You’re on top of your social media marketing – but still you feel something’s missing. A direct mail postcard campaign could be the perfect way to reach customers a little more creatively.

In this guide, we’ll explore the best ways to make postcards, and the benefits of communicating to your target audience by direct mail.

Read on for some tips on how Adobe Express tools can help you bring innovative postcard marketing campaigns to life in minutes.

What is postcard marketing?

Postcard marketing is a type of campaign strategy that uses postcards to advertise a brand, product or service. It involves a business sending print ads (or handing them out) to customers that often contain news or special offers. It’s a good way to get information directly to customers – especially when compared to online campaigns, which won’t necessarily reach everyone.

Marketing postcards can be personalised for each customer or created in batches – whatever suits your business best. However, as with any form of campaign, it’s best to ensure you’re sending these out to your target demographics.

For example, you could tailor them to:

• Younger audiences who may respond well to an innovative, well-designed postcard.
• Families who would benefit from local deals and discounts.
• Existing customers who’d appreciate being personally recognised and rewarded for their brand loyalty.
• Local businesses who would benefit from your product or services.

What are the benefits of marketing with postcards?

As the use of social media marketing continues to expand, the market is becoming increasingly competitive and oversaturated. Marketing your brand with postcards provides a great opportunity to directly capture your target audience – and do something a bit different.

For example, they can:

• Capture attention in a physical way. Sending postcards directly to people’s doors means they’re more likely to be read and used.
• Add a personal touch to your campaigns. Postcards can be easily personalised to suit individual customers.
• Help you reconnect with old customers. Popping up on someone’s doorstep is a friendly way of reminding people that their custom is appreciated.
• Increase engagement. Direct mail postcards can be used to advertise your other platforms as part of a wider strategy to encourage more onsite and social traffic.
• Ensure you stand out from competitors. If you notice your local competitors are solely focusing on online marketing, showing your creative side through a postcard marketing campaign could be a good way to capture attention.

Editable direct mail postcard examples.

6 ways to use direct mail postcard marketing.

Like any other marketing campaign, the way you use direct mail postcards will depend on your brand’s products, services and needs. Before you get started, it’s a good idea to ensure you fully understand your target audience and competitors – you don’t want to dive into something that might not be received well.

Here are a few ways you could effectively use direct mail marketing postcards in your business strategy.

1. Announcing the launch of a new product or service.

Launching a new product is an exciting time – so you want your customers to know about it. Sending a creative and colourful marketing postcard is a great way to grab attention. You could also align it your wider marketing strategy, connecting this physical form of advertising with your online efforts too.

Don’t forget to add some relevant first-time offers or discounts too.

2. Share a seasonal message or sales information.

During festive or summer seasons, loud and proud marketing campaigns pop up all over the place. With this in mind, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd – and an innovative postcard campaign may be a great way to do just that.

Send personalised offers and discounts, gift-wrapped to people’s front doors. A Christmas postcard, for example, is a great way to reassure customers that you’re thinking of them during this busy period and will help build that all-important brand loyalty.

3. Thank your existing customers and reward them for their loyalty.

Even when it’s not a special event or festive period, your customers will still appreciate a thoughtful thank you. Brand loyalty needs to be built and maintained year-round, so sending personalised, well-timed offers during lull periods, close to payday, or even on people’s birthdays can help reinforce the rapport.

These marketing postcards can be as simple as saying a ‘big thank you’, ‘happy birthday’, or just acknowledging their custom.

4. Reach out to inactive customers with an exclusive offer.

Speaking of maintaining those business-to-consumer relationships, it’s important to keep in touch with customers who may have dropped off your conversion radar. If they’ve not considered your brand in a little while – or perhaps even forgotten about you – a refresh in the form of a useful discount code or offer could go down like a treat.

Go all-in with brand tone of voice, unique selling points and an engaging design, and you could end up with an influx of returning customers.

5. Event invitations and reminders.

Creating a sense of healthy urgency is a great way to encourage engagement. This doesn’t have to be for a physical event, but you might want to send a few marketing postcards to remind people about upcoming or soon-to-finish sale periods and product launches.

Some smart, imperative language and well-timed offers could help draw people in and position your brand as one that is clear and direct in the communications.

Postcard marketing best practice tips.

Starting up a new marketing strategy means you’ll probably be brimming full of ideas. But direct mail postcards can be a little different to other online campaigns, so it’s a good idea to make sure you’re prepared.

Before you get started, here are a few tips:

• Include a clear call to action (CTA). Postcards are great, but they obviously can’t link directly to your site or a product. Make sure you tell people exactly what they’ll need to do next.
• Make sure your branding is consistent. Your postcards will look great if they’re cohesive with your online branding, and work well alongside your social marketing campaigns.
• Don’t overwhelm customers. Direct mail postcard campaigns can be quite a creative and novel idea, so make sure you don’t send too many – or you risk people losing interest and throwing them straight in the recycling.
• Find ways to track results. Use things like QR codes or personalised URLs so you can track traffic and engagement. Otherwise, you won’t know what worked and what didn’t.

Free postcard marketing ideas.

How can Adobe Express help you make postcards for a marketing campaign?

Even if you’ve no design experience, Adobe Express can help you make effective and creative direct mail postcards in minutes. Explore the range of free templates and tools, and create the perfect postcard pack for your next campaign.

1. Design your own postcard from scratch.

Got a burning idea ready to go? Start from a blank slate and create your marketing postcards from scratch. Use a range of free images, assets and editing tools and create something that stands out from your competitors.

2. Use a free marketing postcard template from Adobe Express.

If you want to skip the blank slate, you can also explore Adobe Express’ library of free postcard templates. Choose one that works best for your brand, then add, tweak and edit until you’re happy.

3. Add your branding in one click.

Ready to add those finishing touches? Add brand assets like logos and colour palettes to your postcards in just a few clicks. Make sure all your marketing materials are coherent to help drive engagement.

Generate more marketing materials with the AI template generator.

If you’re looking to create direct mail postcards in a flash, the Adobe Express AI template generator can help you do just that. Create your prompt, describe your campaign purpose, and watch as the innovative tool creates postcard templates in seconds. Then, simply add to and edit them until they’re ready to send. Save your templates to use again and again, and just tweak for different campaigns.

Try Adobe Express for free now

Good to know.

Does postcard marketing still work?

Yes, postcard marketing still works. In fact, with the rise of social media marketing, it could be considered more effective than when print ads were the only form of advertising. The online market is incredibly competitive and oversaturated, which means direct mail postcards are now well positioned to break through the noise and capture attention.

Can you print marketing postcards on Adobe Express?

Yes, you can design and print your marketing postcards on Adobe Express. Simply choose a template, edit, and then order your cards to be printed and delivered straight to your door. It’s quick, accessible and can be easily customised to meet your marketing needs.

Is Adobe Express free?

Yes, our free plan offers many core features including thousands of templates, photo editing and effects, animation, and 5 GB of storage. See our pricing page for details and to compare plans.