Realasponse™

Fall is here! Ok, maybe it’s not all that exciting given how the market has taken a turn over the last two years, however, the important thing to remember is that there is still plenty of business out there. People haven’t stopped buying homes it’s just that people aren’t running out as quick as they once did to purchase a home. And with winter right around the corner, here comes another slow period in the housing transaction market. But that doesn’t mean you stop marketing. In fact, this is the perfect time given two strong reasons.

For one, most agents and brokers will be wasting money on holiday postcards and seasonal gimmick items that get treated like abundant fruitcakes that EVERY ONE is giving. From the clients perspective, it’s just another, “agent trying to get in good to get my business”.

Also a good reason to market this winter is because many agents won’t survive this winter. It’s sad, but true. Many agents have been bracing themselves for a market miracle which isn’t coming anytime soon. The reason you market hard in the winter is because you want to build repoire come spring and summer. And guess what? With less agents in the ‘08 market you’ll be able to stand out more easier. But it’s not just showing up at their door that will get you into their “housing life”, but offering something valuable that addresses the concerns and needs of today’s prospects that PROVES you know what you’re talking about. For more on that check out: www.realasponse.com

I’ve been asked this question many times by agents who (1) have never marketed with real estate post cards before or (2) have marketed using real estate postcards, however, have never really see any return on investment and giving it another go. Well, here’s what you should certainly beware of: companies preaching MAIL, MAIL, and more MAIL. These are tell-tale signs of products that have no pull and are hoping on the sheer quantity and frequency of mailing to compensate where they lack. In other words, they want you to play the numbers game until you just about break your pockets.

Now don’t get me wrong, real estate postcard marketing is a numbers game and frequency does matter. However, not every week. It’s important to remember that a normal mailing has a lifespan of about two weeks. You’ll generally receive the first half of your responses the first week and the remaining half the second week. Although you’re certain to have a few trickle in weeks after.

A monthly farming campaign with a reasonable number of postcards generally will do the trick. Remember, it’s not so much about mailing 2,000 postcards in as much as it’s about mailing EFFECTIVE postcards. If your postcard has no call-to-action, guess what? You guessed it…no calls. To increase your chances of receiving calls you must offer something of value to the prospect. You need to offer something that has the prospect to say, “Man!! that would help!!” Don’t offer senseless crap that hints to the prospect that you’re cheap and tasteless. Offer information that stands to save them hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of having received your report. And you’re bound to receive a call!

An easy way to achieve all of the above said is to check out proven products from www.realasponse.com that save you time and money on good real estate postcard marketing and position you as the go-to person in the eyes of your prospects.

First off, as a real estate professional you’re pressed for time when it comes to creating quality real estate postcards and marketing material. You’re generally given a couple of options. You could go to a graphic designer, however, chances are you’d have to keep following up with the designer and they’d probably be late or you could try to design it yourself with some online automated tool dotted with all kinds of restrictions. Let’s take a closer look at this restrictions.

The #1 thing real estate agents sacrifice when creating real estate postcards using online tools is quality. It’s true. The tools you’re given to make your postcards are limited in flexibility.

FONTS
You can only choose from a certain number of fonts. This is a big mistake given that fonts add character and mood to a really good real estate postcard. Most companies will only provide the basics because they could care less about spending the $50-$100 needed to create great looking copy.

EFFECTS
Another effective visual for any real estate postcard is the ability to use drop shadows and gradients on headers to allow certain elements to jump out and grab the prospects attentions. You can’t do this with do-it-yourself online tools.

LAYOUT BALANCE
Also bad is the ability to easily add and move elements around to maintain balance. Generally adding a new element to your real estate postcard means settling for clutter. With a company like Realaspones.com designing it for you (same day) resizing, moving and cropping elements can be done to maintain order and impact on the postcard.

All in all, the truth is many agents get suckered into believing that do-it-myself postcards mean saving a coupling pennies and possessing equal impact. WRONG! You may save a FEW pennies, however, in today’s market, it’s worth paying pennies more to have a message stand out and be seen and also maximize the chance of a transaction happening because you’ve used all the tools needed to make it happen.

If you look at today’s just sold postcards they lack appeal. I mean, sure they have the basic information any just sold postcard would have: price sold, city or town, and address. And that’s just the problem; that’s all they have. The key to marketing a good just sold postcard is insuring that the headline jumps out and grabs the prospect by the eyes and mind.

First, let’s think about what’s really going on here. What do you hope to accomplish by having a just sold postcard? Acquire more sellers, right? Well, what dilemma are sellers facing in today’s market that they want to avoid? THEY DON’T WANT THEIR HOME SITTING ON THE MARKET. Well, if that’s the case, and it is, how does plastering the same message as any other agent going to make you stand out. Your marketing message should acknowledge market conditions and speak to how you’ are the type of agent who “knows how to market a home in a slow market” along with announcing your recent sale.

The reason this works is because you’re making a claim and backing it up with “actual proof” of a sale. No matter how long it took to sell the home (as long as you didn’t state that on the postcard) all the prospect knows is you’ve addressed their common concern in today’s market and provided proof. Also great, is the nature of how just sold postcards are marketed: within the area of the recipient. This is great because, in their eyes, this provides a sense of hope when selling their home.

Remember, don’t just market your just sold postcards by solely making a statement, but make sure your statement ( your recent sale) fits into the context of providing proof of your function in a market like this. Great examples of just sold postcards that do this and more are at Realasponse.com.

I’m partly kidding. However, if you look at many of today’s just listed postcards they do a great disservice to the home being featured; whether the home is a beauty or not. I mean, even if the home is a fixer-upper you still want the home to come across as appealing to shoppers. And that’s just the problem with many of the just listed postcard designs out there on the web. They’re generic!!! A good just listed postcard complements the home in categories of style, presentation and character.

What many postcard companies will do is create a generic template and offer several different color schemes of the same design as if this some how provides options. Many of them have the thought of, “Hey, create something quick and easy and tell the agent that it’s solely a numbers game and they have to buy 1000’s of postcards to see any reasonable return on their investment.” This is in no way the case.

If you use innovative eye grabbing postcards that act as a containers to compliment the home being featured, you don’t have to solely relay on large postcard number to make up for lack of presentation. Certainly real estate direct mail, to a degree, is a numbers game. But the winning element has always been presentation and layout. Focus on those elements and you’ve got a ticket to increasing the chances on a higher response on your mailing.