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Companies of any size depend on a selection of tools to market themselves efficiently. As an Atlanta marketing consultant, I leverage my web site, referrals, speaking engagements, and articles, to aid in making my consulting firm more top-of-mind to potential customers. I also depend on the power of postcards.

Why can such a little advertising tool pack such a powerful punch? When used properly, postcards have two distinct advantages:

First of all, postcards are a low-tech tool in an increasingly high-tech world. My competition favors email messaging since it is fast and free- - but email is a common, undifferentiated, run-of-the-mill approach. Everybody is doing it. Good email prospecting can be effective, actually, but it takes a personalized approach and a careful balance. Because prospects receive so many emails, aspiring marketers must be attention-grabbing without being slick or spam-my, and that is often a hard balance for many to accomplish.

Second, unlike emails or regular letters, postcards don't need to be opened. Their message is right there, "in your face" before you even know it. A well-done postcard gets its key message across in a split second.

From an advertiser's perspective, postcards are appealing because they're inexpensive to produce and inexpensive to disburse. I tweak existing templates from my own simple to use desktop publishing software and have them printed from an online company. Here in the States, it costs me roughly 40 cents to design, print, and mail postcards to the possible clients on my contact list. For those that are able to take advantage of bulk mailing rates, this cost can be lowered further.

While postcards are an attractive advertising option because they can be unique from your competition and because your message can be delivered at a comparatively low price to a particular audience, there are several factors that will dramatically impact the success of your postcard marketing initiatives:

1) Clear communication. Postcards are tiny. You just don't have much physical space in which to get your point across. This is one of the best blessings of postcards from an advertising strategy perspective: they make you think about exactly what message you would like to send and demand that you communicate that message clearly and concisely. Pick the ONE idea you need to tell those on your contact list and stay focused on making that communication short and sweet.

2) Strong design. You do not need to hire a professional graphic designer to make your postcards impactful. If you design your postcards online or with the many desktop publishing options available, you will find many pre-designed templates at your command. Utilize them, making absolutely sure that you follow the foundations of good graphic design: a huge, attention-grabbing headline, a font that is easy on the eyes (do not get 'cute ' or use one that's smaller than 9 pt), and enough "white space" so your message is tempting rather than lost in hopeless mess.

3) Customisation. If you've got the opportunity to do so, take a yellow highlighter and run it across the recipient's name. This can make it easier to be delivered and will make it stand out to them (we all think our names are important, and seeing them draws our attention like a magnet). If your list is compact enough, and you have room on your postcard, write a short, one sentence message (ie, "Jack, is this of interest? - Bob"). It'll only take one or two seconds of your time- -and it isn't difficult to do when you're watching TV in the background.

4) Be consistent. Hopefully, with a clear, pressing offer you'll get a solid first response to your postcard mailing. Depending on the strength of your sales call, the clarity of your message, and how well-targeted your mailing list is, your success may vary. The best tack is to view postcard advertising as an experiment; try different methods and make tweaks as you go along based upon your success rate. But do not just send out one pile of postcards and then be done. You need to view them as a CAMPAIGN, where you deliver your advertising message at regular intervals over an extended time period. Some consumer research studies indicate that it takes 7 "touches" to get your message through to a new prospect. While only some of them need be postcards (it's good to try other marketing tools together with them), commit to giving this approach a fair trial rather than a quick hit.

Irrespective of what industry you're in or how large (or small) your business might be, postcard marketing can be an efficient business-generating technique. Why not try it?