Real Estate Postcards: The Mailing List
Part 1 | Part 2
Where to Find a List
Basically, you have two ways to come up with your mailing list-build it or buy it.
Building a List
If you build it yourself, your list will likely be reliable and well-targeted. But it will also be a lot of work.
Buying a List
If you buy a list, there's virtually no effort involved on your part, but you'll of course pay for it. Using a data company like InfoUSA or MelissaData, you can enter a series of demographic choices (location, household size, income level, etc.) and then purchase the list right from the website. You might pay anywhere from $200 to $2,000 on such a list, depending on the number of recipients and the types of demographic choices you make.
"Hybrid" Options
Some postcard marketing companies partner up with data companies like InfoUSA to allow customers to build a list during the postcard ordering process. ColorDirect.com has found a way to do this without charging extra for all the addresses and demographic choices made. As of this writing, they're the only postcard vendor I know who offers such a cost-effective approach. I don't mean for this to be a repetitive plug for ColorDirect, but they do many things well and I'd be remiss not to point them out to you.
Common Threads
Regardless of what option you take when building your direct mail list, you need to take the list seriously. An effective postcard sent to a bad list is an ineffective mailing. With any list, the three most important factors are relevance, accuracy and currency.
- Relevance -- Your list should include the kinds of people who can relate to your services and would be likely to respond to your offer. If you sell luxury property, don't send your postcards to lower-income neighborhoods. If you're offering a market report for the Belle View neighborhood, don't send it to the folks over in Valley View.
- Accuracy -- The big list providers such as InfoUSA use double or triple verification to check the names and addresses in their databases. This is important because, for instance, an address with one wrong number is a bad address (undeliverable).
- Currency -- There's a lot of flux when it comes to mailing lists. People move, new neighborhoods arise, streets get renamed, etc. An old list is a bad list and will result in a higher number of undeliverables. Make sure your list is as "fresh" as possible.
Postcard Tip:
Undelivered postcards will not come back to you unless you mail them First Class (more expensive). First Class mail comes with a "return to sender" service. If USPS cannot find the address, they will return the postcard to you labeled as such. But when you send postcards by Standard Mail (which is usually the case), your undelivered postcards will be discarded, not returned. Even with the most current mailing list possible, there will always be a certain percentage of undeliverable addresses.
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