How to Send a Postcard for Your Business: Complete Guide

Why Send Postcards for Your Business?

In a world flooded with emails, social ads, and push notifications, physical mail stands out precisely because so few businesses still use it. Postcards, in particular, offer something no digital channel can replicate: guaranteed visibility. There is no envelope to open, no spam filter to bypass, and no algorithm deciding whether your message gets seen. When a postcard lands in someone's mailbox, they look at it. Every single time.

The data backs this up. Direct mail postcards achieve response rates between 2.7% and 4.4%, according to the Association of National Advertisers. Compare that to email marketing, which averages a 0.1% click-through rate, and the difference is staggering. But response rates only tell part of the story. Here is why postcards remain one of the most effective marketing channels for businesses of all sizes:

• High visibility: No envelope means your message, offer, and branding are seen instantly. Recipients engage with your postcard the moment they pick up their mail.
• Tangible and memorable: Physical mail triggers a stronger emotional response than digital ads. Studies show that people remember direct mail 70% more than digital advertising.
• Ideal for local businesses: Postcards let you target specific neighborhoods, ZIP codes, or carrier routes with surgical precision, making them perfect for restaurants, dental practices, real estate agents, home service providers, and any business serving a local area.
• Cuts through digital noise: The average person sees over 6,000 digital ads per day. Meanwhile, they receive just two or three pieces of marketing mail. Less competition means more attention on your message.
• Long shelf life: A postcard sits on a kitchen counter for an average of 17 days. No email or social ad gets that kind of sustained exposure.

The question is not whether postcards work. It is how you should send them. There are several distinct methods, each with different cost structures, time requirements, and levels of complexity. Let us walk through every option so you can choose the right one for your business.

Method 1: DIY at a Print Shop

The most hands-on approach is doing everything yourself. You design your postcard, print it at a local shop, address each one by hand (or with labels), stamp them, and drop them at the post office.

How It Works

1. Design your postcard using Canva, Adobe Express, or any design tool.
2. Save your design as a print-ready PDF (300 DPI, CMYK color mode, with bleed).
3. Bring your file to a print shop like Staples, FedEx Office, or a local printer. They will print on cardstock and cut to size.
4. Hand-write or print address labels for each recipient. Apply labels or write directly on the cards.
5. Purchase First-Class postage stamps and affix one to each postcard.
6. Drop the stamped, addressed postcards at your local post office.

Cost Breakdown

• Printing: $0.30 to $0.80 per card depending on paper stock, size, and quantity.
• Postage: $0.56 per card for USPS First-Class postcard rate (2026 rate).
• Total per piece: $0.86 to $1.36, plus your time.

Pros

• Full control over every detail of design and production.
• No minimums. Print as few as 10 or 20 postcards.
• Same-day turnaround if your local shop has availability.

Cons

• Extremely time-intensive. Addressing 200 postcards by hand takes hours.
• Quality varies depending on the print shop and your design skills.
• No bulk postage discounts. You pay full First-Class rate for every card.
• Difficult to scale beyond a few dozen pieces.

Best for: Very small batches of under 50 postcards, one-off campaigns, or personal thank-you cards to existing clients.

Method 2: USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)

EDDM is a program offered by the United States Postal Service that lets you send mail to every address on a selected carrier route without needing a mailing list. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach an entire neighborhood.

How It Works

1. Use the USPS EDDM Online Tool to select carrier routes near your business. You can filter by ZIP code, city, age range, household income, and household size.
2. Design and print your postcards to USPS EDDM specifications. The minimum size is 6.125 inches by 11 inches, and the maximum is 12 inches by 15 inches. Standard postcard sizes (like 4x6) are not eligible.
3. Bundle your postcards according to USPS requirements, with facing slips and rubber bands separating each carrier route.
4. Bring your bundled, labeled postcards to the post office for drop-off.
5. USPS delivers your postcard to every residential and/or business address on your selected routes.

Cost Breakdown

• Postage: $0.23 per piece with EDDM Retail. No mailing list purchase needed.
• Printing: $0.15 to $0.40 per piece depending on size and quantity (larger format required).
• Total per piece: $0.38 to $0.63, making it one of the cheapest methods.

Pros

• No mailing list required. You reach every address on the route.
• Cheapest postage rate available for direct mail.
• Excellent for saturation marketing in specific neighborhoods.
• Demographic filtering through the EDDM Online Tool.

