Advertising Postcard - Direct-mail

Direct-mail

An advertising postcard that is sent in the mail directly to the recipient. An organization may send advertising postcards to their current customers, prospective customers, and/or names and addresses to which they want to target their advertisements. Direct mail advertising postcards offer an advantage over other direct marketing mail pieces, such as letters, because the recipient can see the message without having to open the piece of mail. However, they suffer disadvantages also. Because of their relatively small size, they cannot carry much content, and as their contents cannot be hidden from view, they are not viable where privacy or security are concerns.

Many traditional businesses use direct mail advertising postcards. Common examples include:

• Realtors - advertising new listings (example: Real Estate Postcards)
• Political campaigns - getting the message out
• Doctors / Dentists - appointment reminders
• Others - lawn care, oil change, movie rentals, coupons, etc. (example: Coupon Postcards)

Though postcards have traditionally always been rectangular in shape, certain postal authorities, such as Canada’s Canada Post Corporation, do allow certain non-rectangular shaped cards to be mailed. This has given rise to new marketing concepts such as round postcards or cards specifically die cut to match the theme of a particular campaign.