Hasn’t your direct mail marketing strategy yielded the results expected? You aren’t alone. Like many other agents, you probably read a couple of online articles about how direct mailers can make a big comeback and told yourself, “It’s worth a try.” After your flawless strategy turned out to be a flop and both your efforts and budget went down the drain, you probably blamed this shameful failure on those old-fashioned, stupid pieces of paper. Didn’t you?
It was neither the articles’ fault nor the fault of those pieces of paper if you couldn’t make the most of your direct mail marketing. Direct mail marketing has proven to be a perfect strategy for real estate. When targeting a specific neighborhood, direct mailing allows you to communicate your message with the entire geography without needing to make hundreds of calls for a listing to sell.
There are dozens of reasons your direct mail marketing flopped, but I have no intention of discussing them one by one – we value our readers’ precious time. The following can be the mistakes that hindered your direct mail marketing campaign from getting your listings sold.
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What Caused My Direct Mail Marketing to Fail?
You Weren’t Showing up at the Right Time
In direct mail marketing, timing is everything. Did you send out your real estate postcards for no reason beyond wanting, hoping for the best? That was exactly what you shouldn’t have done. There is no point in sending mailers when there is no logical reason to connect with a recipient. Not all potential clients of yours are at the same stages of the buying/selling process, even if they are similar in character or have similar pain points. Your direct mail efforts pay off only when the target audience is ready to take action.
You Relied Solely on Direct Mailing
If you are the kind of agent who only believes in one form of marketing, it is no surprise if the results of your direct mail marketing were disappointing. For successful marketing, you need to integrate offline tools like real estate flyers with online marketing and social media. With direct mail marketing, you are going to invite the target audience to visit your website or follow you on social media for more details about listings and sales. In other words, direct mail marketing must be viewed as an educational tool. If properly deployed, real estate direct mailers like brochures can be an effective farming medium to reinforce all of your marketing channels.
You Weren’t Mailing Consistently
Real estate can be extremely profitable, provided that you work hard and be consistent. For a successful direct mail marketing campaign, consistency is the key. It is not that as soon as you start sending your real estate flyers, you will be raking in cash. On the contrary, you will probably make little or no money in the first year.
Your marketing materials not only need to be mailed consistently but also must have consistent branding. Even if a recipient takes a cursory glance at your postcard and throws it away, you must get them to remember it was you. The more familiar a brand, the higher the probability of the mailers being read. The best time to send mailers is when sellers are ready to list their properties. Be consistent and let potential clients recognize you as a neighborhood expert. When the time comes, your name will be the first name crossing their minds.
“Should I keep sending mailers when I have no listings in hand?” Yes, you should. Direct mailers like real estate feature sheets are not only used for marketing your listing; they can provide value and keep the target audience informed and interested. Even if you have no listing to offer at the moment, you can send update postcards to tell the recipients about the listings sold recently and “coming soon” listings.
Never forget that sellers come to you to market their property, not just list it up on MLS. Being consistent in your marketing efforts shows them you are serious about getting their home marketed and sold. That way, you don’t have to work hard to convince prospects you know how to do it; you’ve already proven that!
Remember that professional marketing tools reflect your brand personality. Use quality print products to present yourself professionally. With AgentPrint, you can design and order custom direct mailers without breaking the bank, and get your design printed on high-quality materials.
You Only Told Them Who You Are
What was your preoccupation when creating your mailers? Did you focus your attention on telling your audience who you are? Why should they care? What’s in it for them? No surprise that people showed no interest in your marketing message. Why should they pay attention to you when you don’t give them a strong reason to do so? Ask yourself, “What’s the primary purpose of doing business?” Exactly! We do business with others to maximize profit. To care only about your own interests is a big mistake. Tell the prospects about the benefits they can take from doing business with you.
Anything to add to the above list? Please share your experience with our readers. We’ll be happy to hear your story.
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