5. Empty Space is Your Friend

Don’t feel like you’ve got to fill every bit of white space on your card.  Try to give the reader’s eye some space to rest in.  Give ample margins and minimize the amount of text you put on your card.  Remember, as a rule of thumb that more space means a classier look.  Look at the way Apple uses empty space in all their ads for instance.  Also, avoid trying to say everything.  You really don’t need your statement of faith on there for instance.  Stay on message.

6. Cards Have a Long Tail

Marketing is really an investment and never a cost.  Beyond that, you must learn to look at direct mail as a long-term investment.  You will certainly see a little boost in your visitor numbers when the card hits if you design it correctly but they truth is that the real payoff of the card is more long-term.  We would routinely see people walking into our church carrying cards we mailed a year before.  What happens is that people put these cards on their refrigerators or whatever and then, later, when they experience some sort of crisis they decide they need to go to church and they remember your card.

With all this in mind, mail as often as you can afford to get this snowball effect working for you.  Remember, that if you design your card well it could literally pay off for years to come.

7. Don’t Bait and Switch

I once got a very slick looking card in the mail for a local church.  It showed a happy family in casual clothes having a great time.  I had never heard of the church so I went to their web site to check them out only to learn that they were a hard core KJV-only church.  They even had a section stressing that you should dress appropriately (coat and tie/dresses) on their site.  I couldn’t get over the disconnect between the card and the culture of the church.  I could only imagine how a visitor would have felt if they actually attended that church based on what was being communicated with their direct mail card.

Simply put, your card should match your church.  All of your marketing should clearly communicate who you really are and what people can really expect.  Always look at your card and ask yourself “Is this really us?”