Last week, I received a promotional postcard from a well-known author who was advertising a new novel. One side of the card featured a large picture of the book cover, while the back side listed typical marketing text about the plot and a couple of endorsements. Aside from the publication date and a website address, that was all that appeared.

After looking over this promotional piece, I thought to myself, "This postcard may have been adequate ten years ago, but we live in 2011. How could this author fail to take advantage of all the modern marketing options that are now available? That boring postcard could have been much more powerful." For example, the author could have sent the postcard with these features on it:

·         A QR code that linked to a compelling video for the book.

·         An enticing coupon with a 15 - 20% pre-order discount.

·         A private website link to a free resource that pertained to the book.

·         An invitation to get exclusive info on the author's Facebook or Twitter page.

I see this same problem with other direct mail promotions that fill my mailbox, such as store announcements, restaurant mailers, newsletters, magazines, etc. If you're going to promote your book or business, you can't just tell people that it exists. You must give them an attractive reason to purchase or take the next step in building a relationship with you. Some people think direct mail marketing is old-school, but there are plenty of new-school tools you can use to boost success.