So I would like to fill that
educational void. I'm sharing this information to give you a
realistic picture of real estate postcard marketing today, and also
so you'll know how to get the best possible return on your postcard
investment.
Here are three things real estate
postcard companies won't tell you (but probably should):
1. Postcard Marketing is Hard
You may be under the impression that
marketing with real estate postcards 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 agent who ever used real estate marketing
postcards would be a success story. But clearly that's not the case.
Real estate postcard marketing is not a
simple, one-size-fits-all approach. It's 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 real estate postcard companies cannot offer
their customers the individual attention needed to maximize their
results. After all, they have logistical limitations. With a dozen or
so staff and thousands of customers, how could they offer such
individual attention?
So, you'll have to educate yourself
about the many aspects of real estate postcard marketing. You can arm
yourself with this knowledge before you even approach a postcard
printing company. That way, you can bring the marketing strategy, and
let the postcard printer do what their best at (printing and mailing
your postcards).
2. Bad Mailings Do Not Get Better With
Time
"Be patient and persistent.
Success will come after a few mailings." If I had a dollar for
every time I witnessed a postcard company use this line, I could pay
off my mortgage. Well, almost. Some postcard companies will tell you
that a failed postcard mailing (one that produces zero responses)
will get better with time and repetition. They'll convince you that
you're staying "top of mind" with your audience, and that
eventually these people will wake up to your message and contact you.
Sorry, but that's not likely.
It is extremely rare that a weak
postcard mailing gets better simply by repeating it. Repetition is
not a cure for a bad postcard campaign. 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 best practices of postcard marketing,
and adapt them for real estate purposes, you will enjoy good response
rates from the beginning.
A postcard mailing that produces zero
results 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 tested,
adjusted, optimized, tested again, and so on).
3. Templates are Usually Less Effective
Than Original Postcards
Sure, real estate 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? But here's the problem
with 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 exactly what templates are -- a stock layout used by many
people.
Now ask yourself this: "If my
postcards look like those of other real estate agents, what happens
to my ability to stand out?" You already know the answer. It
kills your ability to stand out!
In his book Purple Cow:
Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, marketing
expert Seth Godin uses the analogy of brown cows. Brown cows are
certainly not unique. 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 that cow,
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.
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In his book on real estate marketing postcards, author Brandon Cornett shows you how to transform your
real estate postcards from "brown cow" commonality to
"purple cow" uniqueness. If you'd like to learn the best
practices of postcard marketing mentioned in this article, download
your copy of the http://www.realestatepostcardbook.com
