What is the most cost effective way to advertise with postcards?

Question

I am the owner of www.mexicandentalvacation.com and would like to get our message out to people with postcards. We can save people up to 75% of their dental costs in the resort city of Mazatlan, Mexico in a modern, award-winning dental clinic on the beach.

I wanted to start out with 5000 postcards, including the printing, mailing list, and the postage. Most of our clientele are 50 and older, and we feel that they may be better reached by a physical postcard compared to an email or an Adwords/Facebook ad.

We wanted to start with Alaska for the mailing list, it seems to be a place where dental work is very expensive, and where people can save the most money. We can expand from there if our campaign is successful.

Has anyone had success with postcards in a similar marketing campaign, or are we just wasting our money? If it worked for you, where should we go to get started?

Answer 1

There are a number of articles that can give you ideas on how to use postcards for direct marketing, and even case studies of the success of others



Here's from Deliver Magazine (this is USPS magazine)

http://www.delivermagazine.com/2011/09/award-winning-initiative-ups-the-ante-on-direct-mail/



Target Magazine

http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/aggregatedcontent/why-a-postcard-is-better-than-a-direct-mail-letter

Top 50 Mailers http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/top-50-mailers-the-sixth-annual-listing-top-mailers-measured-volume/2

Answer 2

There are direct marketing courses you can buy online, in which professionals go over some fine points that can make all the difference.



The mecca of demographically targeted rental mailing lists is NextMark.com, you might pay about 10 cents a name.



I recall that simple cards may be more likely to be read than glossy ads that don;t pass the over the trashcan filtering process, but like other aspects these marketers test multiple versions tracking which convert better.



Postage is substantially more expensive than the card printing. You can find mailing services that will address and post your cards for about the same price as stamps cost you, they profit by getting lower zip code sorted postage. It's not a certainty that postcards will be more effective than letters, though postcards seem to be favorites of marketers.



Consider having a dedicated recorded information line people can call, some prefer to not have to talk to a person on first inquire.



A tie-in with a travel service could be a big winner.

Answer 3

I visited your website - ditch the yellow highlighting of the 'testimonial' - it is really like the guys offering 'free something' but then you end up having to pay. Ditch all the 'sign up here' forms. Doesn't your web guy know how to use sidebars??? Fire him/her.



I don't know where Mazatlan is, but if it's not near a cruise port you're wasting your time.



By the time someone pays the airfare and accommodations, they can get the treatment from the dentist down the street, and have a lot shorter distance to go for follow-up problems.



On the other hand, I've seen cruise people take cruises just to get meds cheap in Mex or Belize. AND.. your target is the 50+ crowd, so move to near a cruise port!



Good Luck!!



TWD