Tuesday, July 29, 2025

direct mail marketing


    Ah, the humble postcard. So simple, yet filled with so much power.

    For a time, it appeared that the selfie would replace the non-business postcard, but recent statistics say no.

    In fact, in the recent Harris Poll Essential 100, Americans named the U.S. Postal Service as the number one most essential business’ in the country.

    Never has this been more evident than in the real estate industry, which is seeing a resurgence in the use of “time-tested” marketing methods and direct mail is at the top of this list.

    A late April Valassis survey found that 30% of consumers are spending more time reading the direct mail marketing pieces they receive.

    There is an art to creating an effective postcard marketing campaign, though.

    No, it’s not difficult, but there are certain strategies that work better than others. Let’s take a look at the most important of these.

    It all starts with your audience

    A Scheduled SOI Campaign is ideal for keeping in touch with your past clients and other VIPs in your sphere. And, ProspectsPLUS! offers a 3 extra closing guarantee when you Schedule a one-year SOI Campaign.

    Postcards are also ideal for another type of lead generation – niche marketing. Decide on who it is you want to attract, buyers or sellers, and more specifically which niche of buyers and sellers, and launch a campaign.

    The narrowing down of possible leads to focus on helps the rest of your marketing plan go more smoothly and increases your potential ROI.

    If you’re looking for listings, find out the median duration of homeownership in your area. ATTOM Data Solutions’ most recent U.S. Home Sales Report shows that homeowners owned their homes an average of 7.95 years.

    As we know, all real estate is local, so if you can find the data for your area, rely on that instead of the national numbers.

    For instance, ATTOM also finds that homeowners in five Connecticut cities have the longest tenure, while those “… in Colorado Springs, CO … Oklahoma City, OK … Grand Rapids, MI …Denver, CO … and Minneapolis, MN had the shortest.

    The Absentee Owner Campaign is shown above. Learn more HERE

    This information helps you narrow your mailing list even further. You’re now looking for homeowners who purchased their homes at least six years ago (or whatever number is appropriate for your market).

    How far back should you go?

    “If someone bought last year or 30 years ago, they’re probably not looking to sell,” according to James McGrath, co-founder at Yoreevo in NYC.

    “You want to be in that sweet spot of owners of 5-7 years,” he concludes.

    The more you drill down in demographics, tenure, and the like with tools like the Demographic Search Tool (for niche marketing) and MapMyMail (for radial and pinpoint polygon lists), the more targeted the list and the better the response will be to your real estate direct mail campaign.

    Absentee owners have been a popular target market this year. A targeted list of absentee owners in your local market can be easily created with the MapMyMail search tool (just select the “absentee owner” radio button in step 2).

    We offer a number of brilliant Absentee Owner postcards as well. Make your marketing easy by scheduling an automated Absentee Owner Campaign.

    Prefer targeting buyers?

    Why not bring YOUR OWN buyer to the table. NAR states home buyers move within 15 miles of their last location. This means there’s a good chance your farm’s home buyers are renters located in the same area.

    Geographic farming in some of the most popular apartment and condo complexes in your market is a good place to start. Narrow the search to tenants between the ages of 30 and 49. You might also want to narrow your target audience further, according to income.

    Then create a targeted renter prospect list and launch a Rent By Numbers Campaign.

    Ready to launch a targeted direct mail campaign?

    Did you know our Farm, Get More Listings Scheduled Campaigns are currently on sale 10% OFF the first month?

    Farm, Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign is shown above. Learn more, HERE

    TO LAUNCH A GET MORE LISTINGS CAMPAIGN:

    Hit “CLICK HERE”, below (from a desktop or laptop computer) and choose the Get More Listings Series of postcards.

    USE PROMO CODE: LIST10 to get 10% Off at check out.

    And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY for each mailing until it actually goes out (cancel or change each mailing up until the night before it goes out). This sale expires on 9/18/21.

    Launch a Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

    Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.


    PLUS: When you have time…below are some helpful tools to support your success.

    1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

    2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

    The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

    3. The Automated Way to Become a Neighborhood Brand

    Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

    4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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    The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

    5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

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    Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

    6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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    Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

    7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT” 

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    The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

    Time For a Head-to-Head Comparison

    When it comes to marketing for leads, diversifying across more than one advertising medium is never a bad idea. One form of marketing piggybacks on another creating a more powerful impact on your target audience.

