Thinking Beyond a Postcard

As creatives, it's easy to stay within our comfort zone and play it safe by designing the same thing over and over. And more often than not, we find ourselves inundated with so many requests, we don't always have time to brainstorm new and innovative strategies for each campaign. However, that also doesn't mean we never should.

Understandably, not every campaign has the time or the resources available to think through some new creative strategies. Nonetheless, as creative professionals, it is our responsibility to recognize when something can be done differently, and deliver our clients brilliant new ideas, and hopefully exciting new metrics.

Here's why.

The last couple of months, my client had been eager to fill a new cohort starting in January. To do so, they requested that I design a series of 3 postcards that will be sent to the same mailing list for 3 different touch-points in a 9-week period. Those mailing efforts resulted in very few inquiries, much less leads. As we discussed the possibility of sending a 4th postcard before the end of the year, I offered up an alternative solution. Instead of a traditional postcard, we sent a folded self-mailer with a detachable offer and CTA card. Success! 

This 4th self mailer resulted in a 9% response rate! Yes, you've read that correctly, 9 percent. For those unfamiliar with direct marketing initiatives. The average response rate on direct mail campaigns is generally 1/2 to 2 percent. Victory!

Postcards are great; they are a quick and affordable way to get your message out to a large audience, which is why everyone uses them. How many postcards do you get in the mail a week? How many do you trash before even reading? I personally don't bother to read most of them as they have become white noise in a sea of direct marketing. So I tried something different. In this case, sending a folded self-mailer intentionally revealing sections of information in a specific order while also creating a personal interactive experience with the reader proved to be successful.  

So take a chance. Try something different and see if you can increase your ROI.