It's All In The Cards -- Marketing With Cards

[George Marsh]

By George Marsh

Have you experienced any of the following scenarios?

You have been on the phone with a very interested prospect sharing an overview of your products and compensation plan. The prospect is not ready to commit to signing up. You thank them for the opportunity and ask when it would best to follow-up. What could you do at this point to keep them interested in your business?

There is a member of your organization who just achieved a new management level. You want to congratulate them on the accomplishment. What can you do to show them they are really appreciated?

You attend a local networking event and you have returned to your home office with a pocketful of business cards. You ask yourself how can I follow-up with them and make a lasting impression?

You want your name and company to be remembered. You don’t want your business card thrown in a drawer with several hundred other business cards or placed in a huge rolodex. How can you make your business card stand out from the rest?

There is a proven marketing method that will help in all the above scenarios. This marketing method is the utilization of personalized greeting cards. There has been a lot of research done by the greeting card industry (ie. Greeting Card Association (GCA)) on how greeting cards affect the recipient. Some of those facts are:

Nine out of 10 Americans say they look forward to receiving personal letters and greeting cards because cards allow them to keep in touch with friends and family and make them feel they are important to someone else.

A greeting card in the mailbox not only brightens our day, but can instantly connect us emotionally to friends and family. That special bright-colored or hand-written envelope stands out among our piles of bills and magazines and serves as a reminder that someone has taken the time from their day to reach out to us and show us they care. Whether because of an annual holiday or an unexpected gesture, greeting cards keep people connected, benefiting both the sender and receiver.

Greeting cards are not only for personal use and the above facts can also be applied to business scenarios with the same proven results.

Some more interesting business related facts:

-79% of all leads generated at a trade show aren’t followed up.

-Only 3% of our mail is personal…how do you feel when you walk out to the mail box and see a personal card addressed to you? Your clients/prospects are no different.

-Average company loses 50% of its customers every 5 years…Cost of replacing them can be 6-7 times more expensive.

-5% increase in customer loyalty will yield 20%-80% to our bottom line profit…Much wiser to spend money on customer retention than acquisition.

-For every month that we don’t contact or communicate with our client, we lose 10% of our influence.

-82% of all homeowners can’t tell you the name of their Realtor if they bought their home more than two years ago.

-Just saying thank you to our clients…particularly new clients even with only a phone call to do nothing more than saying thank you…(do not try to sell on this call) it will increase your business by 17%.

The above facts prove that a customer appreciation/customer follow-up system is extremely important to your business. The lack of a good system can and will be the slow death of your business.

We conclude using personalized greeting cards will improve your customer relationships. You could drive down to your local card store. Pick out a few cards, drive to the post office, purchase the stamps, write a personal note and sign the cards. Then address the envelopes, adhere the stamps and drop the cards in the outgoing mail. Sending personalized greeting cards even though proven to work can be also costly and time consuming.

Or is there a better way?

Send Out Cards, a Salt Lake City, UT based company, has created a unique internet based greeting card system. Their greeting cards are all on-line (over 6000 pre-designed). You simply log-in to the service via an internet browser. Then select a greeting card, enter your contact information, and write a personal message. You have the option to create your own custom card using a personal photograph or graphic. Using your own handwriting and signature as a selectable font is another unique feature. The personalized font and signature is an optional purchase. Click the send button and the company then prints a real card (NOT an eCard), places the card in an envelope (card and envelope are printed on recycled paper), adds a real stamp and then mails the card on your behalf. All of this is done at one third the price of the old fashioned way above.

Send Out Cards provides a WIN WIN solution for your business in a timely and cost effective manner and all from the comfort of your home or office any time of day or night.

George Marsh
Marketing Wiz
http://www.MktgWiz.com

George is a father, uncle, graphic artist, and marketing consultant who is always thinking outside of the box for his clients marketing strategies. His 20+ year old marketing company Wolfpaw Consulting operates on the belief “You Never Get A Second Chance For A First Impression” He is a Sr.Manager Independent Affiliate with Send Out Cards. You can send (2) Free cards with Send Out Cards by visiting http://www.SuccessWithCards.com

[Chris Tinney]

Hi George.
Great to see you here and great to see you spreading the good word and good feelings that come frome sending a greeting card!
Thanks for particpating here. You're appreciated.
:)
Chris

[Diane - MLMBlonde]

Totally awesome post George and right on. WIth the holidays coming up Cards are a great way to keep in touch with your clients and let them know you appreciate them.

IF you don't keep up with your own customers, your compeition will. It's great to have an easy waty to keep track.

Diane

[PatinKC]

George,

Thanks for pointing out all these great ways and reasons to keep in touch.

Pat

[Terry and Clarissa]

I love this concept. We have been so consumed with email campaigns that this idea never crossed our minds. Yeah, we're new.

[Anita Johnson]

Thanks for clearly stating why SOC is a great way to stay in touch and follow-up. I've never been very good at either until I was introduced to SOC.

I've been using SOC for the past 2 months to send encouraging cards to my son while he's going through Marine Corps boot camp, and just recently began using SOC as a marketing tool.

And with the Holidays upon us, I can't think of a better way to send out greetings during this time of year, something I never bothered to do before.

[Linda Cameron]

This is the best thing ever. I have had more fun sending cards, creating cards then anyone could ever imagine and I do this for a living. I am very blessed!!!

Linda

[Rashmi Mehta]

Great idea. Pls help me do a good job of the business card I need redesigning for in my facebook account.Can u suggest some free site to download some business card design templates.

regards

rashmi