Questions to Ask When Planning your Postcard Printing

Marketing may be more art than science, but postcard designs do follow certain guidelines to maximize their effectiveness. When planning your postcard design, use the following questions to help you in your conceptualization.

1. Can you afford to hire a professional graphic designer?

a. Yes. Spend time communicating your intended marketing message by explaining the mission vision of your company. This will help your graphic designer customize the postcard to fit your business brand. And make sure you clarify your expected results and style preference.

b. No. You can design the postcard yourself using online design tools. These offer existing templates you can simply modify to meet your requirements.

2. Do you have an existing database?

a. Yes. Your design and marketing copy should be used to encourage repeat sales or retain existing customers. Use your insight on your existing clients to create a postcard that is visually pleasing, meaningful, and persuasive.

You can simply send your database to your commercial printer and have them print the addresses individually for you. They can also presort your mail electronically in the specification of the mailing service so you can save both time and money.

b. No. You can request a mailing list from the printing company and use this to choose your target demographic for your direct-mail. These mailing lists are acquired from various third party providers and are sorted by demographic so you can be assured of their reliability.

3. Can you afford the effort required in one-to-one marketing?

a. Yes. Have a standard business postcard printed commercially while you print or hand write your individual message and the recipients address information. This can be used for personal greetings on birthdays and anniversaries, or as reminders for expiration of services or subscriptions, etc.

b. No. You can use postcards to farm out potential clients or sales leads. Send out a standard postcard for a certain demographic and point to them a way to contact you in case they are interested in availing your products or services. Direct them to your website or give them your telephone number and office address.

4. Do you want it placed in an envelope?

a. Yes. You can include a small flyer, coupon, or brochure with your postcard. This can be used as a supplement to the postcard, and give additional information. The envelope can also be used to hide confidential material such as advertising what can be perceived as sensitive material.

b. No. You can save money from both the cost of acquiring the envelope and the cost of the extra weight. It also helps your customers see your print right away without having to bother with removing the envelope.

5. Will you need additional space to organize your content?

a. Yes. Large postcards can be folded to fit an envelope or to meet mailing specification. You can use the additional space and the panels the fold creates to expand the space for content and to keep it organized. The front cover can be used for the graphic design, the inside pages can be used for the content, while the back can hold the mailing information.

b. No. You can have the standard postcard printed. The front can hold the postcard design while the back holds both your content and mailing information.