Postcards have antiquity that digital space can’t match. There’s something special about receiving a custom postcard, both in messaging and design, in the mail.
Postcards From Midwest Custom Print
While postcards made their debut in Europe during the 1860s as a new mail piece, the United States received its formal introduction to them during the 1893 World’s Fair right here in Chicago where they were printed and sold. Midwest Custom Print follows in the footsteps of the Columbian Exposition over 100 years later as a local Chicago print shop with our service of custom printed postcards. While advertising and brand marketing may be highly digitized nowadays and postcards are hardly as sent as they were back in the 1900s, they can still be an effective form of promoting your business, event, or announcement as well as an affordable one.
Why Postcard Marketing Works Today
When it comes to mail campaigns, the actual mail is more viable than electronic mail because people often delete vast amounts of email without thinking about it. Physical mail that is received every day requires a little more sifting through before it gets thrown away. Postcards are designed to be mailed without envelopes or wrapping, so the recipient will see it immediately as they go through their mail. Of course, nothing beats receiving a personalized message and eye-catching image among the plain, white envelopes of bills and the like.
Custom postcards actually can increase trust among your target audience and help establish your brand as a legitimate business. A possibility of online mailing lists or email campaigns is that they often end up in the junk mail folder since it’s much easier for scams to be carried out through email addresses. Several people often don’t open emails because of trust. Real mail is more legitimate and recipients can actually hold a piece of your business’ branding. Even if they do choose to throw it away, the custom postcard still left an impression on them.
The Best Custom Postcard Design Practices
While postcards in modern times are characterized by their photographs of the location they are advertising, anything could actually be printed on them. In fact, older postcards usually featured people, animals, or plants. So, it’s not out of the question to take advantage of custom postcard design with your business; branding. When going beyond photographs for your postcard design, keep these design practices in mind for the best marketing efforts:
- Keep text brief and clear – Even though they are bigger than letters, you don’t want to clutter your postcard with text, but you also don’t want to provide an image with no context. Like with any form of custom printing, keep the message short, readable, and clear.
- Avoid overly complex designs – Your custom postcard’s competition are white envelopes, so catching the eyes of recipients is easy and you don’t need to go overboard with the design. Create something striking, but conservative so the entire card doesn’t feel cluttered.
- Customized messages – There are higher response rates to mail that is personally addressed and written for the recipients. It helps to acknowledge that they are potential customers and not just numbers in a mailing list and convey this to them.
What is the best Postcard Printing Material
Midwest Custom Print offers the foremost paper stock for custom postcards. Our material options for postcards fit any brand tone or marketing budget. These options are:
- Matte cover stock – Custom matte postcards are a more premium option for just a couple more bucks. Much like a business card, these postcards are smooth and don’t rely on a shiny finish. Midwest Custom Print also offers eco-friendly recycled matte postcard options.
- Gloss cover stock – Inversely, a gloss postcard will shine to stand out among any stack of mail. This is often the choice for postcards with photographs and other high resolution images. Cost-wise, gloss is a little cheaper than matte. Midwest Custom Print offers 14-point and 16-point C25 gloss options and UV coating.
Increase Direct Mail Response Rate Today With Chicago Printing Services
Midwest Custom Print’s in-house design team in Chicago is ready to assist you with your order of up to 10000 custom postcards whether you are looking to promote your business or announce an upcoming event, or need help optimizing your custom design for a postcard for higher response rates. This is a chance to really reach out to potential customers in a personable way that digital marketing can’t. Start today by visiting our custom postcards page for a free quote or reach out to our design team directly.
Frequently Asked Questions About Postcards
What Postcard Sizes Does Midwest Custom Print Offer?
Midwest Custom Prints offers custom postcard sizes of 4×6, 4×9, 5×7, 5.5×8.5, 6×8.75, and 6×11. Color options are full color on either side or full color front.
Are Postcards Cheap to Mail?
According to the United States Postal Service, postcards are cheaper to send in the mail than letters. A postcard can be mailed for around 51 cents and a letter usually costs around 73 cents. This makes them ideally cost effective for mailing campaigns’ budgets.
What’s a Modern Way Postcards Can be Used to Market a Business?
Business owners have found a way to combine the old fashioned mail postcards and digital channels by including QR codes in the card’s messaging. With nearly everyone carrying around a Smartphone with a code scanner, these can be scanned to lead directly to the business’s or event’s website or other landing page for a product or service.
