The simple truth about direct mail is that strategies are always evolving but the end goal has never changed. This end goal is to get a potential seller to pay attention to your marketing piece and to reach out to you. Sellers are becoming more and more resilient to direct mail and toss any advertisement in the trash without second thought.
This means that your marketing pieces have to come off as genuine and non-pitchy.
They have to stand out from the rest.
Real estate investors who have been in the game for years have been able to test what’s working in their market and adjust their techniques after analyzing data to see what’s working.
We recently created a Master Class that had 6 real estate investors who discussed what was working for them and we also brought in a direct mail expert from YellowLetterHQ.com to share his mailing tips.
You can actually watch the Master Class, called the Direct Mail Bootcamp, if you’re a FlipNerd Elite member under the “Training” tab on the website. If you aren’t a member yet, you can try out the membership for 7-days for just $1, if you’d like.
During this Master Class some spot on tips were shared and the top tip to take away from it was that you MUST stay consistent with your direct mail marketing. This means you should set up your marketing budget to last you through at least 6 months of consistent mailing instead of going really heavy and using up your budget in the first month or two.
As for the long debated battle between letters and postcards, most investors we talked to swayed towards postcards. The price difference was the main reasoning because you can almost send twice as many postcards as compared to letters at a given cost.
For postcards, people are moving away from sleek, printed information and are opting for designs that look truly handwritten. We’re talking simple drawings of houses and people, along with some text. The message conveys that you noticed their property and are interested in buying it “as-is”.
It’s a huge bonus if you’ve recently purchased a property nearby as you can include that in your message and they’ll understand that you’re working to improve the neighborhood and are the real deal.
It’s in the details these days.
Some details to consider are:
- What color should the postcard be?
- Will there be a real stamp on it?
- Will the stamp be perfectly placed or slightly crooked because it has the human touch?
- What font are you going to use?
- What color is the font?
- Will you offer a texting option in your letter or will it be strictly a phone number?
- Do you have a website to send people to? Will you add it to the postcard?
Create a piece of mail that you would open!
For letters, they’re still working well in some markets and specifically, to some lists. Letters come off as a bit more respectful if you’re mailing to a probate list, for example. Christina Krause of Postal Impact only sends letters to her probate leads.
Depending on what list you’re using, including the quantity and quality of it, your marketing pieces can be customized a bit. For instance, if it’s a highly refined list that isn’t too big, maybe spending more money and sending a priority letter might make sense (this is explained more in the Master Class). If you’re sending to a huge list of sellers with 50% or higher equity, that isn’t feasible and a postcard with a doodle on it might be best.
Regardless of what type of mail you send or what list you use, stay consistent in your marketing and have a plan to mail to them for at least 6 months. We’ve got some excellent strategies discussed that are bringing in more deals than ever and they’re sharing what’s working in their market, right now.
Check out the Direct Mail Bootcamp Master Class.
