Event promotion postcard

Before: Too many messages, too little space

Here’s a tough one – a “cold call” postcard. In this case, a 4″ x 6″ piece of card stock has to sell a free preview of a business networking course. It has to communicate the essence of the program concisely. But it also has to be compelling enough to convince invitees to take an hour out of their busy schedule to attend a free preview.

That’s a lot to ask of such a little card!

The biggest problem with the “before” card was its lack of focus. It tried to be all things to all people, but space didn’t allow that.

The result was a muddied message that, according to Training Director Janice Malone, didn’t pull attendees as well as it should have.

After: A postcard with a laser-focused message

The solution here is to focus on one message and one message only. I studied the training materials and consulted with Janice, and it seemed to me that the core message could be boiled down to this:

• Everybody likes referrals.
• Many people don’t know how to get them, and that’s frustrating.
• The program can teach anyone this essential business skill.

That’s it! Everything that doesn’t speak to one of those three points gets cut. And the result is a message that’s infinitely more “gettable.”

The client was delighted, and starting with the first mail-out, this card has gotten much more positive response!

“When I first took my ideas to Deborah, I personally had no idea what I wanted to convey to my customers and certainly didn’t know how to convey it. Deborah took time to understand my business needs and hot buttons, and then she wrote the most incredible copy imaginable to keep my customers focused on why they need to do business with me. I highly recommend Deborah’s services to anyone who needs to be ‘on point’ with their target market of customers.”
Janice Malone
Training Director
Sharper Focus Training

Lesson: Don’t take a scattershot approach to your message. If you aim at everything, you’ll hit nothing. But if you zero in on the right target, you’ll be sure to strike the bull’s-eye!