Do Real Estate Postcards Still Work?

Once in a while, a real estate agent will ask me this question: "Do real estate postcards still work?" I usually respond with the same remark -- it's somewhat cryptic at first, but makes sense eventually.

I tell them that bad real estate postcards don't work today, and they didn't work ten years ago. But good real estate postcards work today, as much as they have always worked.

This response tends to produce more questions, so I go on to explain the following...

The strategies behind real estate postcard marketing have changed. You can certainly use real estate postcards to help you grow your business, even in this modern age of web communication. But you have to go about things differently than a postcard marketer from ten years ago.

For one thing, you have to boost the incentive on your real estate postcards. "Call for a free consultation" does not cut it anymore. You need to give people a good reason to contact you, or to respond in whatever way you seek. Actually, this is true of all marketing ... not just real estate postcards. In marketing terms, this is known as the offer. And you have to offer something on your real estate postcards in order to generate a response.

Another way that real estate postcard marketing has changed is the use of the Internet. The real estate agents who do best with real estate postcard marketing know how to incorporate their websites and/or blogs into their postcard marketing. They know that modern consumers are inclined to learn more about things online, so they cater to that. They create high-value websites with plenty of useful (and interesting) resources, and they point people to it with their real estate postcards.

And then, if they've built some form of lead capture into their website, they have a steady stream of inquiries that can become clients some day.

So in this regard, yes, real estate postcards work as well as they ever have. You just have to go about it differently than agents did ten years ago. You have to offer something. You have to be unique. And you have to incorporate other marketing channels, like your website.

By the way, I show you how to do all of these things in the real estate postcard book.

~Brandon


Have questions about the postcard book?

Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com

Comments are welcome. Use the comment link below.

-Brandon