Soliciting feedback for TCF promo postcards

[NariaDreaming]

We want to solicit feedback on what we should include on the postcards that we are printing up to distribute to various physicians, mom-centered businesses, etc.

So far, things that we have in mind:

Header (option 1)
TTC? Dealing with infertility or loss? Pregnant? Parenting?
We have a community for you!

Header (option 2):
Sick of online communities with bad advice and sugarcoating?

Header (option 3):
Looking for support and honest advice? Look no further!


Body text:

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community for men and women at any stage of growing your family. From the first month TTC, through infertility and loss struggles, and through pregnancy and parenting we have a place for you filled with people who haev been there, done that, and want to support you through your journey. The advice is honest, and the friendships are genuine.





We know that all of the above could use improving. So we wanted to crowd-source from the community. What things on a post card woudl entice you to check out the site?

[pibblemom]

Are these going to be single sided or double sided?

If single sided, something to remember is to keep it short and concise. You need something that will grab attention in 3 seconds or less, because that's about all anyone looks at any marketing material for before deciding to look further or toss.

[k3am]

I'd skip the acronym TTC - unless someone is already posting on message boards somewhere, they're less likely to be familiar with it.

[lucylou]

Ok I'm spitballing here:
Something like "First comes love, then comes marriage, then..."

With that text ^ having a big X through it.

Then underneath:
"Let's get real. Life doesn't always go according to plan.

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community of men and women offering real-life advice and support whether you are TTC, struggling through infertility or loss, pregnant, or parenting...without the sugar coating you find in other communities."

Something along those lines (without such a run-on). I just think you should play up the site name a little more.

[theophania]

Mar 10, 2016 20:09:40 GMT -5 pibblemom said:

Are these going to be single sided or double sided?

If single sided, something to remember is to keep it short and concise. You need something that will grab attention in 3 seconds or less, because that's about all anyone looks at any marketing material for before deciding to look further or toss.

Double. We have a gorgeous illustration from an artist in the community for the front side to help grab attention and that side will also include the TCF logo.

[clldll]

I agree with the advice above. You've only got a few sentences to catch attention or the card gets thrown away. I think the type of woman/man that would fit well in our community would appreciate a little humor along with an inclusive message about the advice and support that can be found here.

[aprilz81]

Mar 10, 2016 20:02:30 GMT -5 NariaDreaming said:

We want to solicit feedback on what we should include on the postcards that we are printing up to distribute to various physicians, mom-centered businesses, etc.

So far, things that we have in mind:

Header (option 1)
TTC? Dealing with infertility or loss? Pregnant? Parenting?
We have a community for you!

Header (option 2):
Sick of online communities with bad advice and sugarcoating?

Header (option 3):
Looking for support and honest advice? Look no further!


Body text:

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community for men and women at any stage of growing your family. From the first month TTC, through infertility and loss struggles, and through pregnancy and parenting we have a place for you filled with people who haev been there, done that, and want to support you through your journey. The advice is honest, and the friendships are genuine.





We know that all of the above could use improving. So we wanted to crowd-source from the community. What things on a post card woudl entice you to check out the site?

I'm not super fond of any of the three options and I'm not exactly sure why.  I think if you play up the lack of sugar coating that the forum will sound unwelcoming and harsh.  

I like lucylou 's suggestion, it is a little more playful and to the point but doesn't focus on the negative aspects of other forums.  And if you have space on the card I would recommend spelling out TTC.  Someone might not know what that means and it is so similar to TCF that it could be visually confusing.

[renbee]

Something about "for men and women" sounds weird. Maybe it is because you list men first? I know we probably hope to get more men on here as the site grows but let's get real - the main target market is women. Could you just say "people" or somehow rephrase to make more general?

[helloerrbody]

Just going to be honest here... IMO I think we need to look at our logo again and make it much more professional-looking if we are trying to "compete" with the websites and forums that have professional graphic designers. The font looks childish to me.

I also think getting the website up should be first priority before marketing materials are printed.

