Postcard printing is an easy and economical way to market your business to your clients and prospects. With a postcard, you are able to market to a specific audience at the “right” time. You can mail your postcards marketing to customers who may have a birthday, or have a sales anniversary, which is not possible with other types of advertising. For example, a car dealership may target current customers that are due for an oil change. By narrowing down the people you want to target you can make stretch your marketing budget dramatically.
Another nice thing about postcards is that the cost of printing full color has been reduced dramatically through advances in technology. Remember when flat screen TVs were out of the price range of most people, and now they are in every household? Advances in technology reduced the costs of postcard printing the same way it did televisions in the last 5 years.

Before you start looking for a printer to print your postcards, there are few things that are important to take into consideration.

What size and thickness of postcard? First, what size postcard would you like to use? The common sizes are 4×6, 5×7, 8.5.x5.5 and 6×9. The benefit of a 4×6 is you get a special rate form the post office called a “card” rate, and that gives you “first class” service at approximately the same price as “standard.”

Most postcard printers use a cover stock of at least 100lb cover. 100lb cover is the usually 10pt, or 1/100th of an inch. Premium postcard printers will usually use a 12pt or 14pt paper for extra durability.

Online or Local Printer? You may find online printers will usually be at least half the price of a local printer and the reason is because they have invested heavily in automation systems that take your digital files right to press with as little of human intervention as possible. This automation makes online printers usually a better bet than a local printer. Be careful, as there are downsides to online printers-for example, you have no ability to inspect the product before it’s shipped to you. Also, you lose the attention to detail that a local commercial printer may have. A lot of online shops have automated pre-flighting (getting files to print) so if you made a mistake, they may not catch it.

Don’t steal/borrow photos: When designing your postcard make sure that you don’t use images off of websites unless they are from a royalty free site like istockphoto. There are two reasons for this. First, your graphics will be blurry and low resolution. Although they look ok on your screen, you’ll be in for a big surprise once you receive your prints because they will look awful. Secondly, images of the internet are usually owned by someone and you may be breaking copyright law by using them without permission. It’s best to use royalty free photography and there are plenty of sights to find good stock photos if you are unable to provide your own pictures.

Hire a professional designer: It’s very important to realize that if you don’t have a professional designer on staff, that you should hire one for your graphics. You may have the right programs to design but if you don’t know how to use them properly you may be damaging your brand by printing something that doesn’t look the best. Just because I have a microscope doesn’t make me a scientist, and it may be best to concentrate on your marketing message and leave the layout to a graphic designer. In my experience a professional design combined with a strong marketing message will have significantly better response than just a strong message.

Stan Coyle invites you to take advantage of http://www.SonicPrint.com who services any size business in a variety of industries, we provides offset and digital printing services of direct mail postcards, flyers, business cards, brochures, posters as well as full bindery and direct mail services. Grab your free postcard printing samples today.

Postcard marketing is very effective for the following reasons:

* No stuffing envelopes or folding flyers, which cost money, materials and labor.
* You can print up to four post cards on one sheet.
* A postcard is still the cheapest thing to mail.
* People notice right away because it is brightly colored and heavier in their hand.
* People don”t have to waste time opening it.
* People don”t have to waste time reading it. It is short and to the point.

Think about how you go through your mail. With a postcard, you handle it, flip it over, scan it. Already it has gotten your attention longer than the envelope still laying on the desk. True, it may still be considered “junk mail”, but the key is it gets seen.

Postcards work, especially as repeat mailings, because they are so cost-effective to produce. True, you may pay more for the initial layout and design. You want it to attract attention. But, you can produce more for less and mail them out for less than you could with an enveloped letter or flyer.

Postcards are action enticers. It should be a teaser designed to get them to want to learn more, phone, drop by or click on the website. Once you get someone to act, you”ve won half the battle. The fish is hooked.

Here are some tips to designing an effective postcard for Direct market mailings”"

First, it must be pleasing to the eye as far as design, color and placement. Have a pretty or interesting front to the card. Place your message on the flip side on the left-hand half and the mailing on the right. Have nothing else in the right section except the name and postage.

Second, definitely use color on the front side but don”t waste money using much color on the back. Too many times it gets busy and confusing to have too much color.

Third, the postcard must have a great hook “” ask a question, make a statement that gets attention, etc. But, do it tastefully in a manner fitting to your club”s image. The last thing you want to do is send the wrong message or portray the wrong image.

Fourth, the eye trail must work, i.e., how the eye travels down the card and what it picks up as important. Don”t make either side busy with too much info or design that confuses the eye and the brain. You want your card to be memorable.

Fifth, Have a start, middle and end. A question, a bit of info, then call to action is one example that works well.

