Postcard Size

I have a personal interest in postcards. Probably more than most. I have a collection of about 2000 of them that I've built up over time and I've looked at them so often that I notice things like postcard size and postcard design when one arrives in the mail. Yes, even the advertising ones. Actually, especially the advertising ones.

What catches my attention is the variety that people either try to use to their advantage or avoid when they are marketing a product. Questions come up quickly when you are spending money on something like postcard marketing. People begin to wonder if an over-sized postcard is going to be more cost effective than a smaller postcard. While you may be paying more at the production and postage end of the equation for an over-sized postcard, the standard postcard size might be more likely to end up in the circular file and labeled as junk mail without ever being read by the recipient.

The first thing to consider is why, in a society connected by the Internet, one would even consider using a "snail mail" marketing campaign when the electronic realm of email and the World Wide Web is so much less expensive to use and so far reaching. Like it or not, the mail is still delivered to every address six days a week in the United States. Unlike email, there is no filtering option, as much as some people would like one. That means that if you send it, there is no opt out or spam filter to block your incoming advertisements.  It is also important to actually get something into the hands of the recipient that can actually be saved and seen over and over again.  Save the date postcards are a great example of this kind of "advertising" as it is applied to family and friends. That is pretty sweet for advertisers, but they do pay a premium price to get their message out.

This is where postcard size and printing comes in to play. Larger postcards are going to generally be more expensive to produce regardless of the printing company you decide to give your advertising business to. Standard size postcards will cost less to produce and also to mail out to your potential customers, however they are still pretty expensive compared to email. A closer look though, reveals that a standard size postcard is actually a decent bargain when compared to sending out sales letters. The first class rates for these two options show a thirty six percent difference per piece. While a letter will cost you forty four cents to mail, an advertisement of postcard size will only run you twenty eight cents. That can still add up quickly if you have a significant mailing list, but it is a business expense and from the perspective of comparison to traditional letters, the postcard presents itself quite well.

A more expensive option that is sometimes considered by advertisers is the postcard size magnet. These are popular among advertisers because many of them believe that the people who receive the magnets will perceive them as more valuable and even useful, and then stick them on their refrigerator. While this may be true, I do not personally know of any actual studies that have been conducted to test the theory (although it seems likely that this has been tested since there is quite a price hike for these postcard size magnets). I would also think that turning an advertisement into a postcard sized photo that acts as a magnet and a decoration might be a useful strategy for postcard marketing.

Actual mailing rates can be a bit confusing, but they do depend on postcard size. As of the time I am writing this, the United States Postal Service charges 28 cents postage for postcards with a maximum size of 6" long by 4 1/4" high. The USPS considers pieces of mail larger than this "large postcards" and charges 44 cents per piece. the same as a one ounce letter. There is of course a maximum size to these as well and then you start getting into different per piece rates. There are also minimums and maximums for the thickness when you are considering the size of your postcard. You may want to check out the postage calculator at the official USPS website to see all of the specifics of shipping. It can be a bit confusing to explain, but they have done a pretty good job of it.

The basics of postcard size are as follows: Postcards have a minimum height of three and a half inches and a maximum height of four and one fourth inches. Their length can not be less than five inches or greater than six inches, and their thickness must fall between 0.007 inch and 0.016 inch. Trust me, I know from experience that they will measure pieces of mail brought to them, especially if it is packed in bulk lots. There are also requirements related to aspect ratio that must be taken into consideration for postcard size.

So, if the question is does size matter when it comes to postcards? The answer would seem to be a definite yes as it relates to the rates you will be charged both by companies who produce the cards themselves and the USPS who will charge you for delivery. As for how the recipients of your mail will react to various sizes, it probably depends more on what information is actually included on the postcard itself than it does on the postcard size.
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