[NariaDreaming]

Mar 10, 2016 22:55:34 GMT -5 alwayscheese said:

Just a few thoughts. I'll support whatever general theme is chosen. I don't think it has to be perfect; just enough to get people interested.
-another vote to spell out TTC
-what's the easiest way for them to get from the postcard to us? I will happily click on a link, but I'm not going to sit down and open my browser and type http/:/thencomesfsmily.com/thisorthatetcetc... or whatever. Maybe a QR code? Or just say "Google then comes family"? Idk just make sure it's simple to get from paper to website
-probably not for the first printing, but I'm always a fan of having several versions of a card. Maybe the each having one side the same and the other side a little more directed at specific people. They would all be stacked together so people would get different ones or beside each other.

Thencomesfamily.com

If someone can't be bothered to type 19 characters, I'm not sure they'll be bothered to take the time of day to visit the website no matter what medium we give them.

And yes, we would love to do several versions of the cards in the future. But for now, cost is king and bulk orders are going to get us the most bang for our buck.

[NariaDreaming]

Mar 11, 2016 8:24:00 GMT -5 @littleliverpill said:

So what's the plan for the TCF website launch (if there is one)? What exactly are the postcards marketing -- the forums that exist already or the planned site? Because if it's the latter, I think it's a cart-before-the-horse situation.

The plan is to get the marketing materials ordered so that their arrival at TCF HQ (aka my house) coincides with the site launch. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes that we are so excited to share

[theseaword]

Of the 3 presented, I like the third best. I would avoid sounding negative about other sites. I would also skip the phrase "sugar coating". I think if I were really going through something, I would be a scared off by how aggressive all of that sounds. I'd stick to honesty focused phrasing instead. And focus on the community aspect too.

[sassypantzz]

I am not a fan of the headers listed, but would pick #1 if prompted. I really like the suggestion of playing on the name of the site a little harder as it really conveys the message of what you all put so much time into. Family doesn't always mean, love, marriage, baby and this is a community that embodies that. I also would remove the "no sugar coating" sort of lines and I do agree it sounds harsh, but would rephrase with Honest, Candid, sincere, straightforward, matter-of-fact, etc.

I am so excited for you all though!

[bromios]

Mar 10, 2016 21:10:35 GMT -5 renbee said:

Something about "for men and women" sounds weird. Maybe it is because you list men first? I know we probably hope to get more men on here as the site grows but let's get real - the main target market is women. Could you just say "people" or somehow rephrase to make more general?

Also, 'tis the era of increased acceptance of gender as a spectrum.

[lucylou]

I thought of something else to add...
Idk if this is a direction you want to focus on at all but, for me personally, I would rather search for something on Facebook (it's familiar, easy, etc) than look for a webpage.

Then if I liked what I saw, and the link was readily available (which I know it is), I would click and look around the site...and obviously I would love it and register immediately.

Just my 2 cents. But yeah, if you were thinking that could be one route, you could just add a "Like us on Facebook " somewhere on the postcard. I feel like Then Comes Family is catchy enough to be easily remembered.

[theophania]

A QR code is a great idea. That can definitely be added easily.

[pismoduo]

Mar 11, 2016 16:43:27 GMT -5 @katerli said:

I may be biased as I do Facebook ads for a living, but I think flyers are a waste of money. You can target a much larger audience that is already online. I just received a packet from my RE that had flyers and it was tossed out. Plus most people are on phones now in waiting rooms instead of looking at flyers. Just my 2 cents

Interesting. Though I agree with you on the power of FB advertising, I'm more likely to pick up a little postcard in my doctor's office than click a Facebook ad about something like this. People TTC might be hesitant to click something in Facebook for fear some nosey family member might see them like something and start asking annoying questions.

I never liked or commented on something on TCF until I got pregnant because I didn't want people to assume we were TTC.

[pismoduo]

Mar 10, 2016 20:21:29 GMT -5 lucylou said:

Ok I'm spitballing here:
Something like "First comes love, then comes marriage, then..."

With that text ^ having a big X through it.

Then underneath:
"Let's get real. Life doesn't always go according to plan.

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community of men and women offering real-life advice and support whether you are TTC, struggling through infertility or loss, pregnant, or parenting...without the sugar coating you find in other communities."

