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The Anatomy of a Winning Postcard
by David Frey
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You probably get a lot of
postcards as I do. Being an astute marketer, I always take
time to look through all of my mail and I pick out stuff that
catches my eye.
I put that stuff in my swipe file to
refer to later.
But I often shake my head in
disbelief sometimes at the mail that I receive.
Some of it is downright rotten.
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At times, I can't believe someone is actually spending money to send this stuff out.
Case in Point...
Yesterday, I got a postcard from a
guy named Mike Czarowitz who is a local real estate agent.
Apparently, he just joined Remax and recently moved his real estate
practice to Friendswood.
Well, he sent out an announcement to
let people know about his new affiliation with Remax. I would
imagine that he paid a good amount of money to send this card out to
everyone in my neighborhood. Here's the postcard I received:
Front Side ->
http://url123.com/kdu2n
Back Side ->
http://url123.com/kmcd2
(copy and paste the links into your
browser)
If you even have half a marketing
brain you can see why this is a losing postcard. But let's take a
look at what it's lacking...
Problem # 1 No compelling
headline (he uses his name as the headline...don't do this!)
Problem # 2 The bulk of the
postcard is taken up with the Remax logo (No one cares about Remax,
they care about their own problems, and how you're going to solve
them!)
Problem # 3 He gives
absolutely no reason to respond.
Problem # 4 His call to
action is "Please stop in and say hello, the coffee pot is always
on." Pleeeeaaase!
Problem # 5 - He completely
wastes the address side of this postcard. There is no information
on it whatsoever.
I Decided to Take This Postcard and Give It a Complete Design
Makeover and Turn It Into a Lead Generating Machine - - Here It
Is...
As a favor to Mike Czarowitz (the
realtor who sent out the loser postcard) I took some time to
completely redesign his postcard so that it would generate leads
rather than just "get the word out there."
Here it is... Front Side ->
http://url123.com/km5mb
Here's a Few Things to Take
Note of When Reviewing the Redesigned Version of Mike's Postcard
Change # 1 - The Headline
The billboard side of the postcard
starts out with a big bold headline. I'll admit, it's not the most
powerful headline but it does evoke curiosity and makes you want
to read the subheadline (which is the primary job of the
headline).
Change # 2 - The Subheadline
The subheadline gives a very bold
promise (although 30 days would be better). One important element
of the subhead is that it includes the phrase "or Someone You
Know," which forces the reader to think of their friends and not
only themselves.
Change # 3 - The Photo
People like to know who is
communicating with them. Putting a photo of yourself brings a
warmth and closeness and lowers the distrust barrier that we all
feel with someone we don't know.
Change # 4 - The Caption
Below every photo you should always
include a caption because when the eye looks at the photo it will
always, 100% of the time, look at the caption as well.
I not only introduced Mike's name
but I used a boxed caption that highlights his expert status and
further lowers the distrust barrier.
Change # 5 - The Copy
The copy on this postcard starts
out by filtering out prospects simply by asking whether they're
thinking of selling their home.
It also introduces the "60 Day Home
Selling System" and attempts to create some curiosity so that the
reader will turn the postcard over and read the offer.
You'll also notice that I used a
"handwriting" font. This is a special font that looks like it's
been handwritten. It's just one more element that serves to
personalize my postcard.
Change # 6 - The Call-to-Action
The objective of the billboard
side's call-to-action is simply to turn the postcard over.
Although that sounds unnecessary, it leads the reader one step
further down your sales path.
Now Let's Take a Look at
the Address Side and See What Makes It So Powerful
The address side of the newly
redesigned postcard is what gets the phone to ring. Here's what the
address side looks like:
Address Side ->
http://url123.com/kmk3d
(copy and paste the links into your
browser)
Here are a few changes I made on the
address side that make it powerful.
Change # 7 - The Headline
Notice that I started out the
address side of this postcard with a compelling headline. The
headline tells people exactly what I want them to do.
NOTE: By the way, ALWAYS start out
your marketing material with compelling headlines.
Change # 8 - The Arrow
You'll see that I've included an
arrow on the right hand side of the headline. I did that to pull
the readers eye to the special report that I want them to order.
Change # 9 - The Copy
I start out my copy calling the
reader "Dear Friendswood Neighbor." The word "Friendswood" will
capture readers attention because they live in Friendswood.
All I want to do in my first
paragraph is to get the reader to read my second paragraph so I
stir up curiosity to keep the reader going.
I then promise the reader that my
system will sell their home in 60 days and to find out how I do
that they'll need to order my free report.
Change # 10 - The Graphic
As you can see, I've included a
graphic of my special report to show readers what it looks like.
This brings a realism to my offer and it helps people to visualize
what they'll be receiving.
Change # 11 - The Call-to-Action
The caption to the graphic includes
my call to action. This line WILL get read 100% of the time. It
gives SPECIFIC instructions on what I want the caller to do.
Change # 12 - The Phone Number
Notice that I put the hotline phone
number in reverse type. This makes the number clearly stand out.
I've also included the words, "24
Hr. Recorded Msg.," which lets the reader know that they aren't
going to get someone on the other side of the phone call trying to
give them a hard sell.
I've personally found this one line
of text to increase my response rate by about 12% - 20%.
Change # 13 - The Address
Look at what a small space I've
allocated to the address. Now look at how much space I've used for
my message. Don't make the mistake of using the whole side of the
postcard just for your address (or even half the side for that
matter).
Now Which Postcard Would
You Rather Mail?
If you've hung in with me this long
then you've got a real lesson in writing compelling copy and
postcard marketing.
I hope you enjoyed it and learned a
lot from it.
Just imagine, for the exact same cost
that Mike incurred sending the original postcard, he could have sent
the redesigned postcard.
Same cost - - 10 times the response.
Which postcard would you rather mail?
This Is Only a Fraction of
What You'll Learn...
...in my new "Killer Postcards"
marketing course that will be released shortly.
In the next month I'll be releasing
the most comprehensive and in depth postcard marketing course ever
developed (I should know, I have all the postcard marketing courses
on the market).
I've been working on this home-study
course for over 6 months so you won't be disappointed.
Keep an eye out for it. Get a small
taste of what's to come at
http://www.killerpostcards.com
About the Author:
David Frey is the author of the best-selling manual, "The Small
Business Marketing Bible" and the Senior Editor of the "Small
Business Marketing Best Practices Newsletter." To get your free
lifetime subscription visit
http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com
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