Design Tips For Effective Postcards

Direct mail postcards are great especially when used as an advertising medium or tool. However, it is very crucial for you to design these postcards correctly to make them effective and reliable in the market. It is not effective to just pick a template out of your box. You must use a good strategy when it comes to the design and especially the templates for your postcards. This is to communicate well your sales message to encourage your target clients and customers to take action. Below are some tips and ideas that you can consider to have a great and effective postcard.

1. Make sure that your postcard is professional and presentable. Design is one of the most crucial aspect that you should always consider for you to have an effective postcard. Your postcard design must always look professional, not an amateur. Most people will just trash an amateur looking postcard. For you to do this, you can hire a good designer or search the internet for example designs and templates, which you can use if you want to create your own design.

2. Showcase your business products and its service benefits. Your post card should tell your prospects the main benefit of your products, and not just showcase them and their features. You can use reverse psychology. For instance, you touch on the pains and fears of your customers and present ways to remedy those emotions. You want to get the attention and especially the emotions of your clients, whether it is a positive emotion by just giving them images of how their lives will be better with the help of your business products and services, or a negative one without the aid of your products.

3. Show several views of your business products and services. If you are promoting your product, you must always make sure that all your clients and customers have an idea of what your products look like especially if you market through online shopping. If you can fit them, you must always show the different angles of your product at different sizes. Aside from that, you must also make sure that you put only accurate images, as if all your customers are shopping at department stores and supermarkets.

4. Finish with a call to action. You must always make sure that your business postcards should have an end message with a call to action that will encourage all your clients to order or purchase from you. You can consider putting discounts and freebies in your post card valid for a certain period of time. This is to encourage your prospects to act at once before the promo ends.

Although you can always create your own design, you can still ask the help of a professional graphic designer to do the design for you. He will ensure your post cards are designed professionally to help you achieve your end goal. Done well, your post card will ensure you get your marketing work done at the least possible time and money.

The bottom line is you design your post card effectively and you are sure to communicate well your message to your target customers. If you are able to do this well, the more likely you are to strengthen your customer base and increase your profit.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Direct Mail Postcards

Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janice_Jenkins

 

Dental Postcard Marketing: 10 Tips for New Mover Mailings

New movers have all sorts of tasks on their to-do list after unpacking their boxes, and looking for a new dentist is one of them, so they can be the very best candidates for dental postcard marketing. A dental postcard marketing campaign can serve as a welcome message to new members of the community as well as bring some new patients (or a whole family of new patients!) into your practice. Also, since new mover mailings are becoming a common practice, it's natural for the new residents to keep an eye on their mail for special offers that will save them money. Here are ten great tips that will grab the attention of the new members in your community and convert them into patients!

1. Use creative artwork or photos that implicate the recipients' new mover status. As mentioned above, new movers are on the lookout for these images!

2. Be sure that the text on your postcard says something to the effect of "Welcome to the Neighborhood!" This may seem corny to some, but to an individual new to a community, it can be extremely meaningful.

3. Include a special offer just for new patients. This helps to single out your audience and to let them know how appreciative you are of new business.

4. Use a coupon. Whatever your new mover offer is (a free service, a discounted product, etc.), coupons are effective because they insinuate that the bearer must bring the coupon to their visit in order to redeem it-this helps you track your return!

5. Include an expiration date. Expiration dates give recipients a call to action, creating a sense of importance. Effective expiration dates are typically 2 to 4 weeks from the mail date, but new movers are in transition, so an extension to as far as 6 weeks might be considered.

6. A complete online, automated postcard services are a quick "one-stop-shop" will typically include list rental, providing detailed new mover list options.

7. If you're composing a future marketing plan, consider your mailing date strategy. New movers are typically most prevalent in the summer, between school years ending and starting. Families are less likely to move around the holiday season.

8. If your dental practice is in an area where commuting is typical, include surrounding communities in your mailing list.

9. Order a minimum of 250 postcards. Currently, there is a post office wide discount when sending over 250 cards, and many postcard marketing services have implemented this minimum as a business rule to ensure all customers receive the discount.

10. Us your personal and/or business address as a "seed". This is an address included so you have a better idea when your dental postcard has been delivered to your new movers.

If you haven't yet executed a new mover campaign, now is a great time to try a new direct marketing tactic. A online postcard marketing service will even give you the opportunity to go as far in their websites as creating your mail piece and build a list, costing you nothing unless you decide to execute your campaign. Happy dental postcard marketing!

MaKenzie Birchell is a blogger, social media strategist, and the Marketing Coordinator for Splash, the online, automated postcard marketing service made for small businesses by Bluewater. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=MaKenzie_J_Birchell

 

Vintage New Years Postcard

Postcard Marketing

Vintage Real Photo Postcard

Postcard Marketing

The Best Approaches For Marketing Using Postcards

The approach in terms of marketing with postcard printing is crucial to its success. As readers start understanding your color postcards, the premise of the message will determine if they will believe in you or if they will just treat the postcard printing as another one of those junk mails. In this article, I will teach you the best approaches for marketing with postcards so that they won't mistake yours for just junk. I have four approaches that you may want to use for your color postcards.

