Archive for August 16th, 2009
Aug
16
Use A Headline On Your Postcard To Pass The Glance Test
In a previous post we discussed the importance of making sure your post card passes “The Glance Test”. 
The person who picks up the postcard from the mailbox will glance at it for just a few seconds before deciding to keep it or discard it.
One method used successfully on many postcards to pass “The Glance Test” is a powerful, comical or interesting headline.
Here are a few examples of Postcard Headlines:
RENT MY HUSBAND!
Used by a neighborhood handyman
LET YOUR NEIGHBOR CLEAN YOUR HOUSE!
Used by a cleaning service who was soliciting business in their own neighborhood
FREE LAWN CARE SERVICE!
Pay for 2 cuts at our regular low price and get the 3rd
This offer amounts to a 33% discount – but the word “FREE” is very powerful
LOSE WEIGHT…RESULTS GUARANTEED!
Used by a personal trainer. If you follow his exercise and diet plan.
Used by a personal trainer. If you follow his exercise and diet plan.
NEVER PAINT YOUR HOUSE AGAIN!
Painter offers a new process guaranteed to last 50 years or more.
Have you got an example of a headline that works? Please reply to this post with your postcard headline idea.
Aug
16
Include Prices On Your Postcard
I’ve seen lots of business people who are reluctant to include prices for their products or services on their postcard advertising. They give lots of reasons: I don’t want my competition to know my prices, I don’t want to scare off the prospect, my product or service has too many options to include a price, etc. 
Direct Mail Advertising is not the same as directory advertising, like in the phone book. In a directory ad, the prospect has already decided that he needs your product or service and he is looking for someone to provide it. In a directory ad you want to include an entire “laundry list” of products and information about your company.
Direct Mail Advertising is different. In most cases the prospect isn’t thinking about your product or service. So we want to get his attention. Including a price on your postcard is a good way to do it.
Let’s take a painting contractor as an example. Which of the examples below do you think would work best?
A) PAINT YOUR HOUSE THIS WEEK AND SAVE 10%
B) PAINT YOUR HOUSE THIS WEEK AND SAVE $100
C) PAINT YOUR HOUSE THIS WEEK FOR ONLY $899 (plus paint)
Great response is not necessarily generated by a discount. In offers “A” & “B”, the prospect has no idea what the cost to paint a house is, so the discount is meaningless. Some homeowners have never hired a painter and therefore have no frame of reference for pricing. They may read between the lines and think they know the price, but their idea of the price may be too high or too low, not a good thing in either case. By including a price, the prospect may be surprised and have this reaction: ”I didn’t know I hiring a painter was so affordable. Painting the house is within my budget. I’m going to call.”
By including the price, every call you receive will be pre-qualified.
If you are concerned about variables that may effect prices, include a disclaimer. For example: Most Houses In This Neighborhood Painted For $899. Some restrictions apply. Call for a FREE, no obligation Estimate.
