Nobody knows when it comes to the need to write a postcard. It is necessary to learn how to write one. This article will help you to learn how to write a postcard.
Although we live in an era of the fastest technology, you still need to know how to write a postcard. Cards with messages have been created and posted by individuals since the beginning of the postal services. The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on a card made by the writer. The writer posted the card, which bears a black penny stamp, to himself in 1840. You can sometimes send a postcard for a lower fee than a letter. Stamp collectors differentiate between postcards and postal cards. Postcards require a postage stamp, whereas the postal card has the postage pre-printed on them.
A postcard is usually printed and sold by a private company, organization, or individual, whereas the relevant postal authority issues a postal card, often with pre-printed postage. Postcards became very popular as an easy and quick way for individuals to communicate. To further know the details on how to write a postcard, go through this article.
What is a postcard?
A postcard is a card for transmitting a message by post without an envelope, commonly having a photograph or other illustration on one side. It is a personal way to send a message via postcard made from a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard. While mailing, it’s common to write a brief note on one side along with the delivery address while the opposing side dawns a stunning image. A lot of postcards are sent when people travel and want to share a local view without writing a page-long letter.
Therefore, they are a quick and efficient way to get a message across and don’t require an envelope to mail them, making them unique to the mailing system. Moreover, Collecting picture postcards was a trendy hobby in the first decade of the 20th century. Societies and journal marketing with postcards existed in many countries, a trend that continued into the 21st century. The postcard remains an essential item of the stationery trade.
Postcards are transmitted and accepted as a form of mail worldwide. In many school systems, the idea of pen pals to teach students how to write their addresses and use local mail systems is encouraged. Postcards are incredibly cheap to send and are a great way to share a thought. They offer a quote or moment to encourage or spread the word about an upcoming event. In some places, it is possible to send postcards for a lower fee than letters.
There is a difference between a postcard and a letter; you don’t have to open a postcard. The message is right there on the front, so the recipient can instantly see what it offers. Letters are concealed in an envelope.
How to write a postcard?
Sending postcards to your friends, family, or loved ones during travel is a great way to show your affection and a way to inform people about your current location. Choosing a postcard with the right image and understanding the typical layout of postcards will ensure that your note reaches the right person. To write a postcard, follow these step-by-step tips to get started:
Format your postcard
To write an excellent postcard, pick a postcard that represents you or your travels. The best part about writing a postcard is selecting the best postcard photo. You can easily find postcards at any grocery store, souvenir store, or maybe on the streets of popular tourist areas. If you are traveling, take a postcard with a photograph of your favorite place so far on your trip. Take a postcard and flip it over. You will see a vertical line down the middle of the postcard, with blank space on the left and a lined area on the right. Write your preferred recipient’s address on the lined space to the right of the line. This contains their full name, address, area code, state, and country.
Keep in mind to not write on the front of the postcard, as the postal service won’t look for information on the front. Make your writing as clear and readable as possible. Use a ballpoint pen rather than a felt tip pen because the postcard is made of thin paper, so it is less likely it will get wet. Purchase stamps from the country you are in from banks, post offices, or gas stations. If you are abroad and need a stamp from your home country, you can easily order them online. Place the stamp within the traced box on the top right of the postcard. Stamps can be efficiently found at any post office.
Put the stamp on the back of the postcard in the top-right corner. Putting it anywhere else increases the possibility of the card getting lost. Don’t forget to mention the date as it is an excellent way to reminiscence later on in life when revisiting your postcard. Under or above the date, you can also write the city or exact place you are writing from. You can write the date in this way:
Jun 5, 2021
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Greeting your recipient is always great, making them feel special and appreciated. In addition, it will give the postcard a heartfelt feel. Write the greeting on the top left of the back side of the postcard and leave room for the note below it. If you want to be formal, write: “Dear, (name).” If you want to be friendly, you can start with “Hello, (name).” Then write your message on the left side as postcards are exciting because of the restrictions on your writing. The writing must be short and sweet.
While writing on the left side of the postcard, be certain to give yourself enough space and plan what you are going to write. After writing your message, do not forget to also sign your name on the bottom left of the postcard.
