It All Depends On Your Postcard
Many agents think that the tried and proven methods of advertising does not work. Not all methods are created equal and you can’t rely on just one method for all your advertising needs. I’ve heard many agents say that they use only online resources to sell and promote. I know it’s a fact that buyers and sellers are very computer savvy and who doesn’t love online resources and just spending time on the net. Our youngest consumers are very computer literate and I must say that I do the majority of my shopping online now.
Listing homes certainly has its place online and has a tremendous success rate. However, you can’t rely on the net for self promotion and staying in front of your clients, community, and SOI. An agent that customers hear from is one that they will keep in mind and keep doing business with.
Like any other marketing campaign, sending postcards to your customer and prospect list is not a one-time event. You should consider a minimum of four mailings and ideally up to 12 mailings per year. Effective postcard campaigns are based on the season and sales cycle of your business. You can now add to that our economy and the rate of foreclosures and short sales, both on the buying and selling side.
According to industry measures effective campaigns average a 5 percent to 15 percent response rate, with some campaigns such as Reward or Foreclosure postcards averaging 15 percent to 50 percent response rate.
In spite of the rising cost of everything, postcard marketing is still extremely affordable and remains an effective direct marketing tactic that is easily incorporated into your business marketing mix. Here are five tips for effective postcard marketing.
1. Choose your message carefully. When customers receive your card, they’ll glance at it, and in the space of only a few seconds, decide whether or not they want to read more. Find script on benefits and support it with features. Benefits are what’s in it for the customer while features are the facts supporting the benefit to buy. Benefits drive marketing response.
2. Find designs with emotional marketing standards. Effective postcard designs rely on a fast visual punch. In keeping with your branding use visually stimulating colors and fonts since your postcard must stand out from the batch of mail, and stay away from clipart, cheesy type postcards. Use strong colors, intriguing photos, and large headlines to gain attention.
3. Use both sides of the card. You don’t know which side will face up when customers receive their mail. Design your postcard marketing with both sides of the card in mind, and be sure to repeat your message. This way you’ll have the best chance at attracting the customer’s attention.
4. Use Real Stamps. Use real postage stamps on your postcards. It produces more replies than imprinting the postage. You can send postcards by First Class Mail in the US for only 24 cents if you make them at least 3 1/2 by 5 inches but no larger than 4 1/4 by 6 inches.
5. Time the Delivery of Your Postcards
Mail your postcards so they are likely to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. The volume of mail delivered on those days is usually light and your postcards will not have to compete with a lot of other mail delivered at the same time.
Controlling the delivery day of your postcards is easy if you use First Class Mail. Just allow 2 to 3 days for delivery – depending on how far they have to go. That’s the normal delivery time for First Class Mail in the US.
Postcards are one of the most effective marketing tools you can use to generate website traffic or sales leads. While Postcards are not new and may not be as exciting as some methods such as online/web ads and blogging, they really work …especially if you follow these 5 proven postcard marketing tactics.
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I really like your post. Does it copyright protected?
Hello Jane and Katty, thank you for commenting. You can copy my post as long as you give me credit. A link to my website would be awesome! Thanks!