OK, so here’s Part 2 of: My thoughts on Postcards….

As mentioned in Part 1, I would not suggest sending postcards, nor any marketing material, to a Casting Director if you don’t have an agent. Direct your time, money and materials towards getting and agent. That said, you can send post cards to prospective agents.

Whomever you send post cards to, send them when you have real news to announce (“I just booked XYZ”, “I’m appearing for the next 2 weeks at HIJ”, “I just signed with a new agent at BIG FANCY AGENCY”), not just to say, “I’d love to audition for your series”.

Send postcards to say, “thanks for the callback”, “thanks for the booking”, “congrats on picking up the casting work for SeriesX” etc). I also think most actors have to adjust their expectations about the results they can expect from a postcard campaign. So, I have to get into some basic “marketing 101”.

The simple fact is that casting directors don’t have the time to go to every link to watch your reel and it's not realistic to expect ot be brought in for evey role or show. It may only take thirty seconds, but multiplied by the hundreds of postcards which say “watch my reel”, and they would never get anything done. Just as actors are vying for parts in a competitive field, your postcards are vying for valuable real estate on a casting director’s desk, and the field is just as crowded. Make your message brief, informative and be consistent with new messages over time (in other words, don't send a postcard mutiple times telling them about the same role/gig) .

Here is a reframed “marketing 101” example using COCA-COLA. The executives at COKE want you to drink as much COKE as you will. When they run a commercial on radio for example, and you hear that “pop….glug-glug-glug….fizz” and a familiar jingle while an announcer tells you how cool and refreshing COKE is, the executives at Coke don’t really expect you to bring your car to a screeching halt and head to the nearest store and buy a COKE. They’d love it if you did. But they’ve learned that all they can do is  plant an idea, create an awareness, so that the next time you’re thirsty you might just choose a Coke.

Same holds true for an unsolicited actor’s postcard, or mailing, or demo…all you can expect is to create an awareness.

Then, in “marketing 101-part 2”,  there is something called the “rule of seven”. It loosely implies that research has shown that the majority of customers don’t become aware of a product or service until they have heard about it or seen it at least seven times…some less, some more, some many, many more times. And that’s just to create a brand recollection, an awareness of the product/service. Actually motivating them to buy requires not only the brand awareness, but that the customer have a real need.

So what does this mean to actors; It means you…

1)     can’t send postcards once and then say, “Well I sent postcards and I never heard from anyone or booked anything”;

2)     must plan to send postcards every 6-8 weeks, or when you have real news booking/agency or other to share;

3)     can’t expect any reply saying “Oh I got your latest postcard”..it just won’t happen;

4)     can’t be upset when you hear a CD say “Yeah, I look at them then I throw them out”…that’s the point they look at them, they grasp some info about you that tucks into their heads..done;

5)     can’t follow up and say “Did you get my postcard” – you just have to let it do it’s work, over time to create awareness about you;

6)     can’t expect and immediate booking or audition. It’s like the flyers…this spring I’m getting tons of flyers for repairs of leaky roofs and basements…but if my roof is not leaking, then my roof isn’t leaking…I don’t need basement repairs…but if it starts to leak next week or next month…hey, I know who to call.  Same with casting, if  they’re casting your “type/hit”  this week, then they’re not casting your type or hit until they’re actually casting your type or hit.

I’ve no doubt, the casting office (and agency) garbage cans are littered with the chipper happy faces of hopeful actors that were glanced at for mere moments…sad but true. So, all you’re doing and all you can expect from postcards is to create top-of-mind awareness…a postcard is not a memento to be held and cherished forever. And after all it’s a Casting Directors job to quickly glean your hit/type and tuck you in the back of their minds for when the right casting opportunity comes along…that’s all you can hope for.

All of this said, I feel postcards need to be one aspect of a mutli-media campaign of targeting and reaching a Casting Director, and clearly there are a lot of “dos” and “don’ts” regarding postcard content.

The sheer number of non role specific submission s a casting office receives in a week makes the odds of getting noticed very slim. And casting directors don’t usually find or bring in talent based on flipping through postcards.  Send them to people you’ve already met - there’s a chance they’ll stop a moment longer someone they don’t know, but they’re more likely to notice someone they’ve brought in (or whose postcards they’ve now seen 7+ times) for a reading before. In this regard, postcards are a quick reminder to the casting office of what you’re up to, and that you’re still around. What they don’t do is properly introduce yourself in a memorable way.

Don’t send multiple copies of the same postcard to everyone in the office.

Don’t send them in lieu of a real headshot and resume as a submission to a specific project. An office usually has a space or box to collect submissions. Postcards neither fit neatly, nor do they look professional as submission material.

Really now, I think I've said all I can on postcards.