Write the postcard
It’s a bit challenging to recount your entire trip. So you can choose your favorite day or a favorite memory to ensure that you don’t run out of space. Tell the recipient what you loved the most about your trip and what lovely memory made you stand out to you. Add as many details as possible but be conscious about the room you have. It’s a good idea to tell the person that you have been thinking about them, or you can say, “I wish you were here with me.” These thoughts will make the other person feel special and valued.
You could add some weather details if it rained or snowed. Giving your recipient an idea of exciting weather makes them closer to you. Don’t be detailed; just write, “it is so cold, and I needed two coats.” Besides that, you can write about your favorite trip meal, like what you ordered and what it tastes like. This is how you can give them a vivid image of your journey and the meal that the location is famous for and allow them to relate to your experiences in a new way.
In the end, mention your plans for traveling to a new location or heading back home soon. Letting the recipient know your goals is always a good thing to do in a postcard. Make a brief itinerary of the rest of your trip or at least a loose structure. If you plan to head home soon, end the card by saying, “I can’t wait to see you.”
Make the postcard error-free
Avoid writing something too personal because the back of the card is exposed. Anyone who picks up your postcard can see what you have written. Hene, avoid writing the stuff you don’t like to tell a stranger, such as personal bank information, intimate secrets, or anything that could be used to steal your identity. If you need to write something personal, consider writing a letter for that purpose. Do not allow your writing to cross over to the right side of the postcard. Keeping the writing on the left side of the postcard ensures that the postcard makes it to its destination.
Creeping into the address part could make the address part of the postcard could make the address difficult to read and could throw off the post office. If you wish to write too much, consider sending a letter in addition to the postcard. It’s better to keep the message short on the card and longer on the letter.
Mention return address
Add a return address if you stay at a place for a while. The best place to write the return address is on the top left of the postcard. If you plan to be traveling within the month of sending a postcard, write the return address of your next destination. Return addresses are adequate if you know exactly where you will be over time. If you are moving a lot during your trip, skip the return address.
Make sure to write the postcard in clear and good handwriting. Sloppy or illegible handwriting may result in the post office sending your postcard to the wrong place or discarding it because of bad writing. If you are worried about your handwriting, practice writing the address on scrap paper before transcribing it to the postcard. Make sure to write legibly for both the recipient address and return addresses.
Postcard writing examples
Keep in mind!
- Use abbreviations (I’m, you’re, how’s)
- Postcards are written in an informal style. Start and finish your postcard using conversational phrases. (Hi John, Love,)
Example 1
You are attending a summer course at an English academy in Dublin. Write a postcard to your Russian friend John. In your postcard, you should:
- Explain where you are
- Describe a few typical activities you do every day
- Write what you like the most about the course
Dear John,
I’m here in Dublin attending a summer language course.
I’m swamped every day. We have five language classes every day. There are also evening activities; for instance, Irish dancing. The weather’s lovely here. It’s raining most of the time.
I’m relishing the course because there are so many people from all over the world!
How about your holiday? I hope you are having a marvelous time, too.
Love,
Isabella
Example 2
On the right side of the postcard, write in this manner:
Hi Enrique,
How are you? I hope you are well. We are in Cornwall on holiday. The weather is excellent here. Can we come and see you in October? Please write or phone and inform us.
Love from Isabella
Example 3
Hi Peter,
We’re having a great holiday in Scotland. We’re staying in a hotel in the center of Edinburgh. It’s got a swimming pool, but it’s too freezing to swim! There are lots of things to do. The people are amiable, but sometimes I can’t understand them.
Last week we visited LochNess, but we didn’t see the monster! Scotland is excellent, but the weather is awful. It’s freezing and windy, and it rains every day!
Are you having a wonderful holiday at the beach?
See you soon
Jennifer x
What to write on a postcard to students?
If you want to write postcards for your students, you can write them little notes and stick them on their desks before they arrive at school. It will be great to see your students read their positive postcards and see the smile spread across their faces. Here are some examples of what you can write inside for this ground:
- Thank you for working so hard on Friday! If your dad didn’t inform you, I called him to compliment you.
- You have made so many gains this year! Your attitude towards studies is better, you have less late work, and you are happy so often. I enjoy working with you! It’s the last trimester so keep working hard!
- We are in the last trimester of school! YAY! Please do your best to keep up with your work and study. When you need any help, feel free to ask!!
- You should be so proud of yourself! You are a hard-working student, and you always do your best! I enjoy working with you and watching you learn new things.