Cons

• No individual targeting. Everyone on the route gets your postcard, whether they are a potential customer or not.
• Minimum of 200 pieces per drop and maximum of 5,000 per day per ZIP code.
• Manual bundling and preparation are required, which can be confusing the first time.
• Oversized format requirement increases printing costs versus standard postcards.

Best for: Local businesses like restaurants, dental offices, gyms, and retail stores that want blanket coverage in their surrounding neighborhoods.

Method 3: Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail

For Canadian businesses, Canada Post offers a service similar to EDDM called Neighbourhood Mail (formerly Unaddressed Admail). It lets you deliver unaddressed mail to every household on selected postal walks.

How It Works

1. Use Canada Post's Precision Targeter tool to select postal walks by geographic area, demographics, or lifestyle data.
2. Design and print your postcards to Canada Post specifications. Unlike EDDM, standard postcard sizes are accepted.
3. Prepare your mail in walk sequence order as specified by Canada Post. Each bundle must correspond to a specific postal walk.
4. Drop your prepared mail at a designated Canada Post facility.
5. Letter carriers deliver your postcard to every address on the selected walks.

Cost Breakdown

• Postage: $0.16 to $0.20 per piece for unaddressed Neighbourhood Mail.
• Printing: Similar to US pricing, $0.15 to $0.40 per piece.
• Total per piece: $0.31 to $0.60 CAD.

Pros

• No mailing list required, just like EDDM.
• Very affordable per-piece postage.
• Canada Post's Precision Targeter provides detailed demographic data for targeting.
• Standard postcard sizes are accepted, unlike EDDM.

Cons

• Walk sequence preparation can be complex and time-consuming.
• Specific bundling and labeling rules must be followed precisely.
• No individual targeting. Every address on the walk receives your mail.
• Delivery timelines can be longer than addressed mail (7 to 14 business days).

Best for: Canadian businesses wanting affordable, local saturation coverage without needing a mailing list.

Method 4: Online Print-and-Mail Services

If you have a finished design and a mailing list but do not want to handle printing, addressing, and mailing yourself, online print-and-mail services handle the fulfillment for you.

How It Works

1. Upload your print-ready postcard design (front and back) to the service.
2. Upload your mailing list as a CSV file with recipient names and addresses.
3. Choose your paper stock, finish, and postcard size.
4. The service prints your design, addresses each card, applies postage, and delivers everything to the postal system.
5. Postcards arrive in recipients' mailboxes within 5 to 10 business days.

Popular Services

• Vistaprint: Well-known for small business printing. Offers postcard mailing with templates and design tools.
• PostcardMania: Specializes in direct mail marketing with design services and list building add-ons.
• PrintingForLess: Professional-grade printing with variable data capabilities for personalized postcards.

Cost Breakdown

• All-in price: $0.50 to $2.00 per piece, including printing, addressing, and postage. Price varies based on volume, size, and service level.
• Volume discounts typically kick in at 500 or 1,000 pieces.

Pros

• No manual work after uploading your files.
• Professional print quality with consistent results.
• Volume discounts for larger orders.
• Some services offer variable data printing for personalization.

Cons

• You need to provide a finished, print-ready design.
• You need to supply your own mailing list.
• No help with targeting, audience selection, or campaign strategy.
• Turnaround times of 5 to 10 days for printing and mailing.

Best for: Businesses with existing designs and mailing lists who want to outsource the printing and fulfillment process.

Method 5: AI-Powered Platforms (Magic Mailer)

The newest evolution in postcard marketing removes virtually every barrier to entry. AI-powered platforms like Magic Mailer handle the entire process, from design to delivery, so you can launch a professional campaign in minutes rather than days or weeks. This is the most hands-off approach available, and it is where the industry is heading.

How It Works: The 5-Step Flow

Magic Mailer condenses what used to be a multi-vendor, multi-week process into five simple steps:

1. Describe your business and goals. Tell the platform what you do, who you serve, and what you want this campaign to achieve. Are you driving new leads? Promoting a seasonal offer? Announcing a grand opening? The AI uses this context to shape every decision that follows.
2. AI analyzes your brand. Provide your website URL and the platform automatically extracts your brand colors, logo, imagery style, tone of voice, and key selling points. No brand guidelines document needed. The AI builds a complete brand profile from your existing online presence.
3. Choose your target audience. Based on your business type and goals, the AI suggests ideal recipient profiles and geographic areas. You can refine the targeting by neighborhood, radius, business type, or demographics. The platform builds the mailing list for you, so there is no need to purchase a list separately.
4. Review AI-generated postcard designs. The platform creates complete postcard designs, front and back, using your brand identity. It writes the headline, body copy, and call to action. It selects imagery and layouts optimized for direct mail response rates. You review the designs and can request changes or approve as-is.
5. Approve and send. Once you approve the design and audience, the platform handles professional printing on premium cardstock, postage, and delivery. Your postcards are printed, addressed, and mailed without you touching a single piece of paper.

