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Real Estate Postcards the Smart Way

When it comes to direct mail, people are still pumping money into it. In the world of real estate, many people concentrate more on real estate postcards. If done right, you could see tremendous amounts of leads by being active in your market.

But Wait…

If it were that easy, then everyone would be having success in mailing out postcards to absentees, foreclosures, probates, and distressed properties. You see, I’ve been doing this long enough to tell you that the pain is felt by me, and the reason why I’m here to rescue you from the money-sucking industry which is direct mail.

Here are a few pains I will solve today...

• How to think like a marketer, “not a real estate person.”
• How to get your postcards out the trash
• How to get the homeowner attention and force action
• How to get at least a 50% response rate “at least.”
• and all the real estate marketing material you will ever need

In this guide, not only will you become as smart as a seasoned marketer, but you will also be given step by step instructions on how to implement these tasks. Plus, in the end, you will get some real estate postcards software and companies that will make this process even more comfortable.

Before jumping into the entire process, I will like to make a challenge for you. If you can find anywhere online about this form of marketing for real estate postcards, then I will love to shake your hand. From tons of research online, I’ve not come across anything like this at all.

What I’ve found is people showing you how to create your real estate postcard templates, and how to design them for a fashion look. Even read tons of content about people telling how often you should mail your cards. But I fail to understand anything that gave you step by step instructions on how to convert a higher response rate until now.

Educate, Don’t Sell

One of the main reasons I’ve been able to stick around online for over 15 years now is that I don’t sell. Now you are maybe asking what does this have to do with real estate postcard marketing. The truth is that when you start to think about getting the attention of your potential audience, then you will begin to think creatively.

There are tons of real estate marketing ideas you can come up with to increase the response rate. But the #1 way that no one in the industry of real estate nor any other industry is the educational model. What I’ve learned over the years is to give, give and give some more if you’re not given enough.

What does this mean? Meaning you should be willing to teach people what you know about an industry such as real estate. To take it a step further if you know how a family that is behind on their mortgage can get caught up without refinancing their home…would you educate them on that?

Maybe you have information on staging a property for a quicker sale will you be willing to share those tips with homeowners? Right now, you may be a little confused about how this all ties into postcard marketing.

You see, the overall goal of marketing is to get the attention of your targeted audience. Look, I’m not trying to sell or pitch a service to anyone on the first or second contact. Why? Very simple, if you think about it, people are always being sold to every second of the day.

You’re driving in your car and all of a sudden there is a new commercial on buying a new car, no money down with XXXX amount of money back. What about when you’re watching TV? Have you ever thought about why they show commercials? Oh Yea…to sell to YOU

But, you may still be saying how in the world can I run a successful real estate business no matter if I’m a…

• realtor
• broker
• investor
• bird dog
• appraiser
• etc…

Introduce Valuable Content

I’ve been able to get thousands of people to read my website content, and signup for my free 52-week real estate marketing newsletter course by not selling to them. Don’t believe me take a look at my writing on real estate marketing by Googling me on BiggerPockets, where you will see the tons of comments I get on the content I write. Not only that, those readers of that content inbox me when they need more help with their real estate marketing.

The Secret: I’m Educating People…Not Selling Services

Now I can go on and on how you need to stop selling versus educating people, but for now, I want to give you the formula to getting more people to respond to your direct mail. Not only respond but force those people to take action. I go into even more details of this in my free real estate marketing newsletter course. 

Postcards Formula 101

What I’m about to reveal may not seem traditional when it comes to postcard marketing. No matter if these are postcards for realtors, investors, brokers, that system is still the same. Before getting into the formula, I first need you to understand something, and from there, all of this I talk about will make sense.

Do you ever wonder why your local food markets such as Brookshire’s, Kroger, Wal-Mart all give away those FREE recipes brochures? Well, they know once you look at all the awesome recipes in the pamphlet, you will be back to do what…yea spend money.

You see, this is just a smart way of giving you something of value in the short term so they can gain something of even greater cost down the road, which is your money.

