Design
7 Rules for Writing Successful Postcards
  by:  |  Jun 27, 2008
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Last updated on September 8th, 2017 at 05:40 pm

Creating the perfect design for your postcards is only half the battle in regards to having a successful mailing campaign. No matter how good your design is,  if your copy turns off the reader, you’ll never get the success you’re looking for from your postcard mailings.   Here are seven simple rules for you to follow which will help you write more effective postcards:

1.    Less is More.  No one wants to read through a huge block of type on a postcard mailing.   The key is to get your point across using as few words as possible.

2.    Write the Way You Talk.   Many times, people writing sales copy tend to use ornately worded copy, trying to squeeze as many multi-syllable words into the copy as possible in an attempt to sound impressive.   Unfortunately, this sort of writing is difficult for the untrained writer to do well and when it’s done badly, it usually turns off the reader.  Your postcard should read like someone talking to the reader, not like someone writing sales copy.

3.    Avoid Unneeded Adjectives.  Another common trap is to try to embellish copy with excess adjectives in an attempt to make the product sound special.  Though the occasional use of adjectives can be effective, using too many adjectives make the copy read like sales hype instead of pertinent information.

4.    Speak Directly to Your Reader.  It’s important to allow the reader to feel like he or she is being addressed personally and hasn’t just been sent a generic card.  Make sure your writing reads as if it is written to the reader individually and addresses the reader individually.  In other words, don’t tell a reader that “Our company can help businesses grow”, tell them that “Our company can help your business grow.”

5.    Keep the Reader Moving.  The goal of the postcard is to catch the reader’s attention quickly and keep him or her moving through the card.  To do this, make sure that you limit yourself to one major concept or idea per sentence, so that the reader doesn’t have to stop and think about what the sentence says. The entire goal is to keep the reader moving through the copy so that they don’t get bogged down in the reading.

6.    Don’t Write Down to Your Audience.  Although you want to keep your copy short and easy to read, you cannot make it so simplistic that it becomes condescending towards the audience.  You want to avoid writing copy that feels like someone is dumbing it down so it can be understood.

7.    A Definite Call to Action.  The entire point of any advertising mailing is to get the customer to do something.  If you want them to visit your store or your website or take advantage of your new services, then you need to tell them to do it on the mailing.   The goal is to entice them with the information you’ve provided and then give them a response to make based on that information.


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