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The Perfect Direct-Mail Postcard, Part IV: Printing Posted: 06 Aug 2015 05:23 AM PDT If you want a postcard that showcases the quality of your brand at an ROI-friendly price point, you need to invest in premium postcard printing at discount prices. This installment in our Perfect Postcard series reveals postcard printing best practices; see parts one through three to learn more about postcard planning, copywriting, and design. Postcard paper stock The paper stock you select for your postcards says a lot about your brand and can influence customer purchasing decisions. Thick, heavy paper stocks with pleasing textures are proven to lend a favorable impression of your business. Any of the following paper stocks are great choices for high-quality postcards: 16 point C2S gloss cover: thick, durable, with a glossy finish on both sides 15 point velvet: a soft-touch coating gives this paper stock an air of elegance 15-point velvet: velvet, without the soft-touch, offers a semi-matte finish 14-point C2S or C1S gloss cover stock: thick and glossy on both sides or just one (perfect if you want customers to be able to write on the back) 13-point matte cover: a matte finish makes your postcards seem sophisticated 13-point 100% recycled matte: perfect for eco-friendly postcard printing Ultra postcard stock: triple-thick with two outer layers and an interior core paper that gives your postcards a band of color around the outside Which paper stock should you choose for your postcards? Each of the listed options is good, so pick the one that best represents your brand and the message you're delivering. Bold, adventurous brands might favor thicker, glossy stocks; while elegant, sophisticated brands might prefer velvet or matte stocks. Ultra postcard stock makes a powerful brand statement, while recycled matte paper stock illustrates your green agenda. Postcard inks Traditionally, postcards are printed with petroleum-based inks. They look great, but they're not eco-friendly as they release a lot of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the drying process. Soy-based inks, or simply soy inks, are better alternatives. Not only do soy inks emit far fewer VOCs (which makes them eco-friendly), they're capable of producing more vibrant colors than petroleum inks. Thus, soy inks allow you to print beautiful, eco-friendly postcards without sacrificing quality. Size and finishing What size should your postcards be? This is a question you'll answer during the design phase, but it has enormous impact on whether your postcards are noticed by prospective customers. Standard 4-in. by 6-in. postcards are good, but bigger is always better. You can print postcards sized up to 6-in. by 11-in. to practically guarantee they won't be ignored. You should also consider finishing your postcards with a high-gloss UV coating, which adds a brilliant, premium-quality sheen to your designs. UV coating also makes your postcards thicker and offers protection against scratching and dulling when it rubs against other mail. In short, UV coating allows you to deliver the best possible presentation, which in turn increases the chances your postcard will be read and responded to. Quantity and discounts When it comes to direct-mail postcard marketing, ROI is the name of the game. You can maximize your ROI by printing brilliant postcards that get noticed, and also by printing in volume. The more postcards you print at one time, the lower your cost-per-piece, and thus the higher your ROI. This isn't to say you should print more postcards than you need, but you should definitely print as many postcards as you know you'll use in a single run. Finally, keep an eye out for postcard printing discounts – which can significantly increase your return on investment. PsPrint, for example, routinely offers discount postcard printing at rates up to 60 percent off. Print premium postcards at steep discounts now! The post The Perfect Direct-Mail Postcard, Part IV: Printing appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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25 New Photoshop Freebies for August 2015 Posted: 04 Aug 2015 05:06 AM PDT Photoshop actions, text effects, textures, brushes, and PSD templates – they're all here in this month's roundup of the latest and greatest Photoshop freebies on the web! Be sure to double-check licenses if you intend to use these freebies for commercial work, and take a moment to thank the designers behind them; after all, their hard work is your gain. Without further ado, here are 25 new Photoshop freebies you can download today. 1. Rising flames Photoshop brush set on Creative Nerds   2. Vintage logos and badges insignias kit on Design Kioski   3. Apple watch mockups on Freebiesbug   4. Moss Potter charcoal Photoshop brush on Grut Brushes   5. Graffiti Photoshop text style on PSD Dude   6. Juice text PSD on Behance   7. Three free flare brushes on Morgan Burks   8. Soapbox 3D action set on PSD Covers   9. CandyBones 3D Photoshop object on Freebiefy   10. Comic book effect Photoshop action on PSD Freebies   11. Free Photoshop actions on Greater Than Gatsby   12. Subtle grunge textures on Lost and Taken   13. Purple text effect on This Looks Great   14. Free DJ flyer PSD template on Free PSD Flyer   15. 