Recently I received a post card that served as a great reminder on several fronts. One, print is not all but dead. Two, powerful marketing doesn’t have to be overly complicated and expensive. And three, going old school is OK.
When was the last time you received an actual hand written postcard? Unless you have lots of aunts that travel extensively probably not for quite some time. If fact, my mailbox is becoming void of much of the clutter I received even a few years ago.
A marketing truth is “hit ‘em where they ain’t”. This is a great example. Here we have a small business that utilized some of their staff resources in the form of a pen, a little bit of time and a postage stamp to remind customers who perhaps haven’t visited recently that they still valued their business. You can use this same technique to promote a sale, a 50% off wine night, or even track it by offering the card in exchange for additional 20% off selected goods or service, a special gift or whatever you choose.
If your data base is really large, start with your top customers. Chances are they bring you the bulk of your business anyway. Or you can go to the bottom of your list and see if this form of communication will lure them back. It may be they don’t visit Facebook or read your eNews often or at all. What have you got to loose.?
I’m seeing a trend that we tend to rely on fewer and fewer of our marketing tools in favor of making Facebook and Google more wealthy. We actually have more tools than ever before. True, some take a little more thought and perhaps effort but the rewards can outweigh the effort and you won’t know until you try. Variety is a good thing. Bet your customers will appreciate it too.