How Cliently’s Postcards work

Focus: The focus of this public FAQ/Self Help guide is to provide you with an overview and step-by-step instruction on building Cliently flows with Postcard Action.

What is a Postcard Action? The postcard action is a customizable direct mail item that you can create in Cliently and send to your prospects. The postcard will be sent through Cliently, to be processed and mailed to your recipients physical address. 

Why send Postcards?: Sending postcards to a contact is a great way to personalize your outreach with a unique touch. This can definitely bring attention to your campaign and really impress your prospects. It’s also a considerate way to show appreciation to your contacts for their time. Postcard actions can really go anywhere in your campaign, but they tend to be a great follow-up to already received/read messages, so we've found it's quite common for them to be added in the middle or closer to the end of Flows.  

Instant Action with Postcard - Please Note: With this action, you can also perform an “Instant Action” and send out a Postcard WITHOUT adding to a flow. Click here to learn more.

What are Cliently Flows?: A flow is a list of items based upon “actions” that were added. For Example: Send email, wait 1 day, Send Video message, wait 2 days, Send postcard. Learn more about using Cliently flows by checking out our overview.

Cliently credits used?: Yes, sending a postcard is 1 Credit for USA-based (United States) Addresses OR 2 Credits for addresses outside of the United States. Click here to learn about Cliently credits.

Which Image files types are supported for Postcards – front and back?: When uploading images, we support the following image formats: .BPM, .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .PNG. Please ensure that your uploaded files do not exceed 1MB, as this may cause issues when attempting to upload and save your work. You can also choose from a select set of 35+ images from free Cliently “templates”.

How long does it take for the Postcard to be delivered? For postcards sent within the United States, it will typically take between 7-8 days. Outside of the United States, it could potentially take 10-24 days (depending on the location).

What steps can I do to make sure the Postcard is delivered? – Contact’s Address – Before assigning your flows that include Postcards, double-check the physical address found on the contact record! Make sure there is a valid: First Name, Last Name, Address. This includes Street line 1 and Street line 2, City, State, Zip Code, and Country. If this information can't be verified by the USPS, you will be notified via email. You will then need to log into the Cliently app to correct that contact's address on file and save it. We will then attempt to try to mail again at the next available time, per your flow's set schedule.

Step 1: Creating a new Flow with Postcard Action. We start by Going to Flows > New Flow.

Step 1-A: Flow Settings. Next, give your flow a name and check options for “Stop Workflow” engagement, “Unsubscribe”, and be sure to set up your flow's schedule for timezone, US holidays, days of the week, and start and end times. Then click Save.

Pro-Tip: Name your flows accordingly so that you know from the title of the flow what is included in the flow!

Step 2: Add Postcard Action. Next, we need to add the Postcard Action. Click on the Blue Direct Mail action and select the Postcard option of the two provided - the other being Handwritten Note.

Step 3: Customize the Postcard. Now that we have added the Postcard action, it's time to customize it.

Step 3-A: Front Image. First, we need to add a front image. You can drag & drop an image, Click the blue “Click to upload image” button, OR you can select an image from one of Cliently’s free images. In this example, we will upload a customized image.

Please note: For the front image, we recommend the picture be (1875px wide by 1275px height).

Example of Front Image added:

Step 3-B: Back Image. Next, click on “Back” and now we can add the back image. Just like we did for the front image: You can drag & drop an image, OR you can click the blue “Click to upload image” button, OR you can select an image from one of Cliently’s free images. For the back image, we recommend the picture be (1875px wide by 390px height).
Please note: You can also click on the “Up Arrow” to remove the image backside image option. The backside image is not mandatory for this process, so it can be left off of your final printout if you make this selection. In this example, we will upload a customized image.

Example of Back Image added:

Step 3-C: Text (message body) on the postcard and Return Address. Finally, you can add a personalized message in the area labeled “Type Message here”, using the autofill tokens provided. For the Return Address – You can also click on “Add return Address” to include your information on the postcard. Once done, click the blue “Save” button. A return address is optional, but we highly recommend it in order to receive any postcards that are returned due to a wrong address.

Please note: For the section “Type Message here”, you can only have 11 lines of text.

Pro-Tip: Use Tokens in order to populate your Client contact information or your information from your Settings > Account. Learn more about using tokens.

Example of message completed:

Step 3-D: Saving Be sure to click the blue button to Save! 

Step 4: Add more Actions. Excellent job, now you have completed your first postcard action in a flow. You can now add other action items to your flow if desired!

Step 5: Enable the flow to be used. Finally, we have to enable the flow to be used for our Contacts. Click on the on/off slider toggle to enable.

Congratulations, you have now set up your first Postcard Action Flow… Click here for a flows review and how to use your flows for your Cliently contacts.

Pro-Tip: Contact’s Address – Before assigning your flows that include Postcards, double-check the physical address found on the contact record! Make sure there is a valid First Name, Last Name, and Address. For the address, you will need to include Street 1, Street 2, City, State, Zip Code, and Country. These fields MUST be mapped under the contact address (not the company address) and separated in your file as shown in the downloadable import template provided on the import FAQ. This allows the postcard processing company and the USPS the ability to format and verify your contact addresses to send in a timely fashion.

Step 6: Action Statuses. After the Postcard action has been processed or sent, you might notice some different statuses under the Postcard action if used in flow or in your timelines. Below are definitions for those statuses:

Step 7: Action Analytics. Once you have used this flow and sent emails out, you can go back to Flows > Open your flow and at the bottom, you will see analytics for the postcard flow:

Sent

In Transit

Delivered

Bad Address

Step 8: Real-time View > Flow Review - Postcard information. If you open a Real-time View > Contact card that you have assigned to a flow that contains a postcard action, you will see information about the Postcard. This includes “Sent Date”, “Est Delivery Date” and “Processed for Delivery Date”. You can also use the “Timeline” to review the postcard that was sent out. 

Step 9: Examples of Sent Postcards from Cliently:

Troubleshooting: If you receive an email from Cliently with the Subject “Cliently.com Workflow Error for XXLeadNameXX lead”, it might pertain to the following two scenarios:

Credits -- Be sure you have enough credits in your account when using Postcards. Go to Settings > Team members to allocate more account credits or contact Cliently to purchase more. Add more credits to your account and Cliently will try to send the Postcard again.

Postal Address on Contact -- In order to send Postcard, Cliently requires a qualified Post address on the contact record. Please be sure to update your contact address and Cliently will try to send the Postcard again.  We ask you to verify that address with USPS.

Images corners/sides are being cutoff when uploaded to Cliently for Front and Back images?: This could be due to the Bleed and Trim Size for your images. Please review the following:

Front - In Pixels and inches: If you upload a recommended image of 1875 x 1275 or 6.25 x 4.25, the safe zone is the “PINK” area of 1762 x 1162 or 5.875 x 3.875

Back - In Pixels and inches: If you upload a recommended image of 1875 x 390 or 6.25 x 4.25 , the safe zone is the “PINK” area of 1762 x 350 or 5.875 x 1 inch.

Postcard Specs:
4” x 6” Postcard

Need Help? If you need any help with Cliently Flows – Postcards, please login to your Cliently Account and click on the red “Help/Chat” icon found on the bottom right side of your account.