Direct mail postcards allow marketers to pinpoint specific neighborhoods with their message. And many landscapers focus heavily on neighborhoods in their marketing efforts. This makes postcard marketing the perfect promotional tool for landscaping companies.

Better still, the number of ways landscapers can use postcards is limited only by their imagination. Here are but a few of those ideas:

1. Seasonal Reminders
Many homeowners know very little about the seasonality of lawn maintenance, planting and such. So why not tell them. Try sending regular reminders, such as: "Planting season is right around the corner! Do you have ideas for your backyard? Call us for a free on-the-lawn consultation."

2. Customer Follow-up
You're probably familiar with the 80/20 rule -- you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. You've probably also heard how much more expensive it is to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one.

With this in mind, why not send your best customers thank-you cards, holiday greetings or special offers? It's a great way to stay in touch with the 20% who mean the most to your business.

3. Neighborhood Prospecting Around a "Prize Lawn"
You've worked hard to maintain the lawn at 245 Maple Drive. And it looks fantastic! So don't be shy -- tell the rest of the neighborhood who's behind the beauty. With postcard marketing, you can target the exact streets and subdivisions you want. This lets you draw attention to projects the recipient has probably already seen! Can you see the possibilities of such an approach?

4. Tip-of-the-Month Series
Want an easy way to stay "top of mind" with your prospecting area? Want to build value into your postcards to keep them out of the trashcan? Try a tip-of-the-month series. The concept is simple: take your sales message, and wrap it inside a helpful hint so the homeowner has an extra reason to keep it.

The goal here is not to give away your trade secrets -- but to make your audience aware of your services, while also increasing the shelf-life of your postcards. Try to envision the kinds of postcards people might put up on their refrigerators or bulleting boards. That's your goal!

5. Special Offers
Postcards with strong offers outperform the more "informational" pieces. So if you're offering some kind of discount or special, send it straight to your audience's mailboxes. With a newspaper or magazine ad, you're limited as to how specific you can make your offer. But with postcards, you can speak more directly to the various segments of your audience. That's the winning formula of direct mail -- a strong offer with relevant information, sent to a precisely targeted audience.

For instance, maybe you send a postcard to a new subdivision with a headline that reads: "Landscaping Special for the Residents of Maplewood Park." This kind of relevance and specific targeting can dramatically increase response rates.

6. Website Tie-in
Have a website? If so, you have a perfect marketing partner to complement your postcards. The reasons are somewhat psychological:

The goal of any marketing program is to gain new business, but sometimes you have to offer indirect paths as well as the direct ones. Direct paths are for direct people. A direct path on a postcard would be a phone number. Some interested prospects will choose the direct route and call you straightaway.

But those who are less direct would rather learn more about you first. They need to get comfortable before they "raise their hands."

So why not build an informational resource section of your website and point to it with your postcards? Maybe you'll offer tips on how to care for local plants and grasses. Maybe you'll post a photo gallery showing some of your past projects and clients. Or both!

The point is to offer different response channels for the different personality types. A direct phone number for the direct people, and an indirect website path for the more timid souls. Then mention both paths on your postcards, and you've increased your chance for response -- be it direct or indirect.

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About the Author

Brandon Cornett is the editor of PostcardSmart.com, the Internet