It is a good idea to occasionally step back and look at what is going on around us, especially in our own business. Start by asking questions, talk to others – be it, employees, partners, colleagues in the business, our coach, etc.

Questions like:

• What kind of marketing am I doing?
• What is my ROI on that marketing?
• Is there something else I could do to reach more people?
• How is my marketing/advertising budget being spent?
• Is my message consistent across all platforms?
• Along with many other questions…

Obviously, I mostly focused on marketing questions here, since that is what this article is about.

Internet marketing is a huge industry. I do it as well. This blog article is an example. So is my website.

Most business owners are flooded with salespeople offering a variety of services like:

• Website creation
• SEO – Search Engine Optimization
• Reputation Management
• Social Media Services
• Website Optimization (That’s what I do as well)
• And the list goes on…

I am not putting down these services at all. Like I mentioned I offer them too. In fact, I am a Certified SEO Copywriter, content creator, and website optimizer. I just don’t believe that it is the only option and there are studies to show it’s good to use a variety of advertising media.

My challenge to you is to think outside the box. Don’t follow the crowd, because it is, well… crowded.

Think about your own browsing experience. You do a search and ads pop up on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) at the top, sometimes on the side, and at the bottom as well. Let’s say you are looking for a news story, you click on the story and the news page has ads everywhere.

Looking for the weather? More ads.

You can’t even watch a YouTube video without ads anymore unless you pay monthly to not see them.

The bottom line is it’s easy to get lost in the crowd as an advertiser. I’m not saying don’t try, as I’ve had some successful campaigns over the years. But you need to target your audience otherwise you are just wasting money.

Truthfully, targeting your audience is a whole other subject for another day,

The Challenge

Partner with the USPS to reach your community. Yes, direct mail.

Did you know that one of the largest Internet-based businesses uses Postcards to reach local businesses? Google! Yes, Google – I have received them myself as a local business owner.

There are other internet companies that use Direct Mail to reach potential clients as well. Let’s look into a specific type of direct mail that might work for your business.

I want to specifically present HUGE Postcards. There are several options which I will present here. The first is…

Our flagship product. It is a 9 x 12 Postcard Co-Op Mailer.

This is 9 inches high x 12 inches wide (larger than a magazine!) UV coated, full-color postcard. The Co-Op part means a bunch of local business people get together to split the cost of printing and postage. It’s Brilliant!

With 5 to 9 businesses on each side of the card, (depends on ad sizes) the cost is minimal. Postcard Co-Op & Printing prices start at only 4 cents per household in most cases. You couldn’t even put a stamp on a card for that price.

The usual distribution for this is called Saturation Mailing or the USPS calls it Every Door Direct Mail^© (EDDM). This means it goes to every address on a particular route. We combine routes to add up to just about 10,000 households and businesses in a town or neighborhood.

In larger towns, we focus on the households with the highest income earners. Those are the people who have the resources to purchase your goods and services. In some smaller towns, we just mail to everyone or close to it.

The key to success is the fact that you are reaching people in your neighborhood. For a local business, whether you have a brick-and-mortar location, work from home, or work from your vehicle like in the service industry, you want to reach out and “touch” the people in the neighborhoods you serve.

With the 9×12 co-op mailer, you get a good bang for your buck. Phew, that was a lot but you can check it out at PostcardCoOp.com

Shared Post Card Mailer.

It is similar, and the postcard can vary in size. 6.5 x 9, 6 x 11, & 6.5 x 12 are some of the most popular sizes.

This is typically shared with 2 to 6 businesses.

This can also go out as a Saturation Mailing/EDDM or can go to a list sent as a Direct Mail Piece. More on that in a moment.

Saturation is the least expensive and can be directed at any number of households, based on the Postal routes.

A quick example, you can split a postcard with 2 other businesses in your neighborhood, that’s three including yourself, mail it to 2500 or 5000 households, and choose a date to be delivered.

In general, the more you send the less expensive per household it is.

Solo Postcard Mailer

Just as the name implies, this would be just your business. Real Estate agents use this, politicians use this at election time, and a variety of other businesses mail these out.

Usually, this works best when you use a direct mail list. There are several types of lists. Here are a few to consider:

• Your current customers
• Customers/clients that have not been in for a long time
• A Birthday List
• New Neighbor’s List (Move-in)
• Homeowners List (vs renters)
• You can buy a list targeted to your ideal customer (called a Customer Persona)
• You can buy lists with just about any criteria like people that practice the same hobby, or vocation, family size, income-based, and so on.

The number of cards that go out will be based on your list, and what type of results you are going for as well as what you are offering in the mailer. We can use any size postcard you desire.

Door Hangers

Door hangers are another option. There is no postage involved but you usually have to hang them yourself or hire someone to hang them for you. But they do work.

Basically, there are the artwork and printing costs. It’s a great way to reach your local community one neighbor at a time. It’s a low-budget option that lets you control how many go out each day or week.

Why Postcards?

It’s like having all headlines! No envelope to open. No pages to flip through. Just two sides to look at. Did you know the average time people hold onto the card is 17 days? That’s huge for an ad!

We try to have at least a few Redeemable Offers on every Co-Op Mailer. People save it for these offers or to remember a certain business ad they like.

Another reason especially with our 9×12 co-op postcard is they are huge. They get noticed because they are larger than just about any other mail piece in the mailbox. You can’t miss it!

Now What?

With so many options to choose from, many more than are listed here, you may just need a professional to brainstorm with you.

You can do this all yourself or you can hire a company like Postcard Co-Op & Printing to do it all for you.

We offer a no-obligation Discovery Call to see what will work best for you and your business. If you would like to schedule a Discovery Call with Jimmy, then simply Click Here.