Are postcard campaigns an important part of your 2018 marketing plans? Whether you’re new to direct mail or an old pro, here are a couple of ideas to help make your next postcard campaign a winner:
Plan your schedule
There are three components to scheduling a real estate postcard campaign: maintaining a consistent delivery schedule, aiming for relevant holidays, and choosing when you want your leads to come in. The first two are relatively self-explanatory, but for the third, you’ll need a bit of background data. Different markets, and different prospect types, respond to mailers at different rates. If you’re sending out a RE/MAX postcard campaign in a new market, this can be hard to predict, so it’s a good idea to ask around and see if other realtors will share any information about their response rates. But if you’ve used postcard direct mail in the past, you should have a sense of what percentage of your list will respond after postcard #1, #5, etc., and plan accordingly.
Segment your list
Whether you’re using your own purpose-built list or a service like EDDM, you’ll get better results with a more narrowly targeted audience. Sorting prospects into “buckets” – e.g. likely sellers, likely buyers, retirees, etc. – can make it easier to choose the message that makes the most sense for each group.
Test and test again
Marketers have been fond of running A/B tests for years, and with good reason. How do you know if your message is as effective as possible if you have nothing to compare it to? Set up a simple A/B test by changing a single component of your RE/MAX direct mail postcards, and sending each version to half of your list. For example, you might test your call to action by sending out one set of cards that say “Contact me for all of your real estate needs!”, and another set that says, “I can help sell your home fast!”, and comparing the response rates between the two postcards.
Get a little personal
If you’re planning a multiple-mailing RE/MAX postcard campaign, it’s ok to venture away from the direct offer on occasion. Sprinkling in the occasional personal promotion or agent introduction card along with the market updates and recently sold postcards is a great way for your prospects to get to know you a little better. The human touch helps you build a connection with your list, and is more likely to keep you top-of-mind when your prospects do have real estate needs.