1. Giving what reader's want - The first and most basic approach is basically giving your postcard readers what they want. So for example, you are marketing to a younger crowd of teens or maybe young adults, then your postcard messages should always portray that "cool" and popular style that they can relate to. If your target is mostly a male audience, you might want to use the classic, toy, gadgets, adventure and beautiful women formula. If you are targeting women on the other hand you might want to display things that they want such as fashionable items, beautiful men and emotional comfort or security. As long as you display what your readers want in their life, you will have a high chance of really attracting them to your postcard printing.

2. Using an issue to your advantage - Now besides the usually wants and needs of your reader, you may also take advantage of a certain issue in your postcard approach. Political issues, social issues, or even just Hollywood or show business issues can easily be spun and turned into a more entertaining postcard design. You can play with a certain celebrity's antics and make a caricature of it in your own designs, or you might just want to provide cold hard information about an issue to people with just a touch of marketing on the side. This approach can really capture the attention of most readers, leading to an increased chance of succeeding with your postcard printing.

3. Entertaining readers - Entertainment is also a great approach to postcard printing. You can easily print various entertaining paper games to your postcards to add that little fun in them Moreover, you can also try printing very pretty and entertaining images in your color postcards than can engage readers to action. Adding a "find me" image or a puzzle of some sort should really be interesting. More readers would basically keep and stare at the entertaining postcard because of this. With that increased attention, it should be no question that this approach is very unique and effective. It is a good alternative when all other ideas don't really work out.

4. Impressing them overwhelmingly - Finally, the last approach is probably the simplest. By just pulling out all the stops and printing your postcards with the best materials and the best printing machines, your color postcards should look quite great and attractive once they arrive. With flawless looking full color postcards, you can just impress people overwhelmingly with your printing and would pay attention to anything in it.

Great! Those are the best approaches that you can use for your marketing postcards. Try them out now! Good Luck!

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Postcard Printing.

Charen Smith writes articles about Internet Marketing. She has an extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to business strategies, techniques and business solutions. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charen_Smith

 

Three year old Fiona postcard dated 1948

Postcard Marketing

Vintage Halloween Postcard Fairman

Postcard Marketing

Vintage Easter Postcard

Postcard Marketing

Vintage Halloween Postcard Fairman

Postcard Marketing

5 Image Filters That Can Help Your Postcard Designs

Are your designs not quite finished yet for postcard printing? Sometimes, even with the use of postcard templates, your designs can be off or something might just be "missing". This happens sometimes, and for some designers, it can be hard to precisely determine what is wrong. If you are in such a slump, I have a few filter ideas for your designs in postcard printing that you might be interested in. Image filters provide a polishing or finishing off effect in a postcard design that makes it look quite complete. Here are five of the most effective that I have used in the past.

1. The Sepia tone - If you want to finish of your postcard designs with that antique yet warm feeling, the sepia tone is one of the best image filters you can use. Especially if you have a very emotional image to tie in with your postcard message, the sepia filters add that nostalgic, warm and personal essence into your designs. This makes your postcard images really powerful. Most people will immediately think your postcards are special just because of that sepia tone. Something that looks antique and personal is worth reading and keeping.

2. The classic black and white - Now, on the colder side of sepia is the classic black and white. While you might think full color postcard printing is THE ONLY kind of postcard printing around, the truth is, many people still use the classic black and white filter. Black and white adds that "classic" touch to images in postcards. This makes them look elegant, precious and worthy of keeping. Moreover, if your images have very contrasting values, the black and white filter will further enhance that effect, making this filter one of the best ones to use. So if you want to get that classic "timeless" look for your postcards, try to use the black and white filter. It is still worth using it in your designs today.

3. Color filters - Now of course, with the new software nowadays, you can actually use any kind of color filter to add colored effect to your designs. In software like Adobe Photoshop, you can actually add photo-filters to your color postcard design and then specify which color to use as the filter. So instead of a sepia tone in your postcard images, you can place any kind of color you want. A blue photo filter adds coolness to your designs, while yellow and orange filters add energy and heat. It is good to use this for your special postcards that need that splash of intense color to be noticed, just like advertising postcards.

4. Texture filters - Another great classic filter (or group of filters actually) to use for postcard designs are the texture filters. These texture filters basically let you add texture elements to your design to make them look like they are made from some kind of specific material. For example, you can add satin, canvass, stone, marble, wood, metal and other texture filters to your postcard design to make it look like your image was printed on to those materials. These are great to use in postcards, especially when you are trying for a very creative effect with different materials.

5. Film Grain filter - Finally, one of my favourites is the film grain filter. This filter is just a simple effect filter that adds film grains unto your design. It makes your images look like they are from older films or posters for that slightly grunge or worn out effect. This is great for personal postcards that you want to touch up for a cooler worn out effect. So try this filter out, it is really great!

So why don't you add that little something in your postcard designs with the use of those filters above. Just test them out and see what works. Trust me, these filters should be able to add that interesting finish touch that really looks quite professional. Good Luck!

Michelle Abreu has been writing articles online for about 2 years now in a printing company. You can also check out this website for more information about postcard printing and on how to make the right design for your postcard templates. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Abreu