of both sides of the postcard. Ideally your font size should be 12 points and no less than 10 points for optimum readability. Even if you are using a 4.25 X 6 postcard, you can fit about 80 to 100 words on the back/address label side along with your contact information, and about 100 to 125 words on the front/picture side along with a masthead.

Keep your content short and to the point. Either focus on one specific topic, or include short snippets of information such as tips, statistics, customer Q&As, customer profiles, customer feedback, company/staff news, product/service updates, etc.


Postcard Newsletter Tips

• Postcard Newsletters - By Chuck Green
• Postcard Newsletters Attract New Business - By Roger Parker
• Postcard Newsletters: Petite Periodicals Pack A Punch - By Jacci Howard Bear
• A Postcard and A Newsletter
  

Postcard Newsletter Services

• One Minute Newsletters

Postcard Newsletter Books

• Marketing With Newsletters: How to Boost Sales, Add Members & Raise Funds With a Print, Fax, E-Mail, Web Site or Postcard Newsletter - Elaine Floyd

Software Screen Shots for Brochures

Having worked in and for software development companies ranging from global enterprises to startup businesses I often struggled with one continual marketing challenge: how to graphically capture the power and benefits of software. A screen shot of your latest and greatest user interface is meaningless on it own. Shrink it to fit the average size column width of a brochure and you might as well have added a block of color.

Eric Rosen, Copywriting Tune-ups, recently discussed the same issue in his March 18 post,
John Caples on Layout - for Enterprise Software Brochures?!?!.

For home based business owners the issue becomes a budget challenge as well. Do you include screen captures in your standard 11 x 8.5 three-fold brochure, or do you invest in a larger marketing piece?

When it comes to software screen shots the parts are greater than the whole. My experience has found that the zooming into specific areas of a screen shot to highlight functions, features, and output allows the reader to visually connect the software with your copy. Here are a few tips for integrating software screen shots with your brochure copy:

1. Select screen shots that correspond with the headlines of your brochure copy.
2. Zoom and crop screen shots to highlight the specific function, feature, or output your copy is discussing.
3. Add captions to screen shots for further details.
4. Group function shots with output shots using arrows to visually connect and depict the process flow.

Postcards That Reach Your Customers

Direct mail pieces, such as post cards, are cost effective marketing tools that reach your target audience directly. Unlike newspaper adverting, your have a better chance of your prospects seeing your ad and can easily track the results of your campaign. Direct mail pieces are versatile. In a single mailing you can seek business from prospective customers, and solicit repeat business from existing customers.

Creating Postcards That Are Kept

Effective postcards offer useful snippets of information that your target audience will hold onto or use to redeem your service. In fact, when done properly, your prospects will not only collect your postcards, but will also look forward to receiving them. Successful post cards will focus on a particular theme for the calendar year. Themes include:

• How To
• Tips
• Did You Know
• Invitations
• Reminders
• Maintenance Schedules/Calendars
• Sale Announcements
• Coupons/Discounts
• Recipes/Mini Menus
• Thank You
• Contests

Planning Your Postcards

A business that customers hear from is one that they will keep in mind and keep doing business with. Like any other marketing campaign, sending postcards to your customer and prospect list is not a one-time event. If postcard marketing is the only vehicle you are using to connect with your customers, you should consider a minimum of four mailings and ideally up to 12 mailings per year.

Designing Your Post Cards

• Avoid using too much information.
• Remember the back of the card is just as important as the front.
• Make a dated offer tied to only one service.
• Focus on one Unique Selling Proposition or a single benefit.
• Include your company’s contact information.
• Use front left of card for a testimonial when appropriate.

Newsletters That Sell

Most prospects will not respond to an advertising message until the seventh or more touch. For many businesses, traditional methods of advertising are simply too expensive. When done properly, email newsletters are an effective marketing tool that can help a business, generate sales leads, boost direct sales, and gain referrals form existing customers


Publishing Newsletters That Are Read

• Publish the newsletter on a frequent and scheduled cycle.
• Use a professional design.
• Focus articles on customers/prospect needs not your business.
• Offer work-related news.
• Report prices and/or sales.
• Inform readers about personal interests/hobbies.
• Inform readers about events/deadlines/important dates.
• Use customers’ names and faces—tell their stories, ideas, etc.
  

Leveraging Your Printed Newsletter

Do more than just mailing your newsletter; consider the following to boost your newsletter's effectiveness:

• Send to new contacts.
• Display it in reception area.
• Display in your referral partners reception area.
• Hand out copies at seminars and exhibits.
• Send the newsletter with proposals.
• Submit newsletter articles for publication in local publications and other association newsletters.
  

Building Your Mailing List

Mailing your newsletter to customers and prospects that are familiar with your business shows a greater return on investment than buying a list of strangers. Build your mailing list based on current and former clients, prospects, referral sources, staff, and association/trade group board members or newsletter editors related to your business niche.

Telling Your Story with a Case Study

Why Case Studies

A case study provides concrete examples of how well your product and services work. Since they are told from the perspective of a customer you helped, it allows readers to easily identify with the the problems and solutions you are presenting.

Anatomy of an Effective Case Study

• Introduction: Present your customer. Provide a brief background history on you customer. Describe the solutions they provide to their customers.



• Challenge: Describe your customers problem. List the pain points that lead them to seek a new solution. Explain why the products or services they currently rely on no longer work. State the goals a new solution must achieve.
  
  
• Investigation: Describe the products or services your customer investigated. Discuss why each product or service did not meet their needs.



• Solution: Describe your product or service. Discuss specifically how your solution addressed your customers pain points and needs.



• Results: Describe the impact of your solution on your customer. Discuss how your solution helped your customer meet their goals.