ValCards layered plastic postcard mailer is an exciting new way to promote a company, product or service.

With high quality commercial print and a rigid 20 or 30 mil layered plastic material this mailer is sure to stand out among all the other direct mail. The detachable CR-80 card is a retainable piece that will continue to promote a company many months after the mailer is received. With this unique design the response rate is sure to be higher and the life expectancy longer.

We also support you and your customer with full mailing fulfillment. Addressing, personalization and variable print are done in line for efficiency. CASS certification, presort and NCOA presort help ensure precision and accuracy with the mailing. With this mail piece we handle everything so your customer can sit back and take care of their customers.

Applications

• Membership card mailer
• Product promotion
• Calendar promotion
• Service contact card mailer
• School fundraiser mailer
• Emergency notification card
• Insurance cards
• Store moving notifications
• Warranty cards
• Referral cards

Benefits

• Durable plastic card withstands the wear and tear of postal equipment
• Unique design will stand out in the mail
• Detachable card extends the life expectancy of the mailer
• Variable graphics allow for a 1 to 1 marketing promotion
• Detachable card can be used as a tracking device

Features

• Durable 20 or 30 mil layered plastic material
• Thick laminate over print
• On line addressing and variable imaging
• High quality commercial print
• Mag stripe available
• Complete fulfillment on mailer
• Quantities of 200 up to a million +
• Quick turn times
• Holographic Green coating available

Markets

• Service companies
• Casinos
• Retailers
• Non-profit organization
• Schools/Universities
• Alumni associations
• Hotels
• Hospitals/Clinics
• Restaurants
• Spas
• Manufacturers
• Clubs
• Automotive dealers
• Insurance agencies
• Real estate agents
• Trade show companies               

Plastic Postcards with Pop-out Plastic Cards

Direct mail marketing for restaurants will help you get your share of the $440.1 billion dollars Americans will spend in restaurants in 2012. Creative advertising, specialty restaurant direct mail marketing and customer management can take a bite out of your competition and boost your bottom line.

Do You Know Your Customers?

For restaurants, offering quality food, providing outstanding service and greeting regulars warmly is standard operating procedure. But do you encourage frequent business by compiling customer lists for staying in touch? Satisfied customers are most likely to become your regulars, whether it’s for special occasions or every Tuesday night.

Compiling a list of previous customers is the ideal way to offer specials, announce new dishes, share recipes or invite them to a special wine dinner or other event. Start compiling your customer database by using information from a guest book, reservation lists, drawing sign-ups or comment cards.

Once you’ve started, it’s vital to keep it going. Regularly adding names will build your list; keeping addresses current and eliminating duplications is just as important. At least once a year your list should be compared with The National Change of Address (NCOA) records; this process will save an enormous amount of time and money on your promotions – while keeping your mailing lists current.

Restaurant Marketing – Cater To A New Crowd

There are several approaches to direct mailing to the households most likely to dine with you. The most affordable is mailing to selected neighborhoods with a resident list that saturates your area. Once you select the neighborhoods, ValCards Mailing will compile a mailing list that’s walk-sequenced within carrier routes in specified zip codes. This offers the lowest postage rate; however, the piece will be addressed ‘Resident’ rather than including the recipient’s name. If your restaurant caters to specific demographic groups, there is a list that will serve your purposes, whether it’s income-based, households with families, etc.

Trying to fill tables at lunch time? Develop multi-person offers and mail to businesses within a predetermined geographic area – an office park, for example or businesses within a five-mile radius of your location. If your restaurant is equipped to handle a large crowd, business-to-business advertising is ideal for promoting catering and/or special event gatherings.

Restaurant Marketing with Direct Mail Postcards           

Designs for Restaurant Marketing                         

We have had great success helping restaurants use postcard marketing to cost effectively generate more business. Our experience has shown that while paper postcards will work if you are on a budget – the plastic postcards are most effective. These plastic postcards standout in the mail box and provide plenty of space to describe your offerings and even include a gift card.

