I read a lot of postcard marketing articles written by postcard vendors, and it seems to me that most of them say the same thing:

"Send lots and lots of postcards, and don't question the fact that people aren't responding. Just keep doing it."

In other words, keep spending money with us, regardless of the fact that you're not generating any in return. Keep mailing those postcards. Be patient. Don't ask questions. Just keep mailing.

This article will be different.

* Am I writing this article on behalf of a postcard-marketing vendor? Yes!

* Will I try to persuade you that postcard marketing failures should be repeated? No!

I'm a professional copywriter and have worked on many direct mail campaigns. If I created a postcard for a company or client, and that mailing got ZERO results, I would probably be fired. I can only imagine looking a client in the face and saying, "I know this was a huge bust ... but let's keep sending it! Maybe the fifth time will be a charm."

There is no excuse for a large-scale mailing that produces zero results. There's no excuse for it, but there's a word for it ... "failure." If your first postcard mailing generates nothing, then that mailing should be modified, not repeated.

In postcard marketing, repetition does help. But it's not a magic cure. The key is to repeat the mailings that work, not just the mailings in general. A failure repeated many times rarely becomes a success. At least, not in my experience.

So here's my challenge to the other postcard marketing companies out there:

Start caring about your customers' success as much as you care about their spending habits. Teach them how to increase their response rates with tried-and-true strategies. Teach them how to implement a testing plan to compare the success of different mailings. Teach them how to build a stronger offer.

Repeat the mailings that work, not just the mailings in general. In short, teach your customers to focus on response first, and repetition second.

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