Something along those lines (without such a run-on). I just think you should play up the site name a little more.

I like this! I might take out the line about sugar coating, but I love the rest. It hints at our no nonsense attitude, without being too negative or aggressive about it.

[wildflower810]

Mar 10, 2016 20:02:30 GMT -5 NariaDreaming said:

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community for men and women at any stage of growing your family. From the first month TTC, through infertility and loss struggles, and through pregnancy and parenting we have a place for you filled with people who haev been there, done that, and want to support you through your journey. The advice is honest, and the friendships are genuine.

That's really long sentence for something that's supposed to be part of an attention grabber. It's also fairly run-on and the parenthetical statements within each other, only done with commas, is hard to read. Or maybe they aren't intended to be parenthetical, but it's long enough that I can't tell? 

[subliminalrabbit]

Mar 11, 2016 16:43:27 GMT -5 @katerli said:

I may be biased as I do Facebook ads for a living, but I think flyers are a waste of money. You can target a much larger audience that is already online. I just received a packet from my RE that had flyers and it was tossed out. Plus most people are on phones now in waiting rooms instead of looking at flyers. Just my 2 cents

THIS.  A thousand times this.

If you're going to put something in front of your target demo in a physical location, it needs to provide some sort of value in that location -- and it needs to engage.  The direct marketing game has gotten a lot more sophisticated.  Buying paper in bulk and plastering the same message everywhere is a big waste of money, especially for a national product.  You need to tailor your message and your delivery mechanism to the location.

So, for example, thinking of OB/GYN offices:  Think about what people are doing there, in the waiting rooms, what they see and they engage with.  Their phones, obviously -- is there a way to get on the wifi login pages for providers?  Magazines.  Can you make a mini-mag?  Water coolers and antibacterial foam...  Is there a witty, memorable way you could integrate there?  Maybe by sponsoring it?  And women are probably peeing into cups.  What can you do there?  Families who have kids might be wrangling them.  What can you provide that helps?  Some sort of little distraction for the kid -- that you put in your purse after and take home with you that reminds you to check out the site?

This is all random stuff off the top of my head.  I love this place and if growth is essential to its existence I beg you not to throw your marketing budget away on postcards.

[lucylou]

Mar 11, 2016 19:11:07 GMT -5 pismoduo said:

Mar 10, 2016 20:21:29 GMT -5 lucylou said:

Ok I'm spitballing here:
Something like "First comes love, then comes marriage, then..."

With that text ^ having a big X through it.

Then underneath:
"Let's get real. Life doesn't always go according to plan.

Then Comes Family (TCF) is an online community of men and women offering real-life advice and support whether you are TTC, struggling through infertility or loss, pregnant, or parenting...without the sugar coating you find in other communities."

Something along those lines (without such a run-on). I just think you should play up the site name a little more.

I like this! I might take out the line about sugar coating, but I love the rest. It hints at our no nonsense attitude, without being too negative or aggressive about it.

I feel like some people would pick up from that beginning wording that this is pointedly different than TD and their cutesy
Knot-->Nest-->Bump. But it's definitely not aggressive, like you said.

[subliminalrabbit]

Mar 11, 2016 20:52:25 GMT -5 @katerli said:

Mar 11, 2016 19:08:29 GMT -5 pismoduo said:

Interesting. Though I agree with you on the power of FB advertising, I'm more likely to pick up a little postcard in my doctor's office than click a Facebook ad about something like this. People TTC might be hesitant to click something in Facebook for fear some nosey family member might see them like something and start asking annoying questions.

I never liked or commented on something on TCF until I got pregnant because I didn't want people to assume we were TTC.

So the ad would take them to a landing page on TCF. You don't like anything on FB, so no one knows you are TTC. Plus you can target an audience like parents, make an ad for parents and that ad brings you to a TCF parenting landing page. .

This!  FB ads can drive directly to websites;  they can be very specifically targeted so you know your audience is likely into your kind of service/product;  they're cheap.  You can test lots of different iterations (and should) to see what resonates best, inexpensively.  It's a much better use of limited marketing $ than physical postcards.