I call this…Give, Educate and Receive

Now you see the mind frame I’m trying to put you in now, its time to get down to the formula for your real estate postcard marketing.

Step #1

The educational website is the key to your real estate postcard marketing more than anything you will do. That is having a well put together educational real estate website. Remember, I said an educational real estate website that includes tons of valuable local content.

This content needs to be about your local market from pricing your property to choosing the right real estate company to list your property. No matter if you’re an investor and seeking that business from that homeowner, you still need to have as much information as possible. Why? The simple fact, if your website becomes the center point place to go, then you will get all of the referral type traffic to your site.

If you don’t have a website, then you need to start by getting a domain and hosting account for dirt cheap. I’ve even created a step by step guide that will show you how to get your website up and running in only 10mins.

Step #2

Here is the final thing when it comes to the website is the content that needs to be on the site. Remember, we are trying to increase our response rate and force them to take action. The content is so important to be able to serve the people and give them what they’re looking for to serve their needs.

For Example:

If you have a homeowner that passes over to your site from Google by searching for something such as Dallas TX Foreclosure Companies.  Then this is a person who is going through foreclosure and on the edge of losing their property, so at the end of the day, they’re looking for a foreclosure company to help with this process of getting them the options available.

You, I’ve already Googled that keyword phrase Dallas foreclosure companies and found that there is absolutely no content that is helpful. Even the first link goes to the county clerk, which is not helpful at all.

Now, what if you wrote the “The Best Dallas, TX Foreclosure Companies and Resources.”

If something like this came up in the search engines, then it would get tons of CTR “Click-Through Rates” Even if you’re not trying to help them get out of foreclosure, it’s best to provide that content for those who need it.

If you’re thinking outside the box, the goal is to be the central location in your city for all real estate content. No matter the subject, I will have that content on my website for those who need it. Why? If that content helps them solve a problem, then that’s perfect for them, if not then guess who they’re going to call for help.

Guess Who? YOU

Step #3

The next to the last process, you need to set up before we get into the formula of real estate postcards marketing if adding an autoresponder. When people come over to your website, you always want to collect names and email addresses.

Just make sure you have a video, guide, newsletter, or resources where you can give away exchange for their contact information. Believe me, when I tell you is that it’s best to obtain leads information if you want great life success in real estate.

Yes, it may not seem like something you need to do, but if done right, you should be able to automate more parts of your business. This something I will talk more about later in my “AutoResponders the Smart Way” blog post; I’m working on which should be available later this month.

Finally, if you need two autoresponders, I suggest you go with Aweber or Getresponse.

Final Step to Succes

Once you finish this method below, you will be able to read the complete real estate marketing postcard guide and also will include some incredible resources to help you dominate your local market from A to Z. My recommendation is to take advantage of it because you will have the upper hand in your local market.

To be able to get your real estate postcards response rate up, then you need to think outside the box. The ultimate key is to educate and not try selling to your potential leads.

When you put your cards together, you will need to think about introducing your amazing content on your website. Instead of coming out with the old way of marketing with titles like…

• We Buy Houses Fast
• Sell Your House to Me
• Get Out of Foreclosure
• and so on…

When I talk to most investors, they all use real estate postcards that include the titles above. Now there is nothing wrong with those titles, but when people see them that are not ready to sell, then guess where your postcard goes. Yelp in the Trash.

Why?

People are not ready at that moment to sell their property to you just that simple. Heck, some of them will get so mad and report you to the local authorities. Yes, I have heard about homeowners filing harassment charges against them.  Crazy huh

If you’re thinking about mailing people every month, and so on, then you go ahead and take that risk. The risk could be just spending too much money on postcard marketing. The other risk could be having to deal with some crazy people who don’t want your business.

What Do I Suggest?

To be able to get that response rate that will make your competitor’s eyeballs pop out, then you need to stand out in the crowd from day one. Remember, your not the only one sending out real estate postcards. Right

What I suggest to get people to respond and take action is to go about given the property owners something of epic-wow value from day one where they just can not resist. Something the second they see it, they will think more about calling or email you to Thank You versus them throwing your postcard in the trash.

