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Postcard marketing for tourism industry - The great cheap
marketing tool
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By David Kan
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As a travel agent marketer, or a hotel promotion, all you needis a good marketing tool is a cheap cost and high effect,contribute to the brand building and create a good relation withyour visitors.
These things can be obtained when you use postcard to marketyour services in the local community. And here are the reasons:
1)Postcard is a low cost marketing tool but high visible.
Postcard marketing is very affordable. Postcard cost less than 2cent each to produce I you print them using your own computer orhave them printed professionally for about 7 or 8 cents each.
You can print 4x6 inch postcard on your own computer for lessthan 2 cents each. Or you can reduce the cost down to about 1cent each if you print 4 at a time on 8 ? x11 sheets of cardstock and then cut the sheet into quarters.
In fact, standard sized postcard is 38% cheaper than usingregular size letters.
2)Postcard can be created very easily.
You can use your own photos illustrating your services, yourhotel image, designed with Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Image Readyto create a good helpful collection of your own postcard. Thiscollection will be very good for you to build your brand, orwill be cost effective if you rotate it in your postcardmarketing campaign.
There are many ready packages of postcard organization someprofessional website, so if we do not want to design byourselves, we can buy these postcards with a reasonable price.Try to find a good supply on Net by Google or Yahoo! Searchtools.
3)Postcard is cheap and easy to send.
The current postage for mailing a postcard in the US is just 23cents. That is 38% cheaper than the postage for selling a letter.
This reduce the postage rate applies to postcard that are atleast 3 ? x5 inches but not over 4 ? x6 inches.
Now, there are services online which can complete all theprocess of postcard marketing for your company with anappropriate rate. Visit www.usps.com/mailingonline to use itscheap services and reduces your cost into 90%.
4)Everybody read postcard
Postcard doesn't waste time of people. There are no envelops,just a picture and your message. Almost 90% receivers will readit and feel friendly than any other kinds of advertising. It isbecause postcard is delivered "ready to read"... especially ifyou keep it brief and look like a message from a friend tofriend. And postcard doesn't take up a lot of space. Yourcustomer can carry them in their pockets easily...
5)Big respond
This high rate of readership is the main reason why postcardpostcards produce a bigger responds than other type of directmarketing. With other types of direct marketing you often loseprospects that would have respond to your offer-but they neversaw it.
Postcard are an excellent low-cost alternative to email whenthere are junk mail are sent to prospects everyday, yourprospects will often delete them without read even an legitimateone. Postcard is not, no one receives too much postcard thatthey even don't want to read!
6)Your competitors can not know your postcard marketing campaign.
A new marketing campaign often imitated by your competitorbecause it is visible on multi-media lines. But postcard is thecontact between you and your prospects. It is difficult for yourcompetitor study anything from yours, unless you want them getover you by sending postcard to their office or their privatehouse.
7)Get immediate result
Because postcard is simple and easy to use, they produce resultsquickly. You can finish your postcard marketing campaign fromdesigning to sending within a week and starting get replies 2 or3 days later. One of the benefits of using first class postagefor a regular size postcard is that it will be mailed back tothe sender if it has a bad address, which can help you updateyour list.
You can ask the receivers to bring the card into your office forspecial discount, there for you can calculate the respond rate.
Your postcard can brand you and your business in ways that mostmarketing material cannot. If you start and stick to a regularpostcard marketing program, you and your business will gain aquite a reputation, perhaps even a little notoriety.
8)Postcard marketing is rather targeted.
You can send it to chosen prospects, and gain the highesteffective. Postcard enables you to spend your entire advertisingbudget on your best prospects. You don have to pay foradvertising to a large audience in order to reach a few goodprospects.
Here are some ways to use postcard.
1) Referrals-send postcards regularly to your friend, yourfrequent clients or other best contacts and ask them for theirreferrals.
2) Thankyou notes - use postcard to say Thankyou for business,referrals or information and say that you appreciate theirhelps. Your postcard receiver will be so surprised and pleasethat you took the time. 3) A follow - up offer or services -after the client use or buy your services, send them a discountoffer for a related services or product within 30 - 60 days. Donnot miss the opportunity for an after - sale contact.
4) You can also announce a price - increase time and encourageyour customer check in to use it at current price.
5) Gift certification or coupons: show your best customers thatyou appreciate them by sending a gift certificate that they canuse anytime in the next year. You should leave a space on thepostcard and encourage they fill out their friend or colleaguesname and give it to someone else to introduce them to yourbusiness.
6) Announce an event - send postcard to let your prospects knowabout events like a seminar in your hotels...
7) Introduce new services such as a new city tour for childrentraveling over many educational sites in your city...
8) Build your website traffic- use postcard mailing to tellpeople your site is there and when you make significantadditional which can give them many interesting information.
9) Recognition- sends out a postcard to let people know yourgood news about accomplishments and awards or reviews you havereceived.
10) Just stay in touch. People like to be remembered andpostcard is economical and easy way to say " thinking of you "
11) Remember special days of your clients: send a holidaygreeting a Thankyou not for Thanksgiving. If you keep track ofspecial dates in your customer lives like birthdays oranniversaries, you can send them a colorful postcard lettingthem know you are thinking of them.
You can register a forum account to read more 15 articles ofpostcard marketing in the Tourism Marketing Forum. Click thislink: .
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