Promotional postcards are a great way to stand out in an era of digital technology and social media because they are counter to or opposite to what most people are doing. In this example, I share a recent promotional postcard I created for the Book Rapper book summaries.
There are three parts: The front of the postcard, the back of the postcard and the attachment or specific offer. In particular, here are the four design elements that make this work.
You may have heard the old maxim, a picture is worth a thousand words. In designing your postcard this is especially true – you want something that captures attention and the spirit of your message. The good news is that you can access low cost or free stock photo sits that also have diagrams. I typically use Unsplash.com for my stock photos, plus I have a big library of images that I have taken myself.
Headlines are designed to capture attention. Think newspapers or magazine covers. Ideally, they should be benefit-driven – which means they describe something of value to your audience. ‘Be the leader in your market’ describes the outcome that I will help people achieve. Importantly, your headline should not be the name of your program, instead, we want to lead them from the goal or problem to have your product or service as the solution that helps them get there. Note: I’m selling a Client Leadership Program, but the headline is not that.
The body copy is the words between the headline to the call to action. It connects the two. Essentially, it says, if you want this benefit or to solve this problem (headline) then this is how you can do that. The call to action then becomes the first step that the reader needs to take.
One way to design your promotional postcard is to work in reverse by starting with the call to action. A call to action is the action or task that you want the reader to take. In this example, it’s to visit a website.
[Updated November 2021]
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