The Art of Capturing Attention Through the Mailbox

Postcard artwork matters as much as the message

By Erin Miller

Be honest – how much time do you spend looking at your mail before you pick out pieces to read and the rest goes in the recycling bin? Seconds? Fractions of a second? Well, the same holds true for everyone receiving your postcards.

The average American receives about three pieces of mail per day and, statistically, two of those will be considered junk mail. The artwork on yout postcard must grab the readers attention or they will never read your message.

When grassroots political advocates started forming en masse in 2017, postcard designs were in their infancy. Groups such as my own Civic Sundays in Los Angeles had volunteers use blank postcards. People split into two groups, those who did “fronts” (designs) and those who did “backs” (messages). Most people did not like doing “fronts” unless they were artistic. As these kitchen-table teams grew, the demand exploded for purchasing cards with artwork. Now there are many vendors selling voter-themed postcards, but there’s a downside.

Photos of handmade postcards from the original Civic Sundays group.

Postcard art is no longer so personalized. Gone are the hand-made designs specific to that week’s special election, a voter registration reminder, or other get-out-the-vote tactics. Postcards have lost their one-of-a-kind look. Among pre-designed cards, only a few dozen might be available with just a handful of slogans such as “Bee a Voter,” “Your Vote is Your Voice,” and manifold variations of the word “VOTE.” All are excellent but they have become routine.

For a postcard to be noticed, personalized artwork and copy are a must. Yet the tactics for capturing the attention of postcard readers are different from other marketers, content creators, and activists. Studies reveal what makes for effective direct mail from organizations such as States Win (formerly Sister District), and on the effective use of postcard messaging for campaigns. But only one study measured the effectiveness of different styles of postcards.

The direct mail industry studies show the benefits of personalization, proving that messaging included in artwork increases the likelihood of absorption. Also, designs that are eye-catching, artistic, funny, or thought-provoking will garner more attention than glossy designs that don’t resonate with the recipient and look like junk mail.

However, personalized cards may still encounter roadblocks. I once worked with a campaign that gave volunteers cards in a “coloring book style,” asking them to color elements making the cards both eye-catching and hand-made. The volunteers loved working on them. Yet in the end, the campaign used classic slick postcards with the generic “smiling candidate with arms crossed.” Why? Because the campaign’s funding committee dictated the design. We hated working on those cards, and the candidate lost. I’m not saying those postcards were the reason why, but I can say volunteers were demoralized.

Postcard from Reclaim our Vote designed for the black and brown community

Here are some suggestions to make potential voters look at your postcards and absorb the message.

1. If you or your group have talented artists willing to create artwork for a specific campaign, use them.

2. Work with an organization that provides cards, addresses, messaging options, and selected artwork that directly align with a campaign or target demographics. Look for interesting designs that are specific, not generic cards that look like junk mail. Check out:

   1. Go Blue Michigan provides cards and addresses targeting voters in MI-07 and MI-10 using cartoons that skewer the current Representatives and their billionaire funders.

   2. Postcards4VA regularly has customized cards for campaigns. For example, for their ongoing Vote YES on Virginia Redistricting campaign, one card targets women and another is aimed at rural voters.

   3. Center for Common Ground provides addresses and postcards targeted for voters of color through its Reclaim our Vote program.

3. If you are writing to register voters, Field Team 6 has WPA-themed cards specifically designed to encourage registration.

4. Keep your eyes open for Spanish-language campaigns and Spanish-language postcards. Cartoons For Democracy will soon launch a Spanish-language campaign for CA-22, and you can find blank cards on Etsy or at Cartoons For Democracy.

Spanish language postcards from Cartoons for Democracy

I started Cartoons for Democracy to remedy the lack of interesting and targeted designs available and to offer compelling cartoons that deliver strong messages to meet the moment. We even customize cartoons for campaigns or states. For example, if you get Ohio addresses from Activate America, we have an Ohio card, quoting one of their senators saying Ohioans “have a broken work ethic.”

Ohio cartoonist Kevin Necessary created this card available at Cartoons for Democracy.

As you start planning postcards for the midterms, think carefully about design. Don’t just pick something pretty. Recipients may not share your tastes. Artwork that looks like a child’s drawing, a funny cartoon, something hand-crafted or vividly colorful, something different than what already fills their mailbox is the best way to deliver your message. You spend so much time, effort, and cost into sending each postcard. Why not give each one the best chance of being effective?

Erin Miller is the founder of Cartoons for Democracy, a nonprofit that uses cartoons to break through the media bubbles that are heavily tainted by billionaires which, regardless of political party or education level, push people to vote in favor of the wealthy, even if it goes deeply against their own interests. They have a mailing list for discounts, if you are interested. She is also Postcard Lead with Civic Sundays in Los Angeles. You can reach out to Erin at erin@cartoonsfordemocracy.org