Postcard marketing has been around nearly as long as the Postal Service. Hand-printed, hand-cut postcards eventually gave way to mass-produced techniques. Dot matrix printers gave way to offset and digital machines. And every step of the way, postcards have become cheaper and faster to produce.

But even during all of this evolution, the end goal has been the same—to get the recipient to respond in some way. In the early days, this was much easier. People were more likely to respond to a postcard offer because (A) postcard marketing was new, (B) mail volumes were much less than today, (C) there was less advertising “noise” in general, and (D) the Internet and online shopping had yet to come onto the scene.

My how things have changed!

Today, mail volumes are much higher, consumers get inundated by marketing messages, and shoppers are more empowered by the Internet (and more selective as a result). As a result of all this, companies must be smarter about their marketing strategies. Instead of being resistant to changes in consumer behavior, companies must embrace those changes and modify their marketing in accordance with them.

But this should not dissuade you from using postcards in your marketing program. It should just convince you that you’ll need modern postcard strategies for modern times. Yahoo is a good example of this. Yahoo is one of the most web-savvy companies on the planet, but they still use direct mail postcards regularly. I know, because I get them all of the time, usually offering me their pay-per-click search marketing service.

So the Internet has not eliminated direct mail marketing. Not by any means. It has, however, changed the rules of the game. You can use this to your advantage, and I’ll teach you how as we progress through this book.

Here’s the bottom line. Modern times call for modern strategies — whether you’re using postcards or emails to get your message across.