36 flat web icons on Fusion Plate   16. Filters PSD freebie on Freebbble   17. The Print Factory texture and brush set on Pixel Buddha   18. Free walking dead brushes on FBrushes   19. Free poly bag mockup PSD on Design Bolts   20. Soft gray text effect on PSD Suckers   21. Free cosmos icon set on Graphics Bay   22. Free newsletter PSD template on GraphBerry   23. Postcard and envelope showcase mockup on PixsHub   24. Free business card mockup PSD on GraphicsFuel   25. Elegant medical trifold brochure PSD on Elegant Flyers   Once you've crafted your amazing design using these Photoshop freebies, be sure to head over to PsPrint to get premium discount printing! The post 25 New Photoshop Freebies for August 2015 appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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What Is 100% Post-Consumer Waste Paper Stock (and why should you print on it)? Posted: 03 Aug 2015 05:08 AM PDT You want to be as eco-friendly as possible with your print marketing materials, but if you're not printing on paper stock comprised from 100 percent post-consumer waste then you're missing an easy opportunity to go green. What is 100 percent post-consumer waste paper stock, and why should you print on it? One-hundred percent post-consumer waste is the eco-friendliest paper stock. The term itself refers to a type of recycled paper that's made entirely from post-consumer waste, which is waste that people have actually used and recycled instead of discarding to landfills. Post-consumer waste could be any paper product: milk cartons, books, junk mail, magazines, and more. Post-consumer waste is different from pre-consumer waste, which is waste that has never been sold to consumers. Think paper clippings that fall on factory floors, then are reused by the same factory to create more products. Post-consumer waste is considered more eco-friendly than pre-consumer waste. That's because: Factories always look for ways to get the most out of materials, so they're unlikely to send any recyclable materials to landfills (in fact, many don't consumer pre-consumer waste to be recycled material at all) Consumers are far more likely to send recyclable materials to landfills; when post-consumer waste is reclaimed for recycling, it never sees the landfill The "100 percent" refers to the amount of post-consumer waste in a given paper stock; in this case, paper stock is entirely made from post-consumer waste. If your paper stock isn't completely made from post-consumer waste, it likely also contains non-recycled material. That's why 100 percent post-consumer waste paper stock is the eco-friendliest choice for business cards, flyers, postcards, and other marketing materials. You don't have to sacrifice quality to print powerful marketing tools on 100 percent post-consumer waste paper stock – it looks just as good as non-recycled paper. Couple it with eco-friendly soy inks (which produce more vibrant colors than petroleum inks), and you can market your business and still make a positive impact on the environment. Print eco-friendly marketing materials at discount prices today! The post What Is 100% Post-Consumer Waste Paper Stock (and why should you print on it)? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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Is Your Paper Stock Really Recycled? Posted: 30 Jul 2015 05:07 AM PDT You want to print eco-friendly marketing materials, but it's easy to be confused by all the "recycled" labels that can be applied to paper stocks. Some include "recycled content," some are made from recycled "pre-consumer waste," and still others are made from recycled "post-consumer waste." If your business has a green agenda, it's important to make sure your paper stock is really recycled. So, which type of paper stock should you print on? Is your paper stock really recycled? In short, yes, if your paper stock carries the "recycled" label it's made from recycled paper. As you might have guessed, however, there's more to it than that. In order to maximize your eco-friendly impact, you need to compare two elements of recycled paper: the content of recycled material, and the type of recycled material. Content of recycled material Regardless whether it's labeled with recycled content, pre-consumer waste, or post-consumer waste, the actual content of recycled material in your paper stock plays a major role in its eco-friendly status. Paper comprised of 50 percent recycled material, for example, is also comprised of 50 percent non-recycled material. The closer you get to 100 percent recycled paper stock, the more eco-friendly your printing. Type of recycled material As mentioned, there are three main types of recycled material: 1. Pre-consumer waste: material that is never used by consumers before being recycled; for example, paper trimmings that fall on factory floors 2. Post-consumer waste: material that was used by consumers; for example, newspapers, magazines, even old flyers and business cards 3. Recycled content: this label simply means a product has some recycled content in it, which could be a combination of both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste Which recycled paper stock is best? Though all recycled paper stocks are better than non-recycled paper stocks, the most eco-friendly paper stock is comprised of 100 percent post-consumer waste. Post-consumer waste is considered better for the environment than pre-consumer waste because it's more likely to make its way to landfills. That's because consumers are more likely to throw things away, while manufacturers are always looking for ways to increase revenues by reusing otherwise-discarded materials (in fact, some don't even consider pre-consumer waste to be recycled). If you want to print eco-friendly marketing materials, the best option is to print on paper stock made from 100 percent post-consumer waste. PsPrint offers premium-quality 13 point matte cover stock made from 100 percent post-consumer waste for business cards, flyers, brochures, and more – go green with print marketing! The post Is Your Paper Stock Really Recycled? