Conventional wisdom says that the front of a direct mail
postcard is for the picture and the back is for the address,
stamp and a short message.
But some savvy direct marketers design their postcards the other
way around?and boost response rates as a result.
The goal of the front of the postcard is to grab attention long
enough to arouse curiosity and motivate your prospect to turn
the card over and continue reading. But postcards are usually
delivered with the back of the postcard showing, not the front.
Check today?s mail. You?ll notice that the letter carrier
delivered your mail with the address facing up (unless it fell
through your mail slot in a random pile).
The letter carrier reads the name and address for each piece of
mail and, without turning them over, places them in your mail
box. That means that the first thing your prospect sees of your
postcard is the back, not the front. And you can take advantage
of this fact.
A graphic designer and marketing consultant from Denver,
Colorado, wrote to me recently, explaining that her firm studied
the way mail arrives. ?Through my observations and research,?
she says, ?I have found that many, many more times than not,
side B [the back of the postcard] is what the prospect sees
first and then decides whether or not to turn the postcard over.?
This savvy marketer now designs postcards for her clients with
the back being the main focus and attention grabber, leaving the
front of the card for secondary messages. She is achieving ?very
good results,? she says, by flouting conventional wisdom.
I see only one thing wrong with her brilliant method, and that
is that I did not think of it first.
About the author:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Sharpe is a
business-to-business direct mail copywriter. Sign up for free
weekly tips like this at www.sharpecopy.com
>.
? 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and
in print provided the links remain live and the content remains
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