Postcards: Small, High Impact Marketing Weapon

They are amazingly useful, yet their effectiveness is vastly overlooked.

Postcards are actually one of the most cost effective ways of promoting a business. They are superb in introducing a new product, informing of an upcoming event, or a change in business address. Both startup businesses and established businesses with budgetary constraints can benefit from the marketing capability of postcard printing.

But many businesses fail to recognize the essential function of postcards. Many business owners that because they can't squeeze in this one page material everything they want to tell their target customers, they are not worth investing in. What they don't realize is that this simple card and a five word tag line can make all the difference in a marketing campaign.

Essentially, postcards dates back to the 1800s. Early traders have been using this marketing material to attract new customers and keep communication line open with old clients. Today, postcards are still widely effective in marketing a business on a limited budget.

Take this example. It is campaign season and political campaigns are in full swing. Almost all billboards are leased to candidates and the television and radio airwaves were overflowing with political ads. But David, a business owner, doesn't seem to be affected by these types of ads. One day he received a postcard from one of the candidates. It was so colorful and huge it looked like a billboard. Needless to say, it got his attention and ended up voting for the candidate.

It's amazing to note that big media such as television and radio couldn't make the same impact as the humble postcard. It seems that postcards have a special way of marketing a message the way other media can't. That is the remarkable power of postcards. But more than that, why are postcards effective? Why can they reach the same audience television and radio can't? Here's why:

• They are cheap to produce. Postcards are so much cheaper than other printed materials. They are one page materials that can be printed on both sides to save on per page printing cost. They also don't need envelopes for printing. Any business can actually take advantage of the benefits of cheap postcard printing.

• They highlight your message clearly. Because of the limited space, postcards deliver the message quickly and straight to the point. There's no need for superfluous words. A one liner tagline that summarizes your key benefits is all you need to put in your card. This allows customers to make a decision instantly whether to buy your products or not.

• Easy and simple to create and send. There is no need for elaborate templates when it comes to designing a postcard. You simply need to organize your message neatly and put important information at the center of the card. And compared to letters, postcards don't need an envelope. This gives the recipient no other option but to read the postcard. This allows your postcard the least chance of getting thrown away.

Done well, a compelling postcard will catch attention easily and if focus is present in the card, it is just life your target customer is perusing through a full page ad when looking over your post card. Now, that's something you would want in a marketing material, especially when budget is limited.