DJzone Feature: Marketing

Drop Them A Card!

Most mail advertising ends in the trash. But, a picture postcard of a fun location can increase your readership dramatically. Here are several Street Fighter examples:

The Sure Thing

While in Las Vegas for her annual convention, a print shop owner in Solon, Ohio bought 400 MGM Grand picture postcards. When she returned, her kids hand-address them to 400 businesses that were not her customers. The back of the postcard read, "Don't gamble with your printing needs. Bring this postcard in for a 10% savings on your first printing order." She received 100 redemptions! That's a 25% return. The reason? It didn't look like junk mail. And when you turn it over, the headline cleverly ties into the picture.

Trash To Treasure

My favorite postcard mailer was done by a realtor. This real estate agent mailed a simple postcard to several hundred homes. He was offering a free home warranty if you listed with him. But, the postcard was boring. It was black ink on grey cardstock and didn't look particularly appealing. As expected, 100% of his mailing was trashed. A week later those same homes received an envelope from the same realtor. Inside the envelope was the same post card that had been crumpled up and then flattened. Attached to the crumpled postcard was a yellow sticky note that read, "Please don't throw this out again! This is important." People must have been saying to themselves, "Is this guy going through the trash? He must really know the neighborhood. We gotta give him a call!"

Postcards From The Water's Edge

Another clever use of an inexpensive postcard mailing was done by a scuba store in San Francisco that planned a diving trip to Maui. Many of his customers inquired about the trip but only a third, as expected, actually signed up for it. The store owner took the list of people who couldn't make the trip. From Maui, he mailed picture postcards and wrote a brief message of what a wonderful time they were having. What a great way to build up strong interest for future trips. Also, he had each of his participants send three "wish you were here" postcards (with postage provided) to their scuba friends back home. It was a great way to generate referral business.

Your plan for action:

Next time you attend a DJ convention or conference, bring a mailing list of 25 potential clients with you.

Buy 25 picture postcards that represent the place you're visiting.

Think of a clever headline to tie into the picture on the postcard. (i.e. Kentucky postcard of horses in a pasture, "Don't horse around with ..." or in Las Vegas, "Don't Gamble With Your Wedding...", etc.)

Your hand-written, brief message tells your prospect that you're attending this event to learn how to better serve them.

Mail the postcards, at the postcard rate. (20¢ vs 32¢)

Upon your return, start your follow up phone calls or marketing efforts.

PS: While speaking in Lousiville Kentucky last year, we mailed 25 picture postcards to qualified prospects. When our sales people followed up, every single one remembered getting our postcard.

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