In this day and age when people communicate through email and messaging tools. Real mail sent through the post office has become more of a rarity. So getting a postcard is a big treat. Nothing beats the impact of receiving something tangible to stick on the fridge or pin to a corkboard in your office.
MailChimp understands the value of personalization via postcards in making an impact on recipients, which is why they introduced the option for their users to move beyond only sending out email campaigns and extend service to also send out printed postcards to their target audience. This means you can launch a postcard campaign that may get more attention than the now common digital methods. You can also use a postcard campaign to complement an existing email campaign, thereby reaching your audience through all channels.
The postcard feature is still in its early beta stage, so it’s continuously undergoing testing as its being developed for alpha release. Nevertheless, it’s stable and ready to use. It even has GDPR-friendly hosted signup forms containing address fields and other sections for collecting details from new contacts.
New MailChimp Postcards
Even though actual postcards are involved, the process of creating and maintaining campaigns is automated, so you’ll find it easy and convenient. It’s all done in the web interface. Also, with MailChimp’s built-in tools, you can design the postcards any way you want by customizing the images and text content, then choose your recipients by setting your budget and specifying your target audience that they are to go to. Addresses are required!
Postcards are 4.25” x 6” and printed on digital gloss paper stock, but MailChimp is testing paper made from recycled content and working with suppliers who offer sustainable alternatives. MailChimp’s goal is to get the final product certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). An FSC certification guarantees to your customers that the product comes from a responsibly managed forest and supply chain. Nowadays, people are rightfully concerned about whether or not the brands they patronize are environment-friendly, so the stamp of approval from FSC is important.
Collect Physical Addresses
Postcard creation starts with the signup forms which are automatically generated based on your MailChimp list. These forms come in a simple gray-and-white theme by default, but they’re customizable, so you can tweak their appearance to match your brand’s designs and colors, and tailor them to ask for details you need from your audience. You can find the guide on how to make the forms in MailChimp on their site. After you’re done with the forms, simply share the URL on your social media platforms to start collecting the mailing addresses you need.
Create a MailChimp Postcard
Next, it’s time to create the postcards themselves. There are 3 stages in the process: build, design, and translate.
1. Build stage
Add or remove form fields and formulate the message you want to send.
2. Design stage
Use custom fonts, texts, and images to make your postcards stand out.
3. Translate stage
Set a default language and set on auto-translate depending on where the postcard is heading. MailChimp offers a guide on how to make postcards if you’re ready to start on it.
Postcards are only available in some countries
You can send postcards only to those contacts who gave consent to receive direct mail from you. Use the GDPR option in your MailChimp list to get people to opt in to your direct mail list.
Law limits direct mail in some countries, so you can’t send postcards to all locations. Here’s the list of countries you can send to: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
This new MailChimp feature is set to change the way we do marketing. It’s going back to the traditional way, but with all the convenience of modern technology.
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