Should You Over-Size Your Postcard?
Thursday, 01 September 2011 10:22
Want to get a better return on your next direct mailing? Try over-sizing your postcard. It's not going to be the "end all, be all" for boosting results, but it's yet another tool you can throw into the toolbox.
The primary reason to over-size? Over-sized cards stand out in the mailbox more. They don't get as buried in the clutter and will get noticed right away. That doesn't necessarily buy you response, but it does buy you a fraction of a second of more attention. What you do with that attention is up to you.
If you're going to commit to an over-sized postcard, this will translate into greater investment not only in the stock itself but (unless you are willing to go standard mail rather than first-class) also in postage. Therefore, you'll want to place some extra effort on your messaging, your list, and your graphics. You'll want to make the most of the face time you've just "bought" with your target audience.
How will you know this investment is worth it? Test it out! Split the mailing into different versions. Try the same messaging, the same offer, and the same graphics on both traditional and over-sized cards. Or break the over-sized mailing into different messaging, different offers, or targeted graphics. For example, if a segment of your audience is a significantly younger audience, you might try adding a QR code to drive traffic to your Facebook page or draw them into other forms of social media to a greater degree.
Whatever you do, track everything. Build in mechanisms for tracking each segment of the mailing and monitoring how each one is going. Once you know how each element is performing, you can continually monitor, adjust, and refine your results over time. That's how you'll know whether over-sized cards are worth it - for you.
