How to Set Up a 9x12 Postcard Campaign: Step-by-Step

A campaign starts with a few decisions: where the card will go, how many homes you plan to reach, which ad spaces you will sell, and what those spaces need to cost. Get those decisions connected before you start pitching businesses.

This video shows that setup in 9x12 Tools. You can run the business with paper or spreadsheets; the software keeps the routes, card, prospects and sales records together as the campaign changes. The written steps below are a companion you can keep open while building your own.

You can build and preview a campaign free. Publishing it so it can sell, advertiser checkout and connecting a domain require a paid plan. Check the current pricing and plan details before turning on selling.

Jump to a step in the video

These chapter links open the relevant moment on YouTube.

• 00:29 — Start with the USPS EDDM planner
• 01:15 — Create a campaign and choose your area
• 02:01 — Pick routes and a target home count
• 04:25 — Set the card format, prices and mail date
• 05:05 — Review the generated local business leads
• 05:31 — Plan the card and merge spots
• 06:00 — Preview the campaign sales page
• 06:27 — Adjust prices and routes
• 07:29 — Assign a complimentary anchor spot
• 08:11 — Record an offline sale

1. Choose an area local advertisers actually serve

Open Campaigns, choose Create a campaign, and search for your city. Choose the ZIP code you want to work in. The walkthrough uses Austin as an example; use an area you understand and can explain to a business owner.

Think about who would buy access to those households. A neighborhood outside a business’s service area is a weak fit even if its demographics look attractive. Your mailing area is part of the offer you will sell.

The opening comparison shows the same area in the USPS planner. If EDDM is new to you, read what Every Door Direct Mail means before committing to a mailing.

2. Pick your routes and review the actual household count

Select a target home count. The route selector chooses routes that get close to that target; review the selected geography and the resulting count before continuing. A target is a planning input, not a promise that whole carrier routes will add up to an exact round number.

Look at the households and demographics shown for the selection. The video also demonstrates the optional higher-income preference. Use it when it fits the advertisers you plan to approach, rather than assuming one demographic makes every campaign better.

Your actual route count drives the mailing budget. Work through the EDDM cost calculator with your printing and preparation assumptions before deciding what each spot must bring in.

3. Set the card format, spot prices and mail date

Choose 9x12 horizontal for the landscape card shown in the tutorial. Set the initial spot price, choose the mailing date and give the campaign a name that makes the area easy to recognize. Review those inputs and generate the campaign.

The recording’s spot price is a sample input. Set yours from your costs, layout and offer. The spot-pricing guide explains the published pricing data and its limits; the printing and mailing cost guide helps separate delivery costs from the other expenses of running the card.

Leave time for selling, artwork, advertiser approvals, printing and mailing. Choosing a date in the application does not book a printer or arrange delivery.

4. Review the prospects generated from your routes

Saving the route geography starts local business prospect discovery. The platform finds, scores and ranks businesses so you can begin with a suggested calling order. You do not need to build a spreadsheet of names by hand as another setup task.

Open Leads and review the business, its contact details and the reasons for its ranking. Available contact information varies. A grade helps prioritize research and outreach; it does not establish that the business wants to buy.

You make the call or send the message, then log what happened. See the advertiser prospecting workflow for the Work queue, Lead Book and how follow-ups connect to the campaign.

5. Lay out both sides and check the prices

Open Card Planner. Review the front and back, choose the arrangement, and merge spots where a larger placement makes sense. Check that the remaining inventory still supports your budget.

You can edit individual spot prices or use Economics to update available spots in bulk. After changing a layout or price, check the campaign preview again so the offer you describe matches what an advertiser will see.

A complimentary spot for an anchor business is optional. The tutorial shows how to assign one, but giving away space is still a cost to the campaign: that placement is no longer available for a paying advertiser. Decide what the arrangement is meant to accomplish before offering it.

6. Preview the sales page, then enable selling when ready

The campaign generates its website from the card, prices and routes. You do not need to repeat those decisions in a separate website editor. Preview the page and check the mail area, available placements and prices.

Building and previewing are free. Publishing the campaign and taking advertiser payments require a paid plan, with payment setup completed for checkout. The walkthrough shows publishing as part of the workflow; it is not a free-tier publishing promise.

Confirm the routes before the first sale. The tutorial shows that route changes are locked after a spot sells, keeping the mailing area tied to the commitment the advertiser bought.

7. Keep offline sales attached to the card

If a business pays outside the platform, use the spot’s sold offline flow and record the advertiser and payment information. The video demonstrates a sample offline sale and then checks that the public spot is marked sold.

The system cannot know about an unlogged cash payment or bank transfer. Recording it keeps that placement out of the available inventory. For a successful online checkout, payment settlement updates the related spot and sale automatically.

Before you start selling: the setup checklist

• Your routes cover the area you intend to promise advertisers.
• Your budget uses the actual household count and your provider’s costs.
• Both sides of the card have the layout and prices you intend to offer.
• Any complimentary placements are accounted for in the budget.
• The mail date leaves room for sales, artwork, approvals and production.
• You have reviewed the generated prospects and chosen whom to contact first.
• Your campaign preview matches the offer you will send.
• Your paid plan and payment setup are ready before publishing and using checkout.

Setup gives you something concrete to sell. The next job is working the prospects and following up. Use the guide to selling postcard ad space to plan those conversations.

Watch the full platform demo

For the broader workflow, including advertiser checkout and what happens after a sale, watch the full 9x12 Tools demo on YouTube. It uses sample campaigns and a test payment to demonstrate the product.

Ready to follow along? Use Build your campaign free on this page to create your campaign, then work through the video with your own city and routes.