Everyone knows that direct mail is a viable method of generating motivated leads in your real estate investment business. So all the real estate investors are making a lot of money from the leads they get from direct mail, right? Mistaken!
If you’re doing direct mail, there are two critical factors real estate investors need to consider to make your mailing campaign a success. If you smell these two, it’s going to end up costing you a lot of money (and time)!
1. The List
The first factor is the quality of the list you are submitting. It is important that the list is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Sounds pretty basic, but you’d be surprised how poor some data providers are when it comes to accuracy and completeness. To give you an example, I have ordered lists before from list providers where many of the entries did not have full mailing addresses. An omission like this will kill your return on investment because you’ll be paying for undeliverable pieces of mail. Therefore, your best course of action is to stick with reliable providers. I have had good results with RealQuest.com, MelissaData.com, and tax filing through my local tax assessor’s office.
Similarly, you want to make sure that you are sending emails to a list that is likely to generate a good response. Certain types of homeowners are already predisposed to be motivated sellers. For example, absentee homeowners make a great mailing list. Absentee owners are often investors. You can identify them because the property tax mailing address will be different from the property address. You will find many burnt-out owners on this list. Other lists I recommend mailing to are probate and eviction lists.
I want to mention the foreclosure lists because this is probably the first list that pops into every real estate investor’s mind when they think of direct mailing for lead generation. The foreclosure list can be a profitable mailing list, but you should be aware that all other real estate investors in your county mail to the same list. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that your mailing piece stand out from your competition (more on that later). Also, if you live in an area that is saturated with foreclosures, such as South Florida, California, Arizona, or Nevada, you’ll want to be sure to check the foreclosure list and only mail to the types of properties you want to invest in. . For example, if you want to avoid short sales, only email people who have equity in their homes. As mentioned above, the quality of the list is extremely important. I do not recommend buying a foreclosure listing online unless you know what you are getting. There are many companies that sell foreclosure lists that contain outdated and inaccurate data; I have seen listings where many of the listed properties have already been repossessed by the bank. You don’t want bank-owned properties on your list; you only want pre-foreclosure properties. My recommendation is to find a local data provider that specializes in your area. For example, if you live in Florida, ForeclosuresDaily.com is a good provider of foreclosure listings.
2. The piece of mail
The second factor to consider before sending direct mail is the piece of mail you are going to send. You have 3 main options: postcards, letters, or “bulk mail.”
The advantage of postcards is that the recipient does not have to open the mail. They will look at the postcard, read your message, and then decide whether to reply. Postcards are also good because they are relatively inexpensive. The downside, however, is that your response rate won’t be as high as with a letter, so you’ll need to send a higher volume to see the desired results.
Lettering is great as long as you give it a personal touch. Remember, you must first get the recipient to open the letter. You can accomplish this by writing the addresses on the envelopes by hand (or better yet, using a handwriting font). If you send a letter with a pre-printed address or label, you’re going to kill your response rate; This is especially true if you are mailing to a foreclosure list. Another way to add a personal touch is to use invitation-style envelopes instead of business-size envelopes.
Finally, “lumpy mail” can be almost anything that attracts attention due to the lumpy shape of the mail piece. Consider including some kind of tchotchke or promotional item, eg a key chain, a coffee mug. It doesn’t really matter, of course, you want to try to link your article to your message or company, but the goal is to get the recipient to open your mail. Obviously it will cost more money to package and mail compared to postcards and letters, but you will get a much higher response rate.