Say you run a small retail business. You have a special event or campaign coming up to bring in more revenue. Perhaps you’re sending out specially designed postcards to a mailing list of potential customers.
Vistaprint provides printing services for some 16 million of the smallest microbusinesses around the world. The company already has a service in place that allows small businesses to simply design a postcard, front and back.
An added service even offers to send out your postcards to a mailing list of your choice. Or you can buy a mailing list from Vistaprint based on your geographical location and let the company do the rest.
But now the company has introduced a new service allowing the relatively inexperienced marketer or small business owner to add a simple Facebook campaign to the mix, too.
Vistaprint Social Postcards was unveiled Feb. 11, 2015. The service aims to serve a demand among small businesses eager to try out Facebook ads.
“We’re going to go one step further. You don’t need to be a designer to do this. You don’t need to be a programmer to do this. You don’t even really need to be an elite marketer to do this,” Vistaprint Vice President and General Manager of Digital Services Scott Bowen tells Small Business Trends.
A recent 2014 Webs Small Business Digital Trends Survey reveals considerable interest in digital marketing among this group. Vistaprint’s digital subdivision Webs.com conducted the survey.
The survey found 63 percent of small businesses already use digital products in their marketing. But most of those those businesses use digital as a component of a larger strategy also including print.
Among digital marketing channels, the survey found Facebook to be the most popular. The results show 65 percent of small businesses are either already using or willing to pay for Facebook ads.
Bowen says the Vistaprint Social Postcards service caters to that group by making the creation of a Facebook ad the next step in the process.
After using the company’s postcard creation tool and deciding on mailing options, small business owners can now choose to create a Facebook ad as well.
Bowen says the template guides small business owners through designing an ad. The template also makes sure the ads being designed fit Facebook’s guidelines. The tool even helps customers target the ad to a desired demographic and then shows results with clicks, likes and other engagement.
“Most of the other models out there are service oriented,” adds Bowen. “We’re trying to roll all of that into a tool that lets business owners do it by themselves.”
For the $24.99 cost of the service, customers are guaranteed a minimum of 5000 Facebook ad impressions. However, in testing the service, Bowen says the company found the exposure would likely be higher.
The Vistaprint Social Postcards service will also allow businesses to redirect clicks to a hosted landing page or independent website, where they can capture additional customer information.
The company sees the service as a first step to integration of its printing business with digital marketing. Vistaprint has undergone a brand repositioning to move away from being known as the free business cards company.
Image: VistaPrint
Cool offering and I’m sure they can deliver at least 5,000 impressions for $25, that’s a CPM of $5, which is overpriced (and where they’re making their profit).
Thank you for the feedback Robert! We guarantee at least 5,000 impressions but have been delivering well over that to customers in our testing. We feel this is a very accessible price point for small and micro businesses to start advertising on Facebook, especially given the matching with print products, simplification of the process and targeting to local markets.
Joe Louis
Can’t wait to see services.
kelsi niemann
I signed up for Facebook ads when u ordered my postcards from Vista print
I would like to cancel the ads but my page says I don’t have any ads and im getting charged still. What do o do to cancel it
Mary Sue
I also got the free ad when I ordered postcards. It took several calls to Vistaprint digital help before I could actually see the ad on Vistaprint in order to edit it. I am waiting to see if I will be able to see it on my business FB page. So far–no luck. My understanding is that this was a one-time ad and not a monthly thing (see Kelsi’s comment). If I am wrong, please let me know!
Bipin Upadhayay
DO NOT EVER ORDER ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY
Reason to Avoid Using vistaprint for any order Big or Small
I was only familiar with vistaprint for their business card and brochure printing. I had not previously been familiar with vistaprint as customer. I thought, oh well, I will get what I pay for, thinking same I order 50 invitation card for printing to vistaprint under impression that they will prove their saying what they portray in TV commercials.
I planned a Retirement Party for my Father who served Indian Government for 40 long years. I ordered 50 Invitation cards on 21st November 2015. Expected delivery date was 26th November 2015. I had to rigorously follow up with their customer service for speedy delivery of cards. After 3 calls, on 25th November got delivery, after opening package got biggest shock of my life, I found only 20 cards instead of 50. When reached to vistaprint customer care got to know that rest of 30 cards will be delivered next day 26th November 2015. No One from vistaprint bothered to update this in advance. The more I spoke to customer care executive about their excuses for this delay, the more angry I became. I wanted to shout and yell but controlled myself to wait for another 30 cards next day. On 26th November 2015, after lunch I had to follow up again and this time it was end of all my expectation…..!!!
I was told that they could not print 30 cards because of some technical glitch in manufacturing unit. I was left alone with one simple word “SORRY”
Retirement party was planned on 30th November 2015
vistaprint failed to print mere 50 cards and deliver same on time, though it was not a big order but my emotion and feeling attached to this functions were demolished in few seconds.
Now its 5 PM 26th November: now get sms from vistaprint on same stating they will update me via sms when cards will be ready…
Are they of any use for me if I get cards on 30th November 2015????
I regret i saw that Commercial of VistaPrint and trusted them. Very very bad experience i had.
Here are the reasons why you should not use Vistaprint now that I have a chance to look under the hood:
1. They modify your order as per their own convenience
2. They use third party vendors and manufacturing unit on which they have not control
3. They don’t have backup mechanism or business continuity program incase of any break down
4. They don’t have message facility to update customer
5. They do not provide support to track your order once couriered, it becomes responsibility of customer to follow up for their orders
6. They do not offer 24/7 support.
I don’t recommend vistaprint for any sort of order Big or Small
Don’t just take my word for it, read the numerous consumer complaints and pay attention to the customer experiences and feedback shared
Vistaprint’s business makes money by taking advantage of small third party business owners and really don’t understand and know the value of time, customer service and utmost customer feeling and emotions attached to it.
Regards
Bipin