- You should be so proud of yourself! You are working hard, doing your best, and always getting things handed and accomplished on time. I’m glad you got so much done on Wednesday. Nice work!
- Thank you for working so hard on Monday. How did it feel to get so many late papers completed? Great, I hope! Remember to keep working hard and always do your best!
- You should be very proud of yourself. You are working hard and getting tasks turned in on time. This last trimester, make sure you get work handed in correctly and keep working hard!
- Thank you for always being such a great student to work with! You make coming to school every day FUN! Keep working hard and read, and you will fly through the rest of the school year.
- You should be proud of your behavior on Monday. You acted appropriately and got so much work done. Way to go!! Keep up all the great work.
- I know school can be challenging for you at times, but you do a great job of keeping a positive attitude. It’s so exciting that you are keeping up on your ABC books for Science. You should be very proud of yourself! Keep working hard!!
What can be sent as a postcard?
A postcard to be ready for mailing, the postcard must be at the first-class mail postcard price and be rectangular and at least 3-½ inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inches thick. A postcard should not be more than 4-¼ inches high x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick. If your postcard does not satisfy these dimensions, the postal service thinks it is a letter, and letter-size postage is charged. With USPS marketing mail, there is slightly more flexibility. There is no lower cost for postcards, so you don’t have to worry about your postcard being too big because you are paying letter prices anyway. But make sure your postcard is no larger than 6-⅛” x 11-½” x ¼” thick.
Mailpieces are bigger than any of those dimensions, and you will have to pay large envelope postage prices. Some mailers want to stick stickers, magnets, or other items to their postcards. Regardless, an attachment can disqualify the mailpiece for mailing at the first-class mail postcard price or even make it nonmailable. The rules about attachments from postcards to postcards are restrictive.
Pros and cons of mailing postcards
It is absolutely out of the question that postcards don’t have an important place in the world of direct mail. Everyone loves postcards for easy-to-digest offers like real estate offers or swimming pool services. In a nutshell, they perform better for specific businesses and offers than others. Here are a few pros and cons of postcards mentioned below:
Pros
- Postcards are highly scannable
- They have an immediate impact, like mini billboards in the mail. This means they are perfect for particular products and services.
- They are fast reads that can be primarily read in their entirety in less than two or three minutes.
- Postage for postcards may cost less than other designs if the postcards meet USPS standards.
- They are faster, more manageable, and more affordable to produce than other direct mail formats. They can be mailed quickly and within low budgets.
- They are easily retained and passed along.
- They are fantastic to use as a part of a direct marketing campaign and rotate into the schedule.
- Postcards work well with USPS informed delivery.
Cons
- Since postcards are envelope free, they appear less personal than mailings inserted into envelopes.
- They are immediately seen as advertising. There is no easy way to create anticipation.
- Postcards have limited space to tell a story. This is specifically tough on non-profits looking to create a compelling story.
- They have fewer opportunities to make tactile involvement with your message.
- Postcards have a shorter shelf life. Therefore, they have a quicker response curve than envelope mailings.
- They are not appropriate for every brand, product, or offer.
Is it good to use postcards?
Postcards are great to use as they are very cost-effective. It’s an excellent way for business and marketing. Consider mailing postcards through a direct mail marketing agent to save money. At modern postcard, you can get a postal analytics service, which identifies strategies for the fastest and deepest postage discounts for your mailing campaign. Tracking the response of a postcard mailing is easy. Most marketers will use a reliable phone number for each direct mail campaign.
If the goal is to get customers to visit a website rather than call in, then a dedicated landing page with a unique URL is the way to go. There are other ways to track response, such as using promo codes or asking the customer to mail or bring in a coupon to redeem a particular offer or discount. Postcards are a reasonable way to promote your brand awareness. Businesses constantly use postcards as reminders to existing customers and target new potential customers.
Mailing postcards is an accepted and well-established way to get the word out. Marketers have found a clever way to retarget their lost website visitors by mailing them postcards the next day.
Conclusion
Postcards are a great way to connect with your loved ones and personally with your customers or targeted audience. They are reminiscent of communication before the digital world became the number one way of connecting. When looking to write a postcard and mail it out, make sure it is error-free and well written. It’s pretty sure that your postcards would make someone smile.
