Real Estate Prospecting Postcards - 2 Key Ingredients

Real estate prospecting postcards are one of the oldest and most reliable forms of marketing. They have been used nearly as long as the U.S. Postal Service has existed. They can be used to support a wide variety of business goals.

With that being said, there are many ways to wander astray when using prospecting postcards as part of your real estate marketing campaign. When this happens, you end up spending a lot of money without much to show for it. And in marketing, there is nothing worse than a dismal return-on-investment (ROI). It's a waste of money, not to mention being a huge disappointment.

One of the ways you can succeed with real estate prospecting postcards it to learn the common mistakes people make when using them. In my time working around this medium, I would say the two most common mistakes are the following:

1. Asking the postcard to do more than it's capable of doing (lack of realism).


2. Failing to offer a strong enough incentive for the desired action (lack of value).

So if you can avoid these same mistakes, you're already on the path to real estate prospecting success. Let's talk about each one in turn:

Set Realistic Postcard Goals

When you choose the marketing medium, you are sacrificing space in favor of directness. Sure, there's a good chance most of your recipients will read the postcard when they pull it from the mailbox. That's why they call it "direct" mail. But at the same time, you are reducing your entire pitch down to a double-sided piece of paper or card stock. So you have to be realistic with your postcard marketing objectives.

For example, you can't tell people everything about your company, products or services on a postcard. There's just no room for that. So limit your message to support a specific objective. Tell them only what's necessary to achieve the goal of your mailing, and make sure the goal is realistic.

Explain the Reward for the Action Taken

It's a general rule of thumb in marketing that you never ask somebody to do something without telling them what they get out of it. In other words, there must be a clear incentive or reward for taking a certain action. This goes double for direct mail postcards, because you don't have much room to get people motivated.

For example, instead of just saying, "Visit my website to learn more," you could clearly explain the value your website offers: "Visit my website for immediate access to virtual tours on select homes in the area!"

Conclusion

Obviously, there's more to postcard marketing than these two concepts. But if you can start your campaign by avoiding these two common mistakes, you have an edge right from the start. After that, just make sure you have something worth promoting in the first place -- a great product or service. The rest is mere logistics.

Brandon Cornett has worked in the direct mail industry and has written a postcard prospecting book for real estate agents and brokers. You can learn more, purchase the book, or contact the author by visiting http://www.realestatepostcardbook.com

Have questions about the postcard book?

Email me here: brandon@realestatepostcardbook.com. Comments are welcome. Use the comment link below.

-Brandon