Just to give you an example of something of value you can present to your targeted audience is something I wrote for the people I’m trying to target. Since I write exclusively about real estate marketing from A to Z, then I decided to put a simple guide together for all real estate agents.

Coming from a guy who’s been doing real estate for over 15 years now and working with countless agents and brokers, then I realize there is a “PAIN.”

That pain is what most of all of them struggling on how to get real estate listings. What I did is sat down and wrote the complete guide to finding real estate listings the smart way. What I do is that I find the email addresses of agents and brokers and then send them a warm, welcoming email.

Which reads like this…

Hi Agent

My name is Antonio Coleman, and I just ran across you guys contact information and wanted to reach out and say Hi. You see, I write 100,000’s words each year on real estate marketing, so I wanted to get your feedback on something. 

I wrote an epic-wow piece of content titled. “Too Lazy? Simple Guide on How to Get Unlimited Real Estate Listings From Scratch” 

If you have a moment, can you take a look at, and let me know what you think, and if you have a great marketing idea that’s not listed, I will love to know about it. If it’s something of value, then I will love to add it to the blog, and also credit you guys and the source.

Hope to hear from you soon

Real Estate Marketing Headquarters                                                                                                      

Antonio Coleman

The Finale Results

Even though I’m not sending out a postcard to the potential lead, I’m still able to email them something of value. Since you’re targeting property owners that only have a physical address, which is their so-called email address. For this reason, you must have very creative marketing tactics that will allow you to convert to the action taking by the potential lead.

What you see is that I didn’t try to sell them on anything at all except by providing them the content to solve their pain. From here, once they read the content, then there are a few things I’m looking to achieve. And let me name them all.

• Leave a Comment
• Share on Social Media
• Link to It on Their Website “Building Backlinks for Rankings in Google.”
• Word of Mouth Spreading
• Opt-in for my Free 52 Week “Real Estate Marketing Newsletter”  “My #1 Goal.”

No matter if one or all the above actions take place, I’ve achieved my goal and now have someone as followers of me and my content. Very Powerful Marketing Strategy

Your approach should be the same if you want to increase your response rate by at least 50%. Yes, it could be more, and heck it might even be less depending on the epic-wow content you’re presenting to them. Below I’m going to give you examples of titles of content that will increase the response rate of whoever you’re targeting.

List #1: Regular Homeowners

• 8 Tips on How to Cut Your Monthly Mortage in Half in Dallas TX
• Master The Art Of Saving Money on Utilities in Dallas TX
• How to Grow the Best Flower Bed in Your Neighborhood of Dallas TX

List #2: Vacate/Distressed Properties

• Here is How to Add Value to Your Property in Shreveport, LA
• Donít Waste Time! 8 Facts on Improving Your Property Value in Shreveport, LA
• Think Your Property is Worthless? 8 Ways You Can Make Money in 72hrs – Right Here in Dallas TX

List #3: Behind on Mortgage/Potential Foreclosures

• 8 Incredible Ways to Bring YourMortgagee Current Here in Bossier City, LA
• 20 Lessons About Foreclosure in Bossier City, LA You Need To Learn Before You Hit 40
• How to Get Out of Foreclosure in Bossier City, LA With Money in Your Pocket

What you have here is the blueprint of getting people’s attention without selling to them. Educational content works like a charm if you produce the content, and suggest that content to them. But Wait, you might be thinking I’m in the business of doing business, so how in the world can I move properties if I’m playing the helpful guy.

Look, the key to marketing when it comes to all my friends who are successfully marketing around this world and me. We all have something of value that we give away, which is like the “HOOK” to reel you into our place.

