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For a Better Postcard Campaign, Remember It’s Not About You

July 27, 2015

For a Better Postcard Campaign, Remember It’s Not About You

Have you ever prepared a brilliant postcard design, spent days writing the perfect marketing message, and taken every step to ensure your targeting is as relevant as possible, only to have the campaign fail to make an impact? 

It’s time for some hard truth, marketing style. Your prospects primarily care about themselves. They care about their wants, needs, and interests. They do not, however, care about you, your company, or your objectives.

All too often, marketing campaigns fail because the marketer thinks about the needs of their company – typically more leads or sales – instead of the needs of their target audience. The end result is simple: a campaign that recipients just don’t respond to. 

So in your marketing – and especially within the confines of your direct mail postcards – identify with the reader right away. The earlier you make it about them, the more effective your campaign will likely be. 

Will what you’re selling make their lives better? Will it solve their problems? Will it make them the envy of their neighborhood? If you’re selling something that helps people, say it right from the start. 

Once you’ve hooked prospects by showing them how your product or service can help them, then you can go into the details. 

Imagine you live in an apartment you hate, behind noisy neighbors whom you hate even more. You’d like to move out and find a house, but you think home ownership is out of your financial reach. 

Now imagine a flyer comes in the mail that says: “Think you can’t afford a new home? Think again.” 

Would you keep reading? 

Of course you would. Anyone in that situation would eagerly read on. Why? Because the message started with the customer. It spoke to a very specific person with a very specific desire and offered a way for them to act on it. 

Interestingly, the product being sold hasn’t even been mentioned yet. By speaking to a prospect’s wants and needs instead of introducing your product right away, you’re far more likely to increase their interest in your offer.

Right away, there’s a connection. And if the postcard follows up with benefits-rich copy, it will produce web visits and phone calls. 

That’s the power of focusing on the reader. Instead of a muted response to the copy you spent hours perfecting with your business’s needs in mind, your campaign will generate an instant response if its copy is focused on the reader’s needs. 

If one of your recent direct mail postcard campaigns has fallen flat, take a minute to read over its copy and ask yourself if it was truly focused on the reader. Did you speak directly to the prospect’s wants and needs, or did you write with your business in mind? 

Once your direct mail postcard arrives at a prospect’s address, the ball is firmly in their court – they choose whether to act or not. Give them copy that speaks directly to them and there’s a far greater chance they will.