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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Should You Put A QR Code On Your Postcard? Posted: 28 Jul 2015 05:04 AM PDT Much debate surrounds whether QR codes are powerful marketing tools or a dying concept. Here, we examine the case for and against QR codes to help you determine whether you should put a QR code on your postcard. The case for QR codes QR codes can connect customers to additional content, help customers follow your brand, and lead customers to online stores and apps to make purchases. Many companies have successfully used QR codes to interact with customers. Taco Bell, for example, generated nearly a quarter-million QR code scans via an ESPN ad campaign; and Snapchat's "Snaptags" are essentially QR codes that make it easy for customers to follow brands on the company's platform. Some celebrities plan to use Snaptags to connect with fans, and the fact that Snapchat invested more than $50 million in the project suggests that QR codes are evolving, not dying. If major corporations believe in them, why not small businesses? The case against QR codes The problem with QR codes is and has always been their implementation. First, customers need special QR code reader apps to use them. Using such apps can be a frustrating experience for some customers – by the time they download and install the app (or find it on their phone) and complete a successful scan, they could have just typed in a simple, short web address. Such a cumbersome process makes QR codes painful to use. If smartphones featured built-in camera QR code readers, this problem would be mostly resolved; however, that's not the case and some believe that means QR codes aren't relevant to customers and are on their way out. QR codes have great intent, but poor execution. Should you put a QR code on your postcard? We could cite numerous statistics regarding QR code efficacy and audience demographics, but those won't tell you whether your own postcard QR code could be successful. The only way to know if you should put a QR code on your postcard is to try it. My recommendation is to give QR codes a try. Here's how: develop a compelling call to action – what benefit will your customers receive by scanning your QR code? If there's no incentive, they won't scan use a QR code generator with tracking features, then place in a prominent spot on your postcard along with your compelling call to action track your QR code scans, response, and conversions to see how well your QR code performs If your QR code yields positive results, then you know putting QR codes on postcards can work for your business. If you do not get many scans, do not give up yet – first, try tweaking your call to action and/or try your QR code on a different postcard to see if other components impacted your results. If your QR code continually fails, you'll know not to invest your time and money in them. Postcards with QR codes can be powerful marketing tools for connecting with your audience; they're cost-effective and simple to deploy, so it's worth testing whether they'll work for you. Be sure to maximize your ROI with discount postcard printing. photo credit: Join us for the Parks Web 2.0 Workshop (September 2011) via photopin (license) The post Should You Put A QR Code On Your Postcard? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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Why Do Ugly Postcards Work? Posted: 27 Jul 2015 05:51 AM PDT Ever get a marketing postcard that was nothing but big black letters on a yellow background? How about a postcard featuring Courier font and an obviously-stock photo? Ever wonder why companies would invest in such an ugly postcard marketing campaign? The answer is simple: ugly postcards work. But why? Think about the role design plays in postcard marketing. In order, postcard design must: command attention create desire visually guide customers to your call to action Notably absent from this list is "be beautiful." Postcards are not paintings. They are not art. They are marketing tools. Ugly postcards easily satisfy all three design purposes. They command attention because they're unique and different. Enormous black letters on a yellow background provides stark contrast, is easy to read, and efficiently delivers a marketing message. That marketing message creates desire, and if all that's left is a call to action customers' eyes will be drawn to it. Should you print ugly postcards? Ugly postcards aren't for everyone; it's important to consider your audience. For some industries, an ugly postcard might make companies look untrustworthy. In others – think museums, art galleries, painters, and interior decorators – an ugly postcard would not represent the product or service being sold. You don't want to risk damaging your brand image if your audience will reject ugly postcards. Scams might come to mind when you think about ugly postcards, especially weight loss-related "miracle pills" and similar direct mailers. However, there are legitimate reasons for printing ugly postcards. I once worked on a small town's school levy campaign in which we were told to make sure the marketing materials didn't look professional. This, despite the fact that a talented design firm volunteered for the campaign. The reason? We didn't want it to appear as though we had spent taxpayers' money on professional design – our audience would have considered that to be a waste of money at a time when we were asking them to agree to give the school system more of their paychecks. While I can't say definitively this was the difference between success and failure for what was a controversial campaign, I can say this: the levy passed. If you're not sure how your audience would respond to ugly postcards, you can try A/B testing to see how they perform. Create an ugly version of your best-performing postcard and send it  to a small segment of your mailing list. Send