We want to provide that property owner the solution to the PAIN. Once they hit our website, which is the reason why I continue to stress that your site is your foundation to educate the potential lead. If that thing is not done right, which I talk about all the time on BiggerPockets, and thanks to Brandon for giving me that opportunity to do so. If not done right then all the marketing you will be a waste of time…Period

So, our goal is to hook them by bringing them over to the website, which will allow you to further market to them. Now they’re on your website where you are talking about the useful content you’re writing. Plus, you have more content on their introducing yourself or company to the potential lead. Not only that, their ability to find tons of more content on your website that is helpful epic-wow content that is not twisting their arms to sell their property.

The most important message that is going over your head is something I talk about all the time with my real estate clients. You are given away valuable information, and to be honest, if you have more knowledge to give away, then don’t hold back because the more you give, the more you will “RECIEVE” believe me, I know.

These people will love you for providing that content they need to solve a problem and pain. If, for some reason, after reading your content or whatever you give away, and it’s something they just can’t’ do for some reason or another. Guess who they’re going to call in the time of need…YELP…YOOOOUUU

I call this. Give, Educate, and Recieve tons of responses that will be incredible for your brand. Your success with it is all based upon your effort and determination to succeed. Turn those real estate postcards into something of value versus people looking at it sideways, wondering why someone is harassing them about their property.

You want them to save that postcard from looking at it later by laying it on their bed or pinning it to the refrigerator. If they take action such as this, then you have just increase your response rate overnight by being the educator versus the car salesman.

Below I want to go into more details on how to find the cheapest postcards and the strategies of bulk mailing them out. There are countless places where you can go online to get your postcards, but I’m willing to break them down so not only can you increase your response rate but also save tons of money in the process.

Complete Real Estate Marketing Postcards Process From A to Z

Above I just explained thoroughly how to go about using real estate postcard marketing the smart way. In this section, I’m going to go through the process of getting the most out of the least amount of money.

The method I teach when it comes to doing postcard marketing is entirely out of the box and completely different compared to what other people have taught you. But, with those creative marketing traits on top of making the right choices on the places to get your postcards will set you light years ahead of the local competition.

The goal is to have that every door direct mail postcards are marketing in place in a combination of smart marketing to increase the response rate. No matter if you’re doing commercial real estate postcards marketing or just the average investor postcard marketing, you should be able to take what’s below and find the right fit for you.

Direct Mail Real Estate Postcards

When you are thinking about the type of postcards to create, there are a few things you must consider. Depending upon the market you’re in is what determines the kind of postcards you need. Here are a few routes you can go to…

• • Welcome to the Neighborhood Postcards

• • Introducing Yourself Postcards

• • Free Resources Postcards

• • Home Improvements Postcards

• • Just Listed Postcards For Real Estate

• • Just Sold Postcards Real Estate

• and much more.

The key is to cater to your postcards around the awesome content you have on your website. The content on your website, if done right and the creative method of educating versus selling on top of a good looking postcard will increase response rates.

Mailing Cheap Postcards in Bulk

When you are thinking about how to mail postcards in bulk, you must understand the process. Meaning if you plan on getting your brand out there to the masses, then you must think about bulk mailing. This is the same concept we used to use back in the day for email marketing.

What we did was that we collected thousands of emails, and just sent them out in bulk for faster and quick response rates. Not so much in direct mail marketing is that you should think about bulk mailing, but in a way that’s affordable and effective.

Why Bulk Mail Postcards?

Simply you want to target as many property owners and renters as possible with one swing of the bat. There are many companies out there that will do all this for you at a reasonable price. Below I have a list of places in the resource section of those locations you can start with.

To get back to the reason of why you want to bulk mail your postcards, it is complete with dominating a local area at one drop of a dime. You see, our goal is to increase the response rate, and one of the effective ways I do that is through hitting my targeted market all at once through bulk mailing.

When you’re thinking about where to print those postcards, just keep in mind that cheap is not always better.

The old saying..If you buy cheap…you buy twice

You need to think about only the area you want to target and the potential prospect you want to acquire. The price will come into factor, but no matter what you do, keep it reasonable and try not to blow your budget.

How to Avoid the Mailing List Nightmare on Elm Street

If you ever want to have what I call a waking nightmare, then think about buying your mailing list from unlikely places. The nightmare is real if you just go out and purchase your list from websites that are questionable.

