Don’t Let Human Nature Ruin Your Postcard Marketing Campaign

By: Mike Ryan
President- Cactus Mailing Company

For most people, human nature tells them: "Why Do Something Today that I Can Put Off Until Tomorrow?" That bit of human nature is exactly why every postcard marketing effort in every direct mail campaign should always create a sense of urgency and have a call to action. Without a sense of urgency, people will put off responding to your postcard marketing campaign and eventually will forget about it all together.

The most common method of creating a sense of urgency is to have an expiration date on an offer, a "special deal" or discount. If they respond by the expiration date they get the special offer. However, there are several other ways to create a sense of urgency. Here are a few of them:

Price Increase - give the recipients of your postcard marketing campaign an opportunity to purchase before prices go up.

Bonus Offer - instead offer a discount and include a bonus for responding before a certain date.

Limited Supplies - the customer needs to respond quickly or they might miss out on the opportunity.

In addition to creating a sense of urgency, you should include a "call to action" on your direct mail campaign. A call to action tells the reader what to do. It shows them the next step. If you don't ask for the reader to respond they won't. Direct mail copywriters combine the sense of urgency element with the call to action. For example:

Call Before May 15th to take Advantage of Our Special Offer!

It's important to ensure your postcard design includes both of these elements. Direct mail postcard marketing that includes these elements will out perform those that don't.