Direct Marketing

PostCard vs. Letter

[andmunn]

Hello,

I'm about to release a new service - and i want to "market" this directly to the companies that my service is targeted too.

I am debating whether to send each a letter, or have a postcard designed.

I'm debating the pro's / con's of the aformentioned methods. For example, letters may be deemed "more personal", however, many may not even open the letter.

With postcards, it can be more "graphical" and enticing, and also doesn't require the recipient to open anything?

Any advice what you would choose? On either the letter or postcard, i will include benefits as well as features of my service. As well as a coupon.

Andrew.

[kevinpate]

As someone frequently on the receiving end of mundo amounts of oh, let's be charitable and call it targeted marketing :) you'd have a better shot with catching my eyes with a postcard.

A postcard takes the least amount of effort on my part, and absent a specific prior request for your information, what is there about your envelope that would save it from File 13, where nearly all unrequested marketing envelopes land.

[johntabita]

Marketing is all about measuring results. Do both, and see which one pulls better.

[krieves]

The USPS website offers a neat service for post cards. You can upload images for custom post cards. The quality is really nice and it's very affordable. We've used them with good results.

[nking79]

Another factor is the size of the businesses you are contacting. Smaller businesses will be more likely to respond to postcards.

For larger businesses you want to be sure to write a personalized letter (make sure its to the right person who is in charge of hiring you for the job). Be brief and to the point. Describe your unique service and how it will help the company you are contacting. See if you can provide insight about their competition. You can say something like:

"One of your competitors appears just a few slots above you on a Google search thanks to a recent Search Engine Marketing program. Now is the time to start thinking about doing something to promote your website and jump ahead of Company XYZ"

The letter approach takes much longer, but its about quality - not quantity. I, personally, throw out most of the postcards I get.