the original to an equally-sized segment. Compare response rate and ROI for each; if the ugly version outperforms your control, you should consider sending it to your larger list. Ugly postcards are intentional Keep in mind I'm not trying to minimize the impact design has on postcard marketing success; rather, I'm saying postcard design is critical to success. Ugly postcards should be intentionally designed that way by a professional designer who understands direct-mail marketing, not someone who haphazardly throws something together with cheap design software. What do you think? Do ugly postcards have a place in direct-mail marketing? Let us know in the comments! And, if you're ready to market your business – either with ugly or beautiful postcards – you can get discount postcard printing here. The post Why Do Ugly Postcards Work? appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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3 Deadly Postcard Marketing Mistakes Posted: 23 Jul 2015 05:20 AM PDT Direct-mail postcard marketing is one of the most effective ways you can market your business – provided you do it right. The success of your postcard marketing campaigns is dependent not only on adhering to proven best practices, but also avoiding mistakes that can doom your postcards before you mail them. The following lists three deadly postcard mistakes and details how you can avoid them to launch a postcard campaign primed for success. 1. Failure to define goals It's important to define specific goals for your postcard marketing campaigns at the beginning of the planning phase. The more detailed your goals, the better you'll be able to measure your results. A good postcard campaign goal is not to "make more money" or simply to "have a positive ROI." Better examples include: yield 50 percent return on investment generate 100 qualified leads generate 100 direct sales increase online sales by 10 percent introduce our business to 10,000 potential customers These aren't the only types of goals you can set, but they give you an idea of the type of specificity you're after. In fact, your goals can be further defined; for example, a mechanic might send a postcard with an oil change coupon with a goal to "sell 100 additional oil changes within 30 days." Your campaign goals will help you make important decisions during the planning and postcard production process, and they'll dictate whether your postcards are successful. After all, you need to set goals in order to know whether you've met them. Pixabay 2. Failure to target Missing your audience is a common reason for postcard campaign failure. It's absolutely critical to send your postcards to a well-targeted audience comprised of likely buyers. Resist the temptation to send your postcards to as many people as possible, as doing so will waste your investment. For example, let's say our mechanic wants to send his oil change coupon postcard campaign. To keep things simple, let's say he has two options: Option 1: Send 5,000  postcards to people who live within five miles of his garage. Option 2: Send 20,000 postcards to people who live within 20 miles of his garage. If he picks option two, chances are he'll waste a lot of his investment since many people won't see the value of driving 15 to 20 miles for an oil change, even at a reduced price, when there are several closer mechanics they can use (and who likely send out similar offers). Option one is the better choice, because the people who live the closest to the mechanic are the most likely customers. For another example, let's say a fashion company wants to sell high-end bags to women. Their postcards should not only be sent to women, but probably women of a certain age in a certain income bracket. Again, this is oversimplifying; when you set up your mailing list, you can refine your audience by multiple demographics including: age gender location income marital status parenthood status buying habits A good way to create your mailing list is to define customer profiles. Who are your best customers? What types of customers buy the product or service your postcard is going to promote? Compare as many demographics as you know (or can find out) to develop your customer profiles, then use those profiles to build your mailing lists. A well-targeted mailing list will vastly increase your chances of postcard marketing success. Pixabay 3. Failure to test The postcard testing phase is often skipped by marketers, and it's almost certain they're losing money every time they do so. If you want to earn the highest-possible ROI for your postcards, you need to conduct A/B testing in order to generate the greatest response. A/B testing means you create two different versions of your postcard and send it to small segments of your mailing list. Track response rates and ultimate sales and compare which performs better. That's the version you send to the larger list. Your postcards don't have to be drastically different, either; sometimes a simple one-word change in your headline can dramatically improve results. Many companies employ a "control" postcard they know yields a predictable ROI, then continually test new versions against it. If one reliably outperforms the control, it becomes the new control and others are tested against it in an effort to continually improve. Printing two different versions of your postcards costs a little more in the beginning, but it can yield huge dividends in the end. A one-percent increase in response rate could make an enormous impact on your ultimate profits, so it's easily worth A/B testing to maximize postcard performance. Print discount postcards now! »crosslinked« The post 3 Deadly Postcard Marketing Mistakes appeared first on PsPrint Blog.

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