A gift card is a restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a non-monetary gift. Highly popular, they rank as the second-most given gift by consumers in the United States (2006) and the most-wanted gift by women, and the third-most wanted by males. Gift cards have become increasingly popular as they relieve the donor of selecting a specific gift. In Canada, $1.8 billion were spent on gift cards and in the UK, it is estimated to reach 3 billion (GBP) for 2009 whereas in the United States, about $80 billion were paid for gift cards in 2006. The recipient of the gift card can use it at his or her discretion within the restrictions set by the issuing agency.

Direct Mail Postcard Marketing

When you want to get your message out to lots of prospects or customers, our high-quality, full-color direct mail postcards are fast and cost-effective. Use them to advertise your latest product, announce new hours, a new location, send birthday or anniversary greetings and so much more. The opportunities are endless with postcard marketing.

We Print, Address & Mail For You!

We know you’re busy and we help save you time and energy because we print, address and mail your postcards for you!

Here’s how you’ll save time and money:

• You save time – no waiting to get them shipped to you.
• You save money- no shipping costs to pay.
• Your postcards get delivered fast – we mail via first-class mail.

Your postcards will reach your desired destination in 8-10 days from the date you schedule your postcards. No fuss, no worries!

Why postcard marketing? Postcards are perfect for direct marketing.  Unlike their enveloped cousins, postcards arrive already ‘opened.’  Glossy 4-color printing reproduces photography beautifully.  Headlines and short copy are more memorable than letters.  They have long shelf lives on refrigerators and cubicle walls.  Use them for invitations, announcements, thank yous, couponing, gathering survey data and driving traffic to your business or website.  A postcard’s powerful impact combined with reduced postage rates make for a winning ROI.

Hunting for Great Mailing ListsWhen it comes to prospecting for new customers, consider using a specialty mailing list.  Three great sources are: 1) association membership rosters.  Many associations rent their mailing lists for industry-related marketing. 2) subscribers.   Almost all magazines and newsletters rent their readership files. These lists tend to be highly targeted, up-to-date and very responsive to direct mail.  3) tradeshow, conference and seminar attendees.   When matched up to your industry, these lists always perform. ValCards is a recognized, certified list broker and can assist you in obtaining these specialty mailing lists available only through the broker/dealer network.

Personalization Increases Response – Research proves that personalizing your direct mail can lift your response rates by 30-50%*.   Personalization can take the form of ‘speaking’ to the recipient by name, or referring to their company, or customizing the imagery and messaging to be as relevant as possible.  Plus, the combination of personalized postcards and a personalized web landing page (PURLs) can sometimes double response rates!Increase your response by taking advantage of ValCards powerful personalization offerings.*Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Study

Make your calls to action!  Make ’em loud and often.

With direct marketing it’s vitally important to invite response with calls to action (CTA’s). Call for action at least three times. Imply the CTA in the wording of the offer (e.g. Enter to Win); follow your body copy with a CTA (e.g. call or click Today!); and in the footer or ‘PS’ remind them to why they don’t want to forget to do it today.  Make your CTA’s large, bold and bright and use ample exclamation marks! Give your reader every possible vehicle to respond such as 800 #, local #, fax #, email, reply card, website or personal URL (PURL).

Sell with Benefits…Not Features

As you develop your postcard copy, it’s critically important to phrase the features of your product or service as benefits to the reader.  Features are benefits; it’s just a difference in perspective.  Simply put your mind to asking “who, what or why would a customer want this feature?”  The answer to your question becomes the benefit.  Be sure to surround every benefit with the words ‘you’ and ‘yours’ as often as possible.  Always think “what’s in it for them?”  And finally, consider positioning these benefits as 3-5 bullets sandwiched between the opening and closing text.