i prefer more postcards since it's much more colorful and attractive.
however, for confidential and thorough details then a letter will be much
better.

Postcards are generally better to use than letters.  Since people tend to get so much junk mail they will sort through their stack of mail quickly looking for those pieces they want to look at and throw out the rest and if it is from a business they don't know it tends to get tossed. With a postcard you have the opportunity to catch someone's attention if it is designed right and the message hits properly - they might then look at the content.  With a letter they'd have to open it to get the content but they only have to turn a postcard over to read it.  Postage is also less for postcards (depending on the size.) The key for a new business is to find someone who has a targeted mailing list, send out 3 mailings (repetition is important), get a design, message and offer that should work well, and have a way to track responses.  There's a lot more to each of those steps but those are probably the key ones to pay attention to.

Direct mail is still one of the most effective means of marketing. It allows you to target your product or service to a specific audience that would be interested in what you are selling. Letters and postcards are equally effective. The important thing to remember is to use a strong offer in your message. It will always increase your response rate to have a free offer and expiration date. This give the individual a reason to reply to your message and the expiration date will give them urgency to response, rather than setting it on the counter and forgetting about it. We actually specialize in creating targeted mailing lists at Marketing Lists Direct.

I go for postcards, and you can design it for cheap style you want to.

  We have effectively used post card campeigning to introduce ourselves to our potential clients. Post cards are definetly more effective. Some things to keep in mind though: 1. Always target your potential clients if you can, an effective and relevent mailing list is very important and the back bone of the strategy. 2. Get postcards in bulk so that you can save, but you will have to place stamps and write addresses, or use click2mail.com where you can upload the addresses and they do the rest. Make sure you get a better quality postcard. Happy mailing :-)

  We have effectively used post card campeigning to introduce ourselves to our potential clients. Post cards are definetly more effective. Some things to keep in mind though: 1. Always target your potential clients if you can, an effective and relevent mailing list is very important and the back bone of the strategy. 2. Get postcards in bulk so that you can save, but you will have to place stamps and write addresses, or use click2mail.com where you can upload the addresses and they do the rest. Make sure you get a better quality postcard. Happy mailing :-)

Jo Ellen, So happy to see you here! I would definitely not do a letter! Post cards are way more likely to get read because the recipient doesn't have to do anything but look at it. I never open mail that I can tell is a marketing letter, they all hit the "circular file"! Check out vistaprint.com, get on their mailing list and you will receive an email (seems like once a week!) with discounted offers. I recently got 250 standard sized postcards for free (plus shipping). 250 is not a lot, but it is a start! I am also on a email list for Next Day Flyers, more expensive than vistaprint, but I mention them because their blog is great and I have gotten some good info from it.

I think sending out post cards is better than letters because its more creative and unique. www.uprinting.com and www.bizcard.com have a nice collection of post cards as well as letterheads depending on which of those two you prefer to send out.