Engaging Postcards are Successful Postcards

When was the last time you got sucked immediately into something? Love at first sight? Did you see a car that you just had to have? Or maybe it was an amazing direct mail postcard that hit you square in the face, leaving you breathless and wanting to emulate its magnetic effect on you? That last one might have been embellished a bit, but it’s just the thing you want your postcard to do when your target pulls it from the mailbox and starts reading. BOOM! They’re yours.

But how? How do you grab them, pull them in and leave them wanting more? By taking advantage of these 7 Ideas to Jumpstart Postcard Engagement, of course! People are moving a million miles an hour. One of the ways to get them to slow down enough to let your postcard soak in is to start off strong. Lean into the assignment and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

  • CREATE a pain point – By alerting the reader to a pain point they might not have even been aware of, you open the potential need for your product or solution. “As many as fifteen species of grubs could be destroying your yard because store-bought fertilizers aren’t strong enough.”
  • Or simply highlight an existing/perceived pain point – You know it, and they know it. “Spending 4, 5, 6 hours – or MORE – to pressure wash your house and driveway and sidewalk in the heat of summer? Overexposure to the sun, soaked clothes, and numb hands? Why? Let the professionals at Dell Pressure Washing can give you your day back!”
  • Drop an ‘amazing’ (and true) fact about your industry or product/solution – “95% of our first-time customers have saved 25% or more on repeat purchases! They love our fragrant and crisp hand soaps so much, they can’t stop at just one. Experience their joy and discover the best soaps you never knew existed!” Everybody wants to save money, and nobody wants to be the last to find that one, fantastic product!
  • Tell the reader something ‘they probably already know’ (creating what we call a ‘head nodding’ opportunity) – “If you’ve spent ANY time at all in a restaurant kitchen, you know very well the difficulty in degreasing the floors quickly and evenly the first time. Slick spots are the devil’s playground and are to be eliminated at all cost!” Every restaurant general manager knows exactly what you’re telling them.
  • Drop a new product or service – “NEVER forget to arm your security system again! Introducing PERIMETER ADVANTAGE PLUSTM, the newest feature available on our BRYNX Away AppTM! With compatible systems, and geofencing activated, your system can arm itself automatically, whether your remember to or not!”
  • Ask a thought-provoking question – Just how quickly can someone hack your personal computer, capture your keystrokes, steal your sensitive passwords, and leave you the victim of identity theft? An hour? Twenty minutes? On an unprotected computer, did you know a criminal can access every part of your world in less than forty-five seconds?
  • Lead with a short quiz (not always my favorite because I want to make the reader seem SMARTER for having read my postcard, not the other way around. Just make sure the answer is extremely obvious, and that you walk them right into it!) – What is the best way to insure your home and all of your family’s precious memories? Is it A) Hire Mr. T; B) Learn how to chuck a hatchet with your eyes closed; or C) Call ALLChoice Insurance to schedule a quick, no-obligation review to see how easily and affordably how we can protect everything you love and have worked hard for? [I think you know the answer to that one… 😉]

Give Opportunity Knocks a call and speak with one of our Success Coaches. They’re experts at understanding the best ways to design postcards and to build campaigns that pull the reader in. Engagement is absolutely everything. Great imagery is one thing, but in most cases, you can’t fully pull the reader into the narrative you want to tell without also using great copy. And in that great copy, you must employ whatever is the most effective in capturing and retaining attention and building curiosity.