The cost to print postcards today can vary from service to service, so, for this reason, it’s not wise to jeopardize your budget on a dead mailing list. There is nothing worse sending out a piece of mail to 2k people, and 5o% of them come back to you. WHY?

The truth is that the internet is a scary place, something, and yes, people do get taking advantage of no matter age, race, or gender. I’ve seen people buy what we call computerize automation lists. This is the list people just completely makeup and sell at a cheap, and I mean low price.

Will it be tempting to send out your 500 4 by six postcards to and list of 500 property owners that only cost you $25? Yes, It Would

The thing is that people sell these types of the list over and over again that result in returned mail and even worse complaints. For this reason, if you want to get the best marketing list for your postcards, then I will suggest looking at the resources I have below.

From personally using this serves below, I’ve found out that they hit the nail right on the head. These are quadlet websites and services that will minimize your search for a quality list to buy. If you want to target every property or business locally in your market, then now you have the right tools for success.

Real Estate Postcards Infographic

Below is an infographic I’ve put together to break down the entire process in simple terms.

Enjoy this infographic? Share it on Twitter

If you’d like to embed this infographic into your website, please feel free to copy the embed code below:

<p style=”text-align: center;”><img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-1739″ src=”http://www.colemanmg.com/30k/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Real-Estate-Postcards-Complete-Guide-to-Increase-Your-Response-Rate-by-50-Infographic.jpg” alt=”” width=”1000″ height=”2298″ /></p>

List of Resources

USPS® Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) is an affordable targeted advertising service that lets you map your marketing mail audience by age, income, or household size2. You can use the EDDM mapping tool to choose the ZIP Code™ and carrier route that will target your best possible customers—current and future. The EDDM mapping tool is easy to use, and discounts are available even for small businesses.

USPS® Every Door Direct Mail

ABOUT EVERY DOOR DIRECT MAIL® EDDM® is the easiest and most affordable way to deliver your offers into every local mailbox. Send mail to entire postal carrier routes, or even entire Zip Codes. No mailing lists required.

Staples Direct Mail

DirectMail.com is an industry leader providing Intelligent Marketing Solutions to the nation’s leading brands, fundraisers, and midmarket enterprises. We give organizations Insight & Analytics that turn their raw numbers into useful information to support strategic decision-making and bottom-line growth.

Direct mail

EveryDoorDirectMail.com is a division of Taradel LLC. The company was founded in 2004 by CEO, Jim Fitzgerald. Located in Glen Allen, VA, and servicing all 50 states, the company is one of the nation’s fastest-growing providers of print advertising solutions. Taradel LLC owns and operates EveryDoorDirectMail.com under permission from the USPS. Since launch, advertisers have mailed more than 25 million postcards and flyers via EveryDoorDirectMail.com — making the company the leading provider of turnkey EDDM solutions in the USA.

It’s easy! Get people excited about your business with powerful marketing that delivers results

Every Door Direct Mail

Spread the Word

I wrote this over 4500k plus words on postcard marketing for everyone in the industry of real estate who are looking for the right answers. Hopefully, this guide will help you increase your response rate over time, and with the help from you, I’m asking if you could spread the word.

There are share buttons all over the page if you don’t mind passing it on to your friends and followers. Plus also there is a comment section below for those who are willing to add to the topic in any way, shape, or form. All comments are welcome for those who have more knowledge of postcard marketing if it’s something I didn’t cover.

Don’t forget about my free 52-week real estate marketing newsletter that walks you through all parts of donating your real estate market.

Finally, thanks for reading, and I wish to hear about all your success stories.

Antonio Coleman, “Signing Off.”

Real Estate Marketing

Domination 101

Learn how to dominate your local real estate market by outsmarting your competitors.

Tags: Direct Mail Real Estate Postcards, Mailing Cheap Postcards in Bulk, Real Estate Postcards, Real Estate Postcards Infographic, Why Bulk Mail Postcards