Sending out invitations is the time-honored way to get people to attend your event, whether it’s a wedding or an annual sale or Easter Sunday church services. And while direct mail postcards may not be appropriate for your upcoming nuptials, they are the perfect choice to build attendance at business and community events.
Because direct mail postcards are eminently affordable, you can spend less on marketing your event and still see a greater return. That’s double the benefit.
What kind of event is it?
Businesses put on events of all types:
- Trade shows
- Conferences
- Workshops
- Open houses or demonstrations
- Sales or seasonal promotions
Who is your target audience?
Direct mail postcards make it easy to invite the whole gang – literally everyone in town – or to exclusively target a group such as your loyalty rewards club members. You can design a mailing list to reach virtually any intended audience, using a wide variety of demographic and other selection criteria.
What is the desired response?
Whether you’re shooting for day-of appearance or advance registration affects your timing as well as your message.
Why are direct mail postcards so great for promoting events?
- Even if you use print advertising or email to promote your event, postcards have unique abilities that transcend other media. For one thing, print advertising only works if people see it. Then they have to remember it. Email only works if people open it. Postcards work because they put the essentials right in your prospect’s hand.
- Postcards are similar to a printed invitation. Unlike their formal counterparts, though, they deliver your invitation instantly, telling your story with colorful images and a can’t-miss headline that get right to the point. Join us!
- Events are date-specific, whether it’s a one-day sale or a multi-day meeting. Prospects will hang onto your postcard to “save the date,” displaying it in a prominent place such as their fridge or bulletin board.
- Postcards have exponential value. Chances are, your postcard will be seen by a lot more people than just your initial recipient. Everybody loves events, so of course your prospect will want to share the good news by showing your postcard to friends or co-workers, giving it away or simply repeating the details about your gathering.
- Postcard mailings make repetition easy. Reminders are essential to drive maximum attendance, because events are time-sensitive. This is particularly important if you need to emphasize sign-up deadlines or early-bird discounts. Your prospects will appreciate repeat mailings (especially if they gave away their earlier postcards), because they don’t want to miss your money-saving sale your conference that will help them grow their business.
- Postcards are perfectly good for simply spreading the word about your gathering. But when you add a special offer as incentive to show up — discount on admission or purchase, first beverage free, etc. — you can really boost attendance. You can promote your event in different ways to different audience segments, emphasizing key reasons to attend – fun, savings, see-and-be-seen, education.
- Direct mail postcards are not only economical, they are efficient and effective. They can present your event in a professional-looking way yet with a “lighter side” visual design that’s eye-catching and tells people your event will be enjoyable as well as valuable. No one wants to miss that.
Social media can make your direct mail postcards even more affordable.
Using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to promote your event widens your reach and encourages sharing without adding cost.
Better yet, you can use social posts to enhance the communication value of your postcards by alerting your fans and followers to be on the lookout for your mailings. That builds anticipation – Just what is this upcoming event? What’s in it for me? When your postcard arrives, recipients will be even more eager to check it out and mark your event date on their calendar.