The noise on social media and in your customer’s inbox is too much. Your marketing emails and social media ads often drown in the crowd, and no one notices them. A postcard or letter in your client’s mailbox is surprisingly the best way to cut through the noise in 2022.

People scroll past social media ads and marketing emails without a second glance. But, your postcards or letters can hardly go unnoticed. And if some marketers thought direct mail marketing was dead… Well, take another look–direct mail is thriving!

Statistics show that 90% of direct mails are opened, as opposed to only 20% of emails. Postcards and letters being the major representatives, direct mail presents wonderful marketing opportunities for your business.

Wondering how to send a letter or postcard for the best ROI for your business? This article will teach you.

Why Might Businesses Need to Post a Letter or Postcard?

Direct mail has proven to be effective for both B2B and B2C marketing. It involves sending physical marketing materials (such as postcards, brochures, catalogs, or letters) to current, former, or potential customers. Postcards and letters are by far the most popular forms of direct mail.

Companies send postcards or letters as direct mail forms for the following reasons:

• Reaching new audiences/markets: 73 percent of Americans prefer to be contacted by brands via direct mail. Thus, businesses will post letters and postcards to target new audiences and connect with potential customers
• Direct mail is extremely cost-effective and offers an impressive ROI. Bulk mailing of letters and postcards is particularly cheap. Postcards are a little cheaper to create and to mail.
• Postcards go straight to the point with a short, captivating copy. A great way to touch customers with a few words.
• Companies post letters for B2B marketing purposes. Through envelopes, letters ensure that your sensitive messages stay private.
• Letters are perfect for more serious and formal marketing messages.
• Letters are excellent at nourishing relationships that already exist with customers. They give you a whole page to share so much more with your reader. Your readers get that you’ve put much thought into your message.
• Postcards are superb at catching attention in the mailbox. The design, images, and flash sales messages are heavy pull factors for the human eye.
  

How to Mail a Letter or Postcard: A Step by Step Guide for Businesses

You’ve gone through the first phases of your direct mailing campaign: identifying your target audience, setting campaign goals, and fixing the budget. Now, the actual mailing is similar for both postcards and letters. You can send thousands of postcards or letters easily and effectively, with bulk mail.

Bulk Post Versus One-Time Send

Sending out a few letters or postcards is easy enough. But posting thousands of direct mails can be brutal to your small business. Bulk mail is used to send marketing mails in large quantities. Mails sent in bulk are less expensive compared to 1-time send per piece but require a permit. In addition to that, for bulk mailing, we definitely recommend using direct mail automation software to make the process fast, easy, and accurate.

How to send a postcard

Step 1: Selecting your card size

To send a postcard, start by creating the actual card. If you’re using the US postal service, your size is super important. Your postcards should be between 4.25 x 6 inches (small) and 9 x 12 inches (extra-large).

Unless you’re paying for a custom-made postcard, take these sizes seriously.

Step 2: Designing your card: copy, look, and feel

First things first, craft an outstanding headline. Make it great!

Next, come up with a compelling copy that sweeps your recipients off their feet. You have very little space, so use few words. Get right to the point, but bring out all your points. Your copy carries your message; sales offer, coupon, product announcements, etc.

Then, pick a brand-appropriate image. Go for something unique and related to your message, not the regular images everyone uses. Your design also speaks a bunch about your brand. A professional design is essential.

Step 3: Build a mailing list

40% of your campaign’s success depends on the audience. Before getting here, you had identified and segmented your target audience. Now, compile the perfect list. Your business might already have a list you can use, built from the website or your CRM. Even so, you’ll need to clean it up, check the formatting, and verify postal addresses. Attention to detail is crucial here to prevent undelivered mail.

Step 4: Address and stamp your postcards

You don’t have to worry much about how to address a postcard. Simply print labels for 4 main lines; Your name, company, address, city, state, and zip code. If you’re using the U.S. postal service, print your labels in black uppercase letters.

Carefully place the labels on the postcards to suit mailing machines.

Next, place postcard stamps on each of your postcards. You cannot send a postcard without these postcard stamps. Now put the cards in your mailbox or the collection box to have them mailed.

If you’re using a direct mail automation service like Inkit Send that covers the printing and shipping steps for you, just click that one button to start your campaign.

How to Post a Letter

Here’s how to send a letter or bulk letters to your customers.

Step 1: Get the letters ready

The first step, of course, is to figure out what to pen down in your letter. You have an entire page to wow your reader with your story. In a B2B context, be formal and courteous.

Next, reflect on the size of the letter. The wrong size means your letter will be turned down by the postal service. Accepted sizes for letters range from the standard 8.5 x 11 inches to the Jumbo 11 x 17 inches.

Step 2: Prepare your envelopes

You need an envelope to protect the content of your letter. Things to consider while picking your envelope:

• The size: The size of the envelope should be ideal for your letter. That’s common sense! Sizes could range from a #6 1/4 envelope (3 ½” x 6”) to a #14 envelope (5” x 11 ½”).
• Look and feel: Since you’re sending a letter for business purposes, avoid flashy, colorful envelopes. Go for a professional-looking envelope.
• The strength and shape of your envelope are also important.

Step 3: Seal and address your envelopes

Now place your letter in the envelope and seal it. Then provide a recipient address at the center and top left corner. Write the recipient’s full name or company name, house number, street name, city, state, and zip code.

Step 4: Get a postage

It can be tricky to choose a stamp for your letter. One thing’s for sure: the stamp goes to the top right corner of the front side of the envelope. Get to the nearest post office to get the right stamp for you.

Step 5: Mail your letters

You can place your letters in your own mailbox, and they’ll be collected. Or you can use the collection box. Now you know exactly how to post a letter for your business.

Helpful Automation Tools: Inkit Send

The above-explained steps can be very daunting, even if you’re an expert. The good news: your postcards and letters can be sent online. Inkit has a set of tools that automate your direct mail campaigns so that you can focus on your customers.

Inkit Send lets businesses of all sizes send direct mails–one postcard or bulk send–without a tedious manual process. It is cost-effective and easy to use. Integrate Inkit Send into your CRM, upload your designed postcard (or use one of the templates), and launch that trigger-based direct mail campaign as a part of your sequence. With Inkit, your physical postcards or letters land in mailboxes within days and not weeks.

Learn more about how to use Inkit Send for your marketing campaigns here.