Finally, use the KISS principle “” Keep It Simple, Son. Promote one thing only. Save the next promotion for the next postcard, and the next. Make it brief, to the point and easy to remember. You want your message to stand out as they scan. A postcard is like the headline. It is to grab their attention so they want to contact you for more information.

Frequent postcard mailings work well. Many very successful companies have grown in sales or members simply by using this tactic in direct marketing.

Ok, We are proud to celebrate the grand opening of our newest print facility in Tampa, FL. The move to our new location at 5018 Tampa West Boulevard allows us to better serve our customers by improving the efficiency of our print shop allowing for faster turnarounds and lower prices. Isn’t that what you need most?

Our new address is:

http://SonicPrint.com

5018 Tampa West Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33634

For those of you in the Tampa Bay area,  take a moment to come by and receive a tour of our new shop and receive a free Starbucks gift card just for visiting. While you’re here, pull the plunger on our two vintage pinball machines in the customer lounge. The customer with the highest monthly score receives a $50 credit certificate!

Lucky for you Sonic Print can help reduce the Return to Sender problem!

What is CASS and NCOA you ask?

CASS Certification is the process of verifying with the postal service that the addresses are in the proper format and are assigned a route and a mail carrier. This saves you money in postage because you only mail to the people that have correct addresses.

NCOA(National Change of Address) is when a mailing list is checked for any recipients that have moved in the last 48 months. If your customer moves and leaves a forwarding address we can find it and update for you automatically. This works especially well in making sure that you’re mailing to the right people the first time!

Only if Elvis knew it!

You can get customers through a variety of marketing programs, but we think that postcard marketing is one of the best kept secrets to growing your company. Want to know why? Read our list of 10 reasons below…

1. It’s affordable: Postcard marketing is affordable and scalable, even for the smallest of businesses. Did you know it would only cost you less than $3 in postage to communicate directly to your customer once a month for a whole year!  If you get on a consistent mailing schedule, they’ll expect to hear from you and you’ll be at the top of their mind.

2. It’s a secret: When you’re marketing with postcards the only people who see it is you and your prospects. This is important, because you can test special promotions without your competition knowing. Do you have a special that’s creating a lot of interest? If you advertise it publically, your competition knows exactly what you are up to and may copy it.

3. It’s trackable: Make multiple postcard promotions and see which one generates the most interest. Make your postcard worth something so your customers will bring the postcard back into your store. They may even save it on the fridge and use it when they are ready. With trackable codes, you may notice that you’re still getting business from a postcard mailed months prior!

4. It’s versatile: During a single mailing you can both farm new prospects and remind prior customers that you’re still in business. With digital printing, your postcards messages can vary from card to card and market to market.

5. It brands you: Your printed postcards can “brand” you and your business in ways that most marketing materials cannot. You don’t have to print postcards just to mail them. You can use your postcard as flyer, product brochure, rsvp card, or use it as a newsletter.  You can use it for a variety of promotions AND still mail it.  Printed postcards really are a multi-faceted marketing tool.

6. It’s easy to test: Testing an offer with postcards is easy. Just send your card to a small group of people and see how many respond. Tweak the offer or the price, and try again.  Once you’re satisfied with the results, it’s time to roll out a bigger mailing! You can’t do that with a newspaper insert, or a magazine ad.

7. It gets read: Postcards get read even if they get thrown away. How many times have you received a letter from a company you don’t recognize and just toss it into the garbage? A postcard will stand out in the mail with bright colors and get read by the recipient even if they aren’t interested in what you are offering.  Did you know that USPS  have shown that, on average, only 14 percent of letters get read? On the other hand, postcards have a 94 percent read-through ratio.

8. It’s easy, duh! Postcards are easy to use and cost less than other direct mail programs. When preparing a mailing, the only costs are printing and mailing services. When mailing a letter, there are additional costs to fold and insert the letter. For postcard direct mail you get a superior product mailed for less money!

9. It’s tangible: Postcards are a tangible piece of your brand. Unlike Online marketing your customers can determine the quality of your company by the quality of your marketing piece. What does your  print materials  say about you?

10. It costs less than you think: With postcard direct mail you can save as much as 70% off of the cost of a stamp. By barcoding addressed mail (which we can do for you ) we can reduce postage costs down to as low as 13.9 cents saving you over 30 cents off the cost of a stamp. With those kinds of savings, you are able to design, print and mail and still have money left over. When using direct mail postcards in quantities of over 200, don’t ever pay retail for postage again!

In conclusion, we think that postcard marketing is a no brainer. Whether you are mailing 200 postcards or 200,000, let us help you get the results you desire.