In general, you want a professional looking postcard design that promotes the benefits of your restaurant. Are you in a convenient location, do you offer extended hours, do you offer catering, etc… These are all the things that you want to bring to the reader’s attention. Other important design elements are: high quality images, a call to action or special offer, and prominently displayed contact information. For restaurants, we also recommend including a map to your location on the postcard.           
           
Mailing List Selections for Restaurant Marketing                         

For restaurants, we recommend using a residential mailing list or occupant mailing list of residents that live near your restaurant. If your restaurant is located in an area of lower income residents or has large pockets of lower income residents, we can use an income level selector to ensure you are marketing your services to people who can afford them.

Additionally, by using an occupant list, we will be able to get you one of the lowest postage rates available.             

How Often to Mail Your Restaurant Postcards           

As with any postcard marketing campaign – repetition (mailing to the same list of recipients multiple times) results in the best response rates. This certainly applies to restaurants as not everyone you mail to will be interested in your services the first time they receive your postcard. For Restaurant Marketing we recommend mailing to same list of recipients once every two weeks. This will allow your postcard to be in front of the recipient and your restaurant in the front of their minds the next time they plan a dinner out.

Have More Questions on Restaurant Marketing? Need More Advice? 

Call us and one of our Marketing Consultants will create an affordable and effective plan to market your establishment with Restaurant Postcards.           

Restaurant Birthday Postcard Marketing

The things Restaurants need in any Birthday Postcard Marketing program:

1. Format
Use a smaller postcard (4 x 6) as folks don’t want to carry in a huge postcard. Plus, you will be forced to focus on them, not you.  Use an image that aids in telling the story.  Don’t use a photo of an empty restaurant, or of food.  Use an image of people enjoying themselves.  People are more likely to be attracted to the experience.

2. Headline
Make sure the headline is an attention getter.  Answer the question:  “Why should I read on?” “What’s in it for me?”

3. Personalization
If your restaurant is a sports bar, serving 30 – 50 year olds, making $30K , living 5 miles around your location.  Then go get more of these folks.  Target your mailing and speak directly to them.  “Happy Birthday!” works very well.

Existing guests should get a different postcard than those that come from a purchased list.  It will aid you in your tracking.

4. Call to action
Give your recipient specific directions.  “Come celebrate!  Bring your friends and family!”  “Bring this postcard.”

5. Message
Keep it simple!  Less is better. Focus on them – not you.  Just mention a brief statement about your restaurant, menu options, what they expect if they come in – that’s it!

6. The Gift Offer

This is the most important aspect of your mailing.  Remember the long-term value of a new customer.  Give a gift that will impress your audience.  You only have one shot.  Once you get them in – Spoil them!  Add them to a database and continue to market to them again and again.  It will get easier to get them to come back if they’ve received a wonderful gift and had a memorable experience.  And don’t underestimate the power of the PR you derive from this effort.  People love to talk about what they did for their birthday.

7. Deadline
You must create a sense of importance and urgency by featuring an expiration date, but make sure the recipient has the entire month to use their gift.  This simply works better and is more effective.

8. Track Your Response
Use the redeemed postcards to track your Birthday Marketing.  Use the zip codes or the communities to see where your guests are coming from.  Then tweak your mailings.  Test different offers, images, age groups, incomes, zip codes, etc.  One mailing is not enough to know whether this is working for you.

9. Be Consistent
Once you find what works – repeat, repeat, repeat – every month! The impact on your community will grow over time.  You’ll reap the rewards of being the restaurant that sends out Birthday Cards!

10.  Find a Reputable Birthday Prospecting and Marketing Service

Find a reputable company that will provide this service for you – to insure that it gets done.  Do not attempt to buy postcards, get them printed, find and buy the list, and mail these cards yourself.  That is a sure way to fail.  Do what you do best – run your restaurant!  There are companies out there that “Do It All For You.” Month after month, on time.

Use a Birthday Postcard Program that allows you to do affordable campaigns each month.  Consistent efforts are better than blowing your budget all in one month.  Make sure your card is changeable from month to month, to allow you to tweak your mailings, using your redemptions as a guide.  Some companies allow you to be seasonal in your mailings.