How many times have you received a piece of direct mail and simply thrown it in the trash?
If you had a dime for every time…right?
The reason you trash direct mail isn’t because you don’t ever need the services being marketed; it’s because the piece didn’t speak to you in some way.
Hey Moguls, it’s JD Esajian, and I’m thrilled to be back with another awesome lesson. And if you like today’s lesson (I know you will!), check out my other great lessons too.
Today, I’m here to share with you some tips that will help you maximize the results of one of the most essential real estate investment deal-getting tools.
I’m talking about direct mail marketing.
Through targeting with distinctive postcards and letters, direct mail is one of the most powerful ways you can connect with distressed sellers. The tips I’m about to share with you will amp up your direct mail campaigns and ultimately help you close more deals and make more money.
And who doesn’t want more money?
So what’s your goal with direct mail marketing? To be seen, of course! You, as a dynamic investor, need to create – or have someone else – create effective direct mail pieces that arouse curiosity and elicit a response from your target audience, which brings me to my first tip for successful and impactful direct mail marketing.
Tip 1: Know Your Target
You want motivated sellers; sellers facing foreclosure; those with undesirable inherited properties.
Remember who you’re trying to connect with, and that you’re services will offer solutions to their problems. You’re that investor who can help them unload their unwanted property.
Tip 2: Consistency Is Key
If you want to increase your response rate, you’ve got to get in front and stay in front of your motivated sellers. One time won’t make the phone ring. Trust me.
You could do what many investors do; they mail a letter once to 1,000 sellers. When you say it out loud, it sounds impressive. Surely mailing to 1,000 sellers will generate a significant response!
Shall we keep it real?
Repetition and consistency are your keys to success. I’d rather you touch (figuratively, of course) 250 people four times with one amazing mailer and increase your response rate, than mail once to thousands of people. Period.
Decrease the amount of sellers you market to, hone in on the right ones and consistently (without bombarding) market to them. Remember, a good response rate is 3%-8%, so if you’re in that ballpark, you’re rockin’ and rollin’. (If you’re nailing 8%, you’re knocking it out of the park, and major props to you!)
Tip 3: Follow Up Repeatedly
You’ve got to follow up on your mailers. It’s that simple.
I could go on for days sharing stories about successful follow up and their outcomes. But (sadly) we don’t have that kind of time…
What I can tell you here and now is that you never know what the compounding effects of your communication can do. It may take weeks, maybe months – possibly even longer – but timing is everything!
That one additional phone call or email could make all the difference.
So pick up the phone; send that email. Just follow up! Invest in the connections and contacts you’ve established, because in time it will pay off.
Tip #4 Track Your Results
Just like following up is a must, tracking your results is just as important.
If you don’t know where you’ve come from, how can you know where you’re going? Good question, right?
Understand who you’re connecting to, who is responding to your mailers, and more importantly – who isn’t. This way, you know which campaigns work, which don’t and how to tweak your marketing moving forward.
Tip #5 Outsource
So, clearly, there are lots of tasks to do when utilizing direct mail. And one of those should be finding an efficient way – or resource – to get ‘er done. Who has time to answer all those calls that are going to be coming in once your mailer is out there?
One word: Outsource.
Check out yellowletterscomplete.com and yellowletters.com and hire a reliable answering service that can do the work for you.
If a knowledgeable, professional voice isn’t there to greet your motivated sellers, you’re going to lose their potential business. Ouch. Outsourcing to fulfillment companies may require a small financial investment, but it will free up your time to focus on tasks that truly need your attention.
Tip 6: Creativity Creates Curiosity
I know, I know. Even I can’t help but roll my eyes when I say the clichéd “think outside of the box.”
But that truly is the best way to grab the attention of your sellers. Get creative!
When you’re creative, your sellers will think twice about trashing your mailer. Push the envelope a bit and don’t be afraid to include a little something bizarre, unique or different (not offensive or inappropriate) in your mailer to raise some eyebrows.
I’m Listening
Got any other direct mail tips? Share them in the comments section below.
Know your target audience, and remember you are the solution to their property problems.
Be consistent and mail more often to fewer (targeted) people. Most people need to see a direct mailer 4-5 times before they actually pick up the phone.
Follow up as much as possible. Don’t have the time? Make the time! That one extra call could mean big money.
Track your responses and use fulfillment companies to maintain your database and respond to your callers when you can’t.
Outsource your work when you can. Let a knowledgeable professional do the grunt work for you, so you can focus your time and energy on more productive, money-making tasks.
Get creative and be bold by creating mailers that arouse curiosity. This way, they’ll add your mailer to their “to-do” stack of mail rather than the “just another tree killed” pile of recycling/trash.
JD Esajian
, star of a popular flipping houses reality show, is head project manager of CT Homes LLC, a multi-million dollar real estate investing company, as well as a national speaker with FortuneBuilders Inc, a real estate educational training company. He, along business partners Than Merrill and brother Paul Esajian are some of the nation’s most successful investors and are considered elite experts in buying, fixing, and selling properties.