Cost

Magic Mailer starts at CA$1.48 per postcard with everything included: AI design, professional printing on premium cardstock, postage, and delivery. No hidden fees, no separate vendor invoices, and no per-list charges. What you see is what you pay.

Pros

• No design skills needed. AI creates professional, brand-consistent postcards from your website and business information.
• Built-in audience targeting. AI finds your ideal recipients rather than requiring you to buy or build a mailing list.
• All-in-one platform. Design, printing, postage, and delivery in a single dashboard. No juggling multiple vendors.
• Fast launch time. Go from idea to mailed postcards in minutes. No waiting for designers, printers, or mailing houses.
• Campaign tracking. Monitor your campaign status and delivery from one place.

Cons

• Less granular control over every design detail compared to hiring a graphic designer.
• Best suited for businesses that want speed and simplicity over pixel-perfect customization.

Best for: Businesses of all sizes who want professional postcard marketing results without the complexity of managing multiple vendors and processes. Especially valuable for small businesses and teams without dedicated marketing designers.

Which Method Is Right for You?

Choosing the right method depends on your budget, volume, timeline, design capabilities, and how targeted you need your campaign to be. Here is a side-by-side comparison to help you decide:

If you have plenty of time and just need a few postcards, DIY works fine. If you want to blanket a neighborhood at the lowest possible cost and do not mind manual preparation, EDDM is hard to beat on price. If you already have a polished design and mailing list, an online print-and-mail service removes the fulfillment hassle. And if you want to launch a professional campaign without worrying about design, lists, printing, or postage, an AI-powered platform like Magic Mailer handles the entire workflow.

Tips for Your First Postcard Campaign

Regardless of which method you choose, these proven strategies will help you get better results from your very first campaign:

Start Small and Test

Do not commit to 10,000 postcards on your first campaign. Start with 200 to 500 pieces so you can test your messaging, design, and audience without a huge financial commitment. Once you know what works, scale up with confidence.

Include a Clear Offer and Call to Action

Every postcard needs to answer two questions for the recipient: “What is in it for me?” and “What should I do next?” Include a specific offer, such as 20% off, a free consultation, or a BOGO deal. Then tell them exactly how to claim it: call this number, visit this URL, or scan this QR code.

Track Your Responses

If you cannot measure results, you cannot improve. Use at least one of these tracking methods:

• Unique phone number: Set up a dedicated phone number or extension that only appears on your postcards so you know exactly which calls came from the campaign.
• QR code: Link to a landing page with a UTM-tagged URL so you can track visits in Google Analytics.
• Unique landing page: Create a page like yourbusiness.com/welcome that is only promoted on the postcard.
• Promo code: A campaign-specific discount code that tracks redemptions.

Plan Multi-Touch Campaigns

A single postcard is good. A series of three is significantly better. Marketing research consistently shows that repetition drives action. Send your first card to introduce your offer, a second card one to two weeks later as a reminder, and a third card with added urgency or a deadline. Multi-touch campaigns can double or even triple your response rate compared to a single mailing.

Test Different Designs and Messages

Split your mailing list and send half one version and half another. Test different headlines, offers, images, or calls to action. Even small changes can produce meaningful differences in response rates. Track which version performs better, then use the winner for your next campaign. Over time, A/B testing builds a body of knowledge about what resonates with your specific audience.

Time Your Delivery

Think about when your postcard arrives. For restaurants, Tuesdays through Thursdays tend to work best, giving recipients time to plan a weekend visit. For home services, early spring and fall align with seasonal maintenance needs. For retail, time your arrival two to three days before a sale or event, giving people enough notice to plan but not so much that they forget.

Sending postcards for your business does not have to be complicated. Whether you choose the hands-on DIY approach, the saturation power of EDDM, the convenience of a print-and-mail service, or the speed and intelligence of an AI-powered platform, the most important step is simply getting started. Pick the method that matches your current resources, send your first batch, measure the results, and refine from there. The businesses that win with direct mail are the ones that treat it as an ongoing channel, not a one-time experiment.