    However, with a limited budget, understanding which form of lead generation will provide you the best bang for your buck is just smart business sense.

    With the continued growth of online lead generation companies, a new and seemingly endless supply of leads are now being made available for the busy agent.

    However, agent reviews tell a different story. Many complain of bogus leads and feeling scammed, yet other agents sing their praises.

    With good marketing dollars at stake, what’s an agent to believe? Time to take a deeper look at online lead generation versus the long-standing favorite direct mail lead generation. Let’s see if we can figure this out. 

    Online Lead Generation

    Online lead sites typically generate leads by using various forms of digital marketing to drive traffic to landing pages and websites. When new leads funnel in they’re pushed out to the paying agents.

    The average monthly cost for these services starts at around $500. Now let’s look at what you are getting for this investment.

    The upside: You’re putting your marketing dollars and more importantly your “time investment” in another’s hands. It is now their job to try and target the right audience, develop ads, launch campaigns and maintain them. You have just saved yourself a significant amount of time and effort (hurray!).

    The downside: You are also effectively putting your “marketing message” in the hands of a third party. And hoping “their” message represents you in the right way to your potential audience. You’ve saved time, but you have also lost control over how your audience is marketed and what their user experience is like.

    In addition, if a lead they furnish you has a bad experience with them, this bad experience is now attached to you as well (yikes!). Their reputation becomes your reputation through association.

    Furthermore, you have no idea what journey your “lead” has been on up until the point they were handed to you. Which may be why many agent reviews about online leads convey such a degree of frustration and disappointment. When they actually reach out to the lead, they’re often confused about why they are calling or angry to receive a call from another agent.

    Now let’s take the same $500 per month investment and spend it on a targeted direct mail campaign. 

    Direct Mail Lead Generation

    Let’s say your goal is to generate more listing inventory. So you select a specific, target market that you want to pursue – we’ll call it your “dream audience”. Now you create a targeted mailing list. This list includes a certain neighborhood zip code, specific home values, and maybe even years of ownership or possibly just renters.

    Upside: For 100 targeted homes, your “dream audience” mailing list will be an investment of approximately $8.00, at 8 cents per record (yippy!).

    Furthermore, you actually know where your lead came from (no 3rd party mystery). And you know that the people who “really want and need your help” are more likely to exist within this targeted group.

    Now you choose a postcard to send your “dream audience” from a series that have been proven effective for “generating listing inventory” (designed by an advertising team with years of experience in real estate marketing). The investment to send 100 of these postcards to your “dream” mailing list is $95.00 (double yippy!).

    Continued upside: For a total investment of $103 you put yourself in front of 100 of your potential “dream” clients. And you’ve given them powerful, compelling information about you that they can hold in their hand, put up on their refrigerator, or save for future reference. Hey, and guess what? You still have $397 dollars of your $500 monthly budget leftover.

    Now that is powerful marketing!

    But what about some facts?

    Direct mail marketing sure sounds good based on the above analysis. However, as my mother used to say, “The proof is in the pudding” (meaning the proof is in the actual results).

    Here are some statistics from the professionals who make a living out of scientifically studying marketing, the DMA (data and Marketing Association), InfoTrends, and International Communications Research.

    • Direct mail marketing outperforms digital marketing response rates by more than 700%.
    • The average ROI for direct mail is 15 -17%.
    • 62% of consumers who responded to direct mail in the past three months made a purchase.
    • 59% of U.S. respondents agreed with the following statement, “I enjoy getting postal mail from brands about new products.”
    • 73% of consumers actually prefer snail mail over other advertising methods.
    • 40% of consumers try new businesses after receiving direct mail.
    • People read postcards in greater numbers with a 3.9% year-over-year increase per a USPS Household Diary Study.

    Conclusion

    By actively controlling your marketing dollars and knowing the history of the potential client “lead” that you have paid hard-earned money to generate, you are comfortably situated in the driver’s seat.

    Which, based on the above evidence, appears to be the right place for the best outcome. Outsourcing various tasks that are a part of your business so you have time to focus on what’s important is smart business.

    However, there is nothing more important than making the right first impression with the right targeted audience.

    And there is no one who can do that better than – YOU!

    The time to get in the driver’s seat and take control of your marketing starts now.
    Send the More Buyers Than Listings postcard from the Listing Inventory Series to 100 prospects in an area where you want more listings.

    Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

    PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

    1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

    Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

    2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

    Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

    3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

    Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

    Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

    MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

    Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand