Direct mail marketing is often part of a bigger picture and longer sales cycle. In such cases, your direct mail postcard or letter serves a "learn more" function. This is where direct mail and websites become perfect marketing partners.

Postcards in particular make excellent website promoters. With their easy readability and "at-a-glance" impact, direct mail postcards can help you entice people to your website.

Here are five ways postcards can drive qualified traffic to your site.

1. Free reports and white papers.
Create a valuable report and make it available for download via your website. Feature the report (with graphics, excerpts, and other teasers) on a postcard. Make sure you have a web-based lead-capturing system in place to collect the name and email address of each respondent.

2. Seminars.
Seminars are a great business-building tool for certain industries. Real estate, financial services, investing, technology ... each of these sectors can use seminars to increase their exposure and gain clients. Direct mail makes it easy to promote your seminars. Put the primary benefit of your seminar in the headline, and offer multiple incentives for attending. Offer a web-based form to simplify the sign-up process.

3. Free trial.
If you're selling software, e-books, or anything else digital, you can offer a free trial or sample download through your website. Then use the direct mail piece to build interest and point readers in the right direction.

4. Newsletter subscription.
Want to increase the size of your subscriber base? Send a postcard that conveys the value of the newsletter, along with a strong bonus incentive for signing up. Create a landing page with a short URL / web address so it's easy for people to type.

5. RSS Feeds.
RSS feeds are becoming a popular web-marketing tool, and for good reason. They're easy to produce, and they give you another way to stay connected with your audience. So why not send a postcard to your customers showing the value of your RSS feed (and how and where to sign up for it).

Leveraging your website can reinforce your direct mail, which in turn can lead to higher response rates. So think about your own website, audience, and product or service. How can you bring them together to accomplish your goals?

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