5 Unique Uses for Postcards

Postcards have come a long way since their inception. While they are, of course, still used for sending that gorgeous photo of a place you are traveling to with a “thinking of you” note to friends and family — these days, the handy-sized cards aren’t limited to vacation correspondence.

From an envelope-less way to send an invitation to your small business’ special event to a unique thank you gift for employees, postcards are incredibly multipurpose and budget-friendly internal and external marketing tools for your business. They are also a great, cost-efficient alternative to the standard card and envelope for personal mailings, such as announcing the birth of a child or asking guests to save the date for your wedding. Postcards have a fun and visual approach, with virtually endless design possibilities. Following are five unique uses for postcards.

1. Announce your next small business event or opening in style. Postcard event marketing is affordable and versatile. Choose from hundreds of postcard design templates in oversized or standard configurations, or upload your own design to promote your upcoming affair or new location. On the reverse side of the invitation, include a special offer, where customers have to bring in the card in order to get a deal or enter in an ordering code when purchasing from your website to receive a percentage off. Either way, you can track the results of your mailing. And you’ve just done double duty — promoted an event or opening and provided them with an incentive to buy your product or service.

2. Send current or potential clients a surprise. Get creative with custom business postcards! Instead of just sending out a flyer-esque postcard, add an interactive piece to it for your existing and potential customers. For example, you could send a postcard each week for a month that all have a trivia question or a small puzzle that customers have to answer or solve to end up with a specific phrase. At the end of the four weeks, they can bring in or send the postcards with their answers, or provide the answers on your website, in order to win a prize or discount. Your clients are likely to keep the postcards on their refrigerator doors or front and center on their desks until they have all four postcards. You’ve just piqued their curiosity and won their attention consistently all month — nice work!

3. Keep your employees happy with custom gift certificates. Who doesn’t like to be rewarded for a job well done? Create a stack of postcard gift certificates that you can give to your employee of the month, or as a reward for a particularly successful sales job. It can incorporate a “thank you” and some words of praise, including a space for you to fill in a cash amount that they’ll see on their next paycheck. Sometimes an internal “promotion,” where employees work hard for a bonus, can do wonders to boost your business just as well — if not better — than a marketing promotion to the masses.

4. Introduce the newest addition to your family. Feature a beautiful photo of your new baby … or new pet! Your friends, family and colleagues will love the gesture of seeing his or her sweet face and learning of his or her name and arrival at your home. It’s such an enjoyable and heart-warming use of postcards, and a personal way to keep in touch.

5. Design the perfect custom save the date. Who needs to receive a formal invitation twice? Save the formalities for the real invitation and use adorable save-the-date postcards for your wedding, anniversary party, graduation bash and more. It’s an eco-friendly alternative, too, since no paper envelopes are needed.

How have you creatively used postcards? Leave us a comment on our 123Print Facebook page, tweet us @123Print or write a note below.