What Postcard Companies Won't Tell You (But Probably Should)

After working for two postcard printing companies (and dealing with many more), I've learned quite a bit about the challenges real estate agents face when using real estate postcards. I've also learned the best practices of real estate postcard marketing, most of which are outlined in the postcard book.

The problem is, many of these challenges and best practices do not get communicated to the individual agent using real estate postcards. It's not that the postcard companies are being deceitful ... it's just not in their best interest to share certain facts with their real estate customers.

So, I would like to step in and fill that role. I'm sharing the following information so you have a realistic picture of postcard marketing today, and so you'll know how to get the best possible return on your real estate postcard investment.

With that said, here are three things postcard companies won't tell you (but probably should):

1. Real Estate Postcard Marketing is Hard

You may be under the impression that postcard marketing is easy. After all, you just fill in the postcard template with your information, have the postcard company print them and blanket the area with your message, and then sit back to watch the leads roll in? Right? Wrong.

If it were that easy, every real estate agent who ever used marketing postcards would be a success story. But clearly that's not the case. Some agents thrive with postcard marketing, while others fail. (That's a reality of marketing in general.) So it's obviously not a simple, one-size-fits-all approach.

Postcard marketing is a numbers game, a game of attrition. The more mistakes you make along the way, the lower your end numbers (responses) will be. If you don't optimize every aspect of your real estate postcard campaign -- from the initial idea to the final offer -- you will probably be disappointed with the results. The problem is, most postcard companies cannot afford to give each customer the individual attention they need to maximize all those postcard factors. With a dozen or so staff and thousands of customers, how could they?

But you can educate yourself about the many aspects of postcard marketing, by downloading a copy of the postcard book (10 more reasons to buy it). You can arm yourself with this knowledge before you even approach a postcard printing company.

2. Bad Mailings Do Not Get Better With Time

"Be patient and persistent. The results will come in time." If I had a nickel for every time I heard or saw a postcard company use this line, I would be able to retire. Well, almost. Some companies will tell you that a failed postcard mailing (one that produces zero responses) will get better with repetition. They will tell you that you're staying "top of mind" with your prospective audience, and that eventually these people will wake up to your message and contact you.

Not likely.

It is extremely rare that a weak postcard mailing gets better simply by repeating it. Usually, it will remain a failure, no matter how many times you repeat it. But here's the good news. If you start off with the kinds of techniques I teach in my book, you will likely enjoy good response rates from the beginning. Best of all, you'll know how to spot a weak mailing based on response numbers, and you'll know what to do about it.

Bottom line ... a postcard mailing that produces zero responses should never be repeated. If you repeat such a mailing, you are wasting time and money. Such a mailing should be modified until it does produce results. Then it can be repeated, and optimized, and tested again, and so on.

3. Templates are Usually Less Effective Than Original Postcards

Sure, postcard templates are easy to use. You just select a template, plug in your name and photo, and you're off to the races. Right? Well, not always. Here's the problem with real estate postcard templates (and you'll realize the logic of this after I explain it). When you use a real estate postcard template, you are making your postcard look like every other real estate postcard. That's what templates are -- a stock layout that many people can use.

Now ask yourself this. If my postcards look a lot like those sent by other real estate agents, how does that affect my ability to stand out? You already know the answer. It kills your ability to stand out!

In his book Purple Cow, marketing expert Seth Godin uses the analogy of brown cows. Brown cows lack uniqueness. They are everywhere. And as a result of their common appearance, people hardly notice brown cows. But what if you passed a purple cow standing in a field. You'd notice wouldn't you? That's because a purple cow is remarkable. It stands out and generates buzz.

Real estate postcard templates will not get you a purple cow. They produce brown cows, the kind of thing that's common to the point of being invisible.

In my book, I teach you how to transform your real estate postcards from "brown cow" commonality to "purple cow" uniqueness -- in order to grab people's attention and earn their response.

Have questions about the postcard book?
Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com

-Brandon