ACE Newsletter

Direct Mail Marketing

Huh? What? MAIL? You mean snail mail as in buying stamps...driving to the post office? Paying for printing? Uh, do you even remember where your local Post Office is located?

But yes, Direct mail marketing means all of that! But we're not talking about randomly sending out promotions and sales to random zip codes. No, this is where you pull out that guest book list and your client list and stay in contact with them all through postcards.

In the age of the Internet, the tried and true methods of promoting a business have fallen by the wayside while everyone has eagerly embraced cyberspace marketing. The new edge is that your direct mail marketing will have a greater impact now than it would have perhaps 5 years ago. And that's good news!

Postcards are a smart way to promote your art product. Experts agree that your potential message has a life span of around 2-3 seconds in which it must either entice the recipient to read it or toss it out...unopened. A letter in a envelope must be hand addressed and have a real stamp otherwise their first impression is that it's junk mail. See the advantage of a postcard? A sharp looking, well worded postcard over a bland letter that must be opened? Plus the facts that it not only costs less to send a postcard, it also costs less to print. No folding and stuffing envelopes either! 

So what do you put onto that postcard? You have heard that to sell the steak you must sell the sizzle, right? Well, your images must be sharp graphics that show instantly what it is that you are selling. Just like the image for your business cards, your postcard needs to show your most powerful images of your work. What image is your defining trademark? Use that one. Your print and colors must be bold as well as colorful.

The Post Office website (www.usps.org) has the guidelines for the allowable sizes for postcards but the most popular size is a 4” x 6” card.

Now how often should you send out your postcards? Design a new one every 2 months and mail out promptly. Your front should have at least 3 images along with your website. The other side needs to have space for writing in addresses and a lighter version of some of your artwork that allows an image but is light enough to write over!

What about your message? Well let me ask you this. How often have you received one of those artist postcards announcing a gallery opening and reception? Can it get more boring than that? Do you really, even as an artist yourself, give those more than a cursory glance? Think outside the box! Come up with something witty and different. Glass art products? How about “”smashed glass!” or “smashing good time!” as headline grabbers? Think along the same lines for your paintings, pottery ...be clever and add some fun to it. It's OK to have a special going at Christmas or Valentine's Day. The point is that if your card is colorful, clever and beautiful, your prospect will not toss the card, but keep it. We have had some great commissions that came about simply because a postcard that we sent a client, fell out of the desk cubbyhole where they placed it!

 There is something to the fact that people need to see you or your product at least 4 times before they buy. So don't be discouraged if the first one or two mailings don't produce results. They will! SO remember, while everyone is trying to get noticed on the Internet, nothing beats a hands on approach like mailing directly to your prospect AND past clients. STAY IN TOUCH!