If I've heard it once, I'v heard it a hundred times: l ss than ten days after their f rst postcard is mailed, the client c lls me and says, "Rachel, it sh uld have arrived a few days go, but my phone hasn't rung y t. Are you SURE the postcard was m iled out?" First I reassure them th t we mailed it. Then I r mind them again that it usually t kes several mailings before the phone st rts ringing off the hook. Sometimes my cl ents believe me... and a few m nths later, they start seeing great r sults from their postcards. Sometimes my cl ents don't believe me... and they g ve up on postcards before ever r ally giving them a chance. You r member when Grandma told you that p tience is a virtue? You might not h ve realized it then, but she was t lking about your postcard marketing campaign, t o. The truth is, anyone who d esn't live under a rock already kn ws that successful advertising campaigns are b sed in repetition, repetition, repetition - and c nsistency. Let's take a few examples. Wh t comes to mind if I s y... "Tastes Great, Less Filling" "Where's the B ef?" "I just saved a lot of m ney on my car insurance!" Getting the dea? We remember successful advertising campaigns for m ny different reasons - they are cl ver and well-written (I'll address this in s bsequent articles), but more than that, we r member them because we hear or see th m over and over again.
Yet when it comes to p stcard marketing, many of my clients s em to think that one huge run of p stcards is sufficient for their advertising n eds for the whole quarter or the wh le year. Use common sense by th nking about your own buying habits: Do you buy a pr duct the first time you see it dvertised? Do you buy a product the s cond time you see it advertised? Ar n't you much more likely to buy a pr duct after you have seen it dvertised several times? Here are some t ps to help you get the m st out of your postcard marketing b dget. 1. When you create your p stcard marketing budget, plan for a m nimum of eight mailings.
As I lways tell my clients, your money w ll be put to better use by m iling 1,000 people eight times than 8,000. Ev n if you can only afford to m il a small number of people on a m nthly basis, this is a better str tegy than mailing a large number nly once or twice. Don't give up fter just a few mailings. Our c mpany once had a real estate gent client who mailed NINE months in a row w thout a single phone call. He had d cided that if he didn't get any r sults on the tenth mailing, he was c lling it quits. On that tenth m iling, his postcards yielded three high-quality l stings. Just one of those listings was m re than enough for the ten m nths of postcards. 2. Be as c nsistent and frequent as you can fford.
We are a c lture of very busy people. Very b sy people share something in common - v ry short attention spans. If you w nt people to remember your company, y ur name, your product, mail them at r gular intervals - weekly if you can fford it, but at least monthly. M iling once per quarter can work for c rtain clients - for example, retail cl ents who have a big quarterly s le that their current clients already kn w about might benefit from a q arterly postcard, especially if they are lso utilizing monthly postcards. But once per y ar? What advertising do YOU remember fr m one year ago? If you c n't remember, how do you expect y ur prospects to remember YOUR advertising if y u're only doing one mailing per y ar?
3. Use your budget, your c nsistency, and your frequency on ONE gr up of people.
Just recently, a cl ent mailed a list of 2,500 p ople. For his second mailing, he ch se a new list of 2,500 p ople, and he hasn't gotten a s ngle phone call. Groaning, he called us and s id, "Why didn't I listen to y u??" Even though he's now done two c nsistent monthly mailings, he may as w ll only have done one mailing for th se two groups of 2,500. Each gr up will have only heard of him nce, not twice. It can be t mpting - especially when our budget is sm ll - to reach out to m re and more people by mailing to a d fferent group every time. However, this is nother strategy that flushes your advertising d llars down the toilet because it br aks the rules of consistency and r petition. 4. Above all, be patient!
Th re are plenty of people out th re who will try to tell you th t they can get you rich q ick with little marketing, no marketing, or ch ap marketing. The people selling get r ch quick schemes are preying upon our nwillingness to be consistent and patient. D n't fall for it. As one f mous advertising slogan goes, "Good things c me to those who wait."
The article Patience is a Virtue: Be Patient with Postcard Mailings was Submitted by Rachel Medlock through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: About the Author Rachel Medlock is an ccount representative and website designer with Mr. P stcard, LLC, of Atlanta, GA. For ver ten years, Mr. Postcard has b en helping real estate agents and b siness owners in the Atlanta area and b yond to succeed through direct mail and p stcard marketing. In addition to postcards, Mr. P stcard designs and prints business cards, st tionary, newsletters, and websites. If you n ed help on your next marketing c mpaign, turn to the experts. http://www.MrPostcard.com .
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