Real Estate Postcards Work!

In today’s device-based world, it seems smart to focus on social media and search-based internet ads for marketing. While these arenas are certainly important, old school tricks like real estate postcards still have a place in the well-rounded agent’s arsenal, especially when dealing with real estate farming.

Real estate agent postcards are a proven and affordable marketing tool for real estate professionals. A carefully designed postcard will yield both immediate and long-term results. At minimum, you’ll see an increase in emails and website registrations, perhaps even the same day your postcards are delivered. In a best case scenario, you’ll receive higher call volume with requests for both buying and selling in your real estate farm.

Agent postcards and real estate farming
While postcards are effective within any real estate marketing tactic, agents focusing on a real estate farm will have the best ratio of effort to results. If you’re focusing on a certain geographic area, you won’t even need a mailing list for your postcards; you’ll simply need your defined real estate farm boundaries!

Remember that the best results from direct mail comes from consistency. One mailing will not boost your business enough to make the tactic stand out; however, after a couple mailings, your brand will have found its home in your leads’ minds, and you’ll soon find yourself the go-to agent of your farming area.

Getting the most out of direct mailing
Real estate postcards are especially useful when used in conjunction with a door-to-door strategy. You can either bring a postcard (or flier, magnet, pen, business card, etc.) to hand to people personally, or you can plan a mailing for immediately after you go door-to-door. Either way, people will remember personally meeting you, with the reinforcement of the physical material to make sure you stay on their minds for their future real estate needs.

Aside from using agent postcards to introduce yourself or solidify your name in people’s minds, you can also send literature when you receive a new listing, when you sell a house in the neighborhood, or when you’re hosting an open house. Keeping your postcards topical will make sure people don’t feel “spammed” but will also serve as a consistent reminder of who you are and how you can serve the neighborhood.

A major benefit of real estate postcards is return on investment. Because they are fairly simple and inexpensive to design and print, even mildly effective campaigns will yield a return of at least four times the cost, while most campaigns will yield eight to 12 times the investment.

Perfecting your postcards
One of the main keys to a successful postcard campaign is creating the perfect card design. Potential leads won’t take a second glance at your postcard if it’s messy, missing critical information, or just plain boring. Here are a few things to focus on:

• Consistent branding with your logo, a consistent color scheme, fonts, and layout
• Photos of recently sold homes, or homes for sale
• Your photo on both sides of the card
• A specific and concise message to your market
• Calls to action

Perfecting these key elements in each of your postcards will create a clear picture of who you are and what you do. Combined with consistent mailings, a well-designed postcard will ensure that your name becomes synonymous with “real estate” in the minds of your real estate farm leads.

WIIFT
Before you stamp those cards, remember WIIFT: what’s in it for them? Put yourself in the shoes of your future clients, and give each campaign a unique spin based on what’s happening in the market or your real estate farm. Are your leads concerned or excited about the housing market? Is local employment affecting the neighborhood’s view or buying or selling? How can you offer them something different to meet their needs?

Sending out an individualized campaign focused on what’s in it for them will all but boost your return on investment. If nothing else, speaking to the hearts of your target audience will help them feel heard and understood, which are two excellent things to be remembered for.

Let the results speak for themselves
Even with years of proven success, new agents are often uncertain about using a “dinosaur marketing” tactic like direct mailing postcards. After all, isn’t this the digital age? It’s true that postcards will never take over the importance of an online presence, but the fact remains that direct mail yields results.

If you’ve never used a postcard campaign before, it’s time to give it a try and let the results speak for themselves. Be sure to take five minutes or so a day to record the responses you receive as a direct result of your mailing, whether it’s an email, website registration, or phone call to discuss buying or selling.

After a postcard campaign, you’ll certainly see some immediate results, but the big payoff comes slowly over time as you continue to see leads responding to campaigns that happened weeks or even months ago. It’s helpful to ask all new leads how they heard of you, and keep track of the marketing that’s working best for you. Chances are you’ll be surprised by how many leads reached out due to your real estate postcards. Click here to learn more about a real estate postcard strategy designed just for you.