Postcards for real estate investors are a useful tool in the marketing toolbox. When you are looking for motivated sellers using postcards, you should be casting a wide net. Naturally when you cast a wide net, you are going to market to homeowners who aren’t interested in your services.
Real estate investor postcards get thrown in the trash. Yep. Remember that time you spent thousands on postcards. You could have taken over 99% of your money straight to the landfill. Most people don’t look at them, most people don’t want to sell their house for a steep discount. It’s true. All the statistics about direct mail and especially direct mail postcards demonstrate this fact time and again.
So as a real estate investor, why even waste your money? As someone who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct mail and postcards, you shouldn’t. That’s right, don’t waste your money. Save it for something else.
See, if you are like most newer real estate investors and even most veteran investors who market to find motivated sellers, you won’t do it right.
Let’s set aside finding the right mailing list for just a moment. I will assume you know that the right list of prospects is 80% of the battle. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s assume you have the perfect mailing list.
Traditional Real Estate Investor Postcards Don’t Actually Work
So you have your great list of prospects for your postcards. Next, you are going to go to an online designer and type out some sort of phrase like “WE BUY HOUSES” and “CASH FOR YOUR HOUSE” in big bold letters. Then you might have some great looking graphic design, maybe you’ll throw in some bullet points. That’s what you’ve seen right? When you googled, that’s the kind of thing you saw. Maybe the guru you follow clued you in on the latest trend. I don’t know how these trends get started. Maybe it’s the postcard designers themselves. All I know is that most postcards for real estate investors look and feel the same. No matter the reason why these types of cards have popularity, they shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong . I’ve been guilty of it too and have seriously spent thousands on bad postcards. I’ve taken bad advice and had my own bad ideas. The result? A phone that doesn’t ring. Ad budget spent with no return. It’s easy to see why frustration can quickly set in.
Postcards for real estate investors are not much different than other postcards. They all have bright colors, they all have bold print and for the most part, they get a quick glance before going into the recycling bin. For this reason, an effective marketer is going to use an attention-grabbing headline that truly stands out. And trust me, “we buy houses” doesn’t stand out. Chances are if a homeowner has landed on your list of potential motivated sellers, I can pretty much guarantee they are on other people’s lists as well. Most of these people are being targeted by multiple mail pieces.
Why Great Postcards Make People Angry.
Well, the truth is, I really don’t know. What I do know is this. When I have had a postcard that is generating lots of calls and leading to appointments with qualified sellers…those same postcards generate calls from people who are seriously angry with me. They tell me all the reasons why and call me all sorts of names and get really creative with how they curse me out. It was so bad that I turned on my call recording feature from CallRail just so I could play the calls back and laugh.
Postcards That Convert Prospects Into Contracts
Postcards that convert have something that most don’t. An effective attention-grabbing message. Headlines that have pulled well for me have been along the lines of “URGENT NOTICE” and “FINAL NOTIFICATION” these types of headlines force homeowners to look twice, to read the message. Just in case. An important note…the cards themselves are not the oversized shiny cards. They are the smallest, non-glossy, cheapest cards. This isn’t done to save money. This is done because it seems like it is from some boring municipality. It seems like something the government might send. Those messages must be read and so…your ad copy gets read.
So why are the recipients so frustrated? Not all are. Most still throw them away. Tons of direct mail gets returned to sender. Some call you and turn into deals. But for some reason, the postcards that work make some people mad. So if you are committed to sending postcards, send them by the thousands and make sure you aren’t afraid to tick some people off.
We have a ton of great info on postcards, how to use them properly, lists, and the ultimate way to use a postcard that seriously no one is using. Have questions? Comment below and we will answer them. Get in touch with us to find out how else we can help you with your investing journey!