The Familiarity of an Old Friend (or Better Yet…Family Member)

To be successful in business, it used to be sufficient enough offer the best widget, sell it a fair price, and provided top notch customer service.

Now, in the days of the heavily-saturated marketplace, being the best isn’t good enough anymore. Don’t get me wrong…being the best is a great accomplishment (although very subjective) but to be truly successful these days, you have to be more.

You have to stand out from the crowd to end up on the top of the mountain. (That’s literally a mountain!)  Customers are bombarded daily with marketing pitches; a refrigerator magnet for the veterinarian, a calendar from the real estate agent, some address labels from a charity, coupons for pizza and sandwiches. It’s a lot. It’s a lot for a customer to digest when they go to the mailbox every day and receive numerous mass marketing pieces.

So what can you do to set yourself apart from the others? One word:  Tenacity.

You’ve got to hang in there, put yourself in front of that customer time after time after time until you start to feel like a member of the family. This is where the 3-7-27 Law of Branding comes into play.

Name Recognition Is Not Enough

A great way to establish credibility, build trust, and create resonance for your brand is by being aware of the 3-7-27 Law of Branding. This law tells us that according to historical trends it takes:

• Three (3) contacts for someone to recognize your name.
• Seven (7) contacts for someone to associate your name with your business
• Twenty-seven (27) contacts for your business to become a brand name in the market.

“So where do businesses make the biggest mistake?”  After three contacts, they quit. Period.  And as they quit all the money they invested in that initial recognition goes out the window.  It’s a shame, really.

They assume, “Hey, they know my name now,” then sit back and wait for the business to roll in.  Then they are shocked when it doesn’t! Three contacts is simply not good enough. You’ve got to follow up and follow through with the 3-7-27 Law of Branding.

Building Your Business

Now that you know how many times prospects should see your marketing, how do you execute?

Postcard marketing has long been and continues to be one of the most successful and cost-effective ways of building your business within a target audience. Matching your message to the exactly the right audience pays huge dividends and saves you tons of money.  If you’ve got email addresses and phone numbers, those are great ways of getting your name in front of potential customers, but you want to stand out from the other 400 emails in their inbox, the personal touch and tangible feel of actually putting something in the customer’s hand is priceless.

Try these strategies for highly successful postcard marketing:

1. Let your postcard look more like a message from an old friend than an advertisement. Use familiar images like fake stick-on notes, fonts that look like handwriting, and imperfect lines.
2. Create a little intrigue to motivate customers to take action using wording such as “Learn how you can save 10% on home remodeling fees today.” It’s a subtle difference from a standard close, but this type of message tends to be well received and engenders a higher response rate. According to master direct mail copywriter, Dean Jackson, “Be compelling vs. convincing.”
3. Include a credible testimonial. Use a genuine and honest testimonial, one the customer could actually verify if they felt so inclined.
4. Addresses are on the back of postcards and mail is typically viewed address side up, so it’s critical to begin your pitch on the back of the postcard. Make the pitch on the backside something that will motivate the customer to turn the card over to learn more.

Start Carving Out Your Place Today

So there you have it.  Four easy examples of how to make a great impression on potential customers through postcard marketing.  Given that you’re required to be in front of that customer a number of times, you’re going to need all these creative approaches and more. Commit to choosing a list of leads and creating a mailing every day. In doing so, you’re invoking the power of the 3-7-27 Law of Branding and will be well on your way to carving out your niche in the marketplace.  Need help coming up with more creative strategies?  We can help…We have seen and tested new ideas for days!  Call 877-222-6010 today and start cementing your brand!