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From grocery cards, to club member cards, to library cards, the average household belongs to 12 loyalty programs. Half of all Americans use some form of loyalty card every day- that means right now your customers and potential customers are using loyalty cards. Loyalty programs are marketing efforts that reward loyal buying behavior, which is behavior that benefits your business. Some examples include programs that allow you to receive a free item after a certain number of purchases or add up reward points for gifts.

It’s clear that people understand the value of membership to loyalty programs. 64% of Americans said their shopping decisions are affected by loyalty programs.

You can add value to your membership program with loyalty cards. Loyalty cards market you business to existing customers and to those who see the card. The cards provide useful data-gathering tools to help you enhance your marketing and customer service efforts.

If your company does not already offer a loyalty program, you should consider this as a marketing initiative for 2010.

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Often, small businesses write off plastic card mailer campaigns because they are more expensive than traditional post card campaigns, but as one restaurant owner did recently, taking the time to work through the ROI can help small business owners to see the value behind spending more on this type of marketing campaign up front.

In the case from above, the owner of a single location restaurant figured that she would be spending about $3,795.00 upfront, but based off her average ticket price and the average redemption rate of plastic card mailers, she saw the potential to profit at least $2,500.00 from the plastic card mailer marketing campaign.

How did she come up with that number?

She took an estimated total cost of the plastic card campaign at $3,795.00 (for roughly 5,000 card mailers) and assumed 7% of people would redeem them. She then figured if the 350 additional customers spent the restaurants average ticket price of $30 and her costs are roughly $8,000 including the marketing campaign, then she stood to profit $2,500.00.

While this process does take some time, it can make a big difference when any small business considers a marketing initiative. Because a plastic card mailer campaign that costs more up front can have the potential for a much higher profit than a cheaper traditional direct mail campaign, it is actually a great way for small businesses to use their marketing dollars.

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Plastic card mailers are sure to get the attention of recipients at any size, but there are many sizes and shapes, each with their own benefits. The “standard” sized plastic card mailer is 4” x 6”, the same size as a traditional postcard. These mailers are noticeable compared to other direct mail pieces, but a 5.5” x 8.5” sized card mailer is even more noticeable.

Another benefit of using a larger plastic card mailer is that there is more real estate to print additional information that might not all fit on a standard sized card mailer. Plus, if you’re using a removable credit card-sized card as a gift card or loyalty card, a 5.5” x 8.5” card mailer allows you to have the ability to fit 2 of those removable credit card-sized cards on your mail piece. Businesses that cater to an elderly clientele might also consider a larger piece simply because the print on these pieces can be larger.

There are also other sizes, such as a 3.75” x 7.875” card mailer. One way that I have seen this piece used is for businesses that want to mail or hand out card carriers with a credit card sized punch out card and two key tags. The example I am thinking of was a car dealership that uses this size piece for membership into their lost keys program which included a membership card and two key tags to place on your 2 sets of keys in case they are lost.

Within the standard sized 4” x 6” plastic card mailer there are also variations. Businesses can have one credit card-sized punch out card, up to 3 key tags, or up to 2 circle punch outs. By varying in what you send out on a 4” x 6” card mailer, you can surprise your potential customers and grab their attention.

At any size or shape, plastic card mailers are an extremely affective direct mail piece.

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Many companies have seen success in the form of dramatically increased sales using plastic card mailers as gift card direct mail pieces for their customers. One business recently used this idea, but creatively added the element of surprise to their mailer. This restaurant created a “mystery card” with an encoded magnetic strip. Recipients present the detachable credit card-sized card at the restaurant location to receive between $5.00 and $500.00 for use at the restaurant.

There are a few elements of plastic card mailers that helped make this marketing campaign successful. First, the magnetic strip allows the client to load varying dollar amounts on the cards. The restaurant can then track the spending on their POS system, assuring the security of the piece. The high quality of the plastic card mailer allows the piece to stand out among other mail pieces. Recipients take notice of this mailer and because it is easy to remove the credit card sized card from the all-in-one mailer and carry it in their wallet, they remember to use this offer. In the approximate 5 weeks that these mailers have been in-home, 7.44% have been redeemed.

With the rising popularity of Twitter, one question for businesses is “how do I get my customers to follow me?” One solution is to reach them through direct mail. Businesses can use a plastic card mailer to offer their customer’s an incentive for now; say a discount to their restaurant. Then, the business can invite their customers to follow the business on Twitter to receive additional discounts.

Both of these new uses of card mailers display the importance of having a varied marketing campaign. In the first example, the restaurant is combining direct mail and online marketing since they also invite their customer to visit their website on their card mailers. In the second example, we can see how direct mail and the use of Twitter can be combined for an effective marketing campaign.

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