Real Estate Postcard Q&A
Choose a Q&A category from the buttons below.
Postcard Strategy Questions
- How often should we send out postcards?
- How do you get more calls from postcard marketing?
- Is it better to send postcards by first class mail or bulk mail?
- What do you think about handwritten notes on direct mail?
- How do you use postcards to drive readers to your website?
- What are some unique times to send a postcard?
- What's the best way to track name recognition from postcards?
- What are the top-five most effective real estate postcards?
- What are some statistics on postcard marketing?
- What is the ratio of calls you receive from postcards?
- I mail newsletters. Is there success in this strategy?
How often should we send out different types of postcards?
That depends on the type of postcard you're sending. Some real estate postcards are event-based and should be timed accordingly.
For example, if you were promoting a seminar or open house, you would want to time your mailing to allow for delivery time. Other postcards are not as time-sensitive. Lead-generation mailers can be sent anytime, because anytime is a good time for leads!
That answers the "when" part of your question. The "how often" part of your question will vary based on your workload, your budget and other factors. You have to keep a pulse on your business and adjust your mailing accordingly.
Here's a key point to remember...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
How do you get more calls from postcard marketing?
In real estate postcard marketing, the strength of your offer is directly proportionate to the strength of your response. This book shows you how to strengthen your offer (among other things) in order break through the sea of information your prospects face each day. You have to hit them with something so remarkable that they stop what they're doing and say, "Wow! Hey honey, come check this out..."
I always advise people to start with a remarkable message and offer, and then move on to the postcard mailing...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
Is it better to send postcards by first class mail or bulk mail? How would I set up a bulk mailing?
Part 1 of your question - First Class vs. Standard mail:
There are two major differences between First Class mail and Standard (bulk) mail. The first difference is speed. According to the U.S. Postal Service, First Class mail usually arrives within 1 to 3 business days, while Standard mail averages 3 to 15 days.
The other big difference is that First Class mail comes with return service, while Standard mail does not. If you send 500 real estate postcards by First Class mail but some have bad addresses, the bad ones will be returned to sender (you) at no extra cost. With Standard Mail, on the other hand...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What do you think about handwritten notes on direct mail?
Advantage - Personalization almost always increases response, and handwriting a note is the ultimate form of personalization.
Disadvantage - If you use handwritten notes on your real estate postcards, it means you'll be sending them out yourself. A vendor can print them for you, but you'll have to mail them after signing them.
My advice - If you're mailing to a small list, and personalization is important to you, handwritten notes may work well for you. If you're mailing to a large list and need more efficiency...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
How do you use real estate postcards to drive readers to your website?
In the book, I show you how to create a resource website that can attract a lot of visitors, and how you might announce that website with your real estate postcards. I also show other ways to integrate postcards with your website to increase your overall marketing success.
It's a great question you ask, because real estate postcards and websites make perfect marketing partners. This combo lets you offer recipients another way to respond, and multiple response paths are almost always a good thing in real estate postcard marketing...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What are some unique times to send a real estate postcard (aside from holidays)?
Actually, holidays are peak mailing times, so it's harder to get your message read. I recommend mailing your postcards as often as you need to, based on your business needs, your budget, your market and other unique factors.
Sometimes the event dictates when to mail. Just listed, just sold, and open house postcards are all time-sensitive.
As for general marketing postcards (lead generation), my philosophy and advice is to "have something to say before you say it." Here's what I mean by that...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What are the best ways to track name recognition and calls from postcards?
In my opinion, measuring name recognition would be more trouble (and expense) than it would be worth. Big companies spend millions to measure product name recognition, but I don't feel it's necessary for real estate agents.
I recommend sending real estate postcards to generate a response. It's the most economical approach and will lead to higher ROI. Once you generate a response, you are free to build a relationship with the person.
Tracking calls could be as simple as asking people, "Hey, do you mind if I ask how you heard about me?" If they say they got a postcard from you, you've just tracked a response.
There are other, more sophisticated ways to measure response rates...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What are the top-five most effective real estate postcards ever used?
I can only speak from my own experience. And even though I've worked for two postcard marketing companies and helped thousands of agents, I'm not qualified to make a "Top-5 of All Time" list.
Now with that disclaimer out of the way...
In the "Super Cards" chapter of this book, I've revealed some real estate postcard strategies that have worked well in the past. I've even jazzed them up by improving on the original ideas and by adding value.
The goal of this book is not to outline the most effective strategies and say, "Use these and only these." The goal of this book is to teach you the ingredients of real estate postcard marketing success, and then show you how to assemble those ingredients to create a super postcard...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What are some statistics on the success of postcard marketing?
In direct mail marketing in general, the average response rates is often said to be around 4% of total. That means a mailing to 1,000 people would-on average-yield about 40 responses. For real estate agents, 40 qualified leads can produce a lot of business.
But here's a key point to remember. Above-average postcards will yield more responses than average, and the opposite is true for below-average postcards. So before sending a single real estate postcard, you should focus on...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
What is the ratio of calls you receive from postcards?
That depends on the postcards and the audience. First, you may want to refer back to the previous question regarding statistics.
In the real estate postcard book (and on this website), I introduce you to The Pyramid of Postcard Success. The Pyramid is based on my experiences with real estate postcard marketing. It shows the varying degrees of postcard success, and how the number of agents decreases as the level of success increases.
Agents at the base of The Pyramid receive very few responses from their postcards (or none at all)-maybe 1% or less. These agents usually send postcards without much thought toward the message, the offer, the idea, etc...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
I generally mail newsletters. Is there real success in using them?
That depends on how you define "success" in this particular case. If your goal is to educate the people in your farming area, then the newsletters can help you achieve your goals. But if you're hoping for a direct response, you'll probably need to send something with a little more "oomph."
Or ... you could keep sending your newsletters, but add in one of the "Super Card" concepts. For example, go back a few questions to where I was explaining the online resource website. You could easily tie this type of concept into your existing newsletter program. Here's how I would go about it...
Download the book for the rest of this Q&A
Download instantly!
(Only $32.57 for 100+ pages of insider information)