Is Direct Mail For You?
If you Google or YouTube search “How to find off-market deals”, you’ll most likely get a HUGE number of articles and videos saying to use Cold Blast Texting, Direct Mail, and Cold Calling.
But the truth is direct mail is the least liked of that list.
And that’s because it’s much more costly. However… it has some BIG benefits that the others can’t compare (and we’ll unravel some of those today).
(And before you ask, no, direct mail isn’t dead. There are millions of investors still using Direct Mail to grab deals consistently)
Before we get into when you SHOULDN’T use mail… Let me explain to you in what ways direct mail is superior to other marketing mediums…
Why You (maybe) Should Use Direct Mail
According to a study published by the United States Postal Service (USPS) 67% of people said that they felt mail was more personal than the internet.
Sure… you do GET deals with cold text and cold calling and for the most part, it will cost less than direct mail… but when running a business there are much more important factors than “cost” for choosing marketing mediums.
Here’s a list of them:
1. It’s Legal– you aren’t going to get yourself in trouble like you could with other spammy, less credible methods like SMS.
2. It’s Ethical– Direct mail solicitation is accepted my most people. You’ll get far fewer angry leads than if you cold texted/called.
3. It’s Scalable– To grow to a 5+ deal per month company, just send mail to more people (experiment with lower numbers to find out what your CPA (cost per acquisition) is).
4. It Takes minimal staff– this is a big one as you aren’t having to pay everyone (and their dog) to get your mail out.
5. It’s Targeted– Consider the phrase: direct mail. Pretty straightforward; it goes directly to who it’s intended for.
6. It’s Fast– in a successful direct mail campaign you can see results within a couple of weeks — Sure, not as fast as a cold text blast (BUT with cold texting you’ll need a LOT of back and forth just to see if it’s lead. Typically, 66% of people who call your direct mail are some sort of seller (or in the future).
7. It’s Never Going Away – Unlike cold texting and cold blasting, the FCC does not get involved with cold mailing (except having a “do not mail” status). Text is slowly disappearing and investors are constantly having to jump through loopholes and find “tricks” to getting their messages sent. And cold calling has a very watchful eye from FCC who might just ban in entirely. No matter what happens in the economy, you can rely on mail being delivered.
When You Shouldn’t Use Direct Mail
Alright, so maybe you’ve checked all the above boxes and said “Okay, direct mail here I come!”
Hold off just one moment…because your personal situation can kill a direct mail campaign IF you find yourself in any of these:
1. If you don’t have the time for the follow-up or to take the business on, don’t waste the time (or the cash!) sending out direct mail. Plain and simple. If you can’t commit to the leg work and keep it going, don’t even bother starting it. Consistency is vital to direct mail. Commit to it or don’t do it.
2. If you find yourself wanting to make some cash because you’re broke, do not, I repeat DO NOT put your money into a direct mail campaign. For a direct mail marketing campaign to be truly successful you need to be prepared to spend money and if you can’t do that right now…. Close your purse strings and wait for the right time.
3. If you’ve just started in the real estate market and have never spoken to a seller, direct mail is NOT for you (yet). Work on building your presence and getting your toes dipped in the water of what real estate marketing looks like for you before you launch a campaign. You’ll need to get experience making (good) offers. Rather, try a less costly marketing method here.
4. If you’re just “trying it out”, refrain from using direct mail. Don’t expect results worthwhile with a 500-piece mailing. We recommend 2,500 standard letters (that’s the average amount we see 1 deal being produced depending on the average market, list, and selling ability). If you can’t because of your budget, then make sure you commit to a regular monthly mailing to fresh new contacts or save up. The point: Commit. Don’t Dabble.
(NOTE: we have a guide on what mailing costs in each market, here.)
If you find yourself identifying with any of these, keep the idea of direct mail in your back pocket. While it might not be for you right now, as you grow your business, it may end up being your best friend later.
You can be successful!
The big idea of direct mail being successful is 100% on YOU.
We’ve analyzed failed campaigns and the number 1 reason was something the investor was (or wasn’t) doing.
S0, throw these tips below in your back pocket as you work your direct mail campaigns:
1. Be a local expert
That’s right. This seems pretty obvious, but the benefit of knowing your location is vitally important to your success.
Showing that you know your locale allows your seller to be at ease with you and trust that you have their best interest at heart. Knowing what they want and where they want to be will allow for a smoother interaction too!
2. Know timing and luck is a “thing”
We send mail ourselves.
We’re investors and flip property.
Well, sometimes there are those weird campaigns that don’t produce anything.
It wasn’t the list or the mailer… but rather just weird timing (maybe global event affected those receivers from responding or something).
But then, we keep trotting along sending mail after that. We don’t sit in gloom saying, “Woo is me!!”.
And then sometimes something magical happens…
The next few mailings make it for the “failed” campaign.
There is a right time and definitely a wrong time.
3. Branding is a “thing” with mail.
There’s this weird phenomenon that happens in marketing…
And that’s the more “stuff” you have out there, the lower your marketing cost… and the higher your ROI.
We’ve seen this first hand.
Where we want to scale up our mailing; sending 4x our usual amount. You’d THINK that sending 4x more means we’d 4x our deal flow.
Nope.
We actually had more than 10x that deal flow (Instead of increasing to 24 deals in a 6-month span, we did 70 for that 4x increase …. 6×4 does not equal 70!).
How in the world does this happen?!?!?
It’s a branding effect.
The more people see our company… the more people see our mailers… the more people do deals with us… the more agents see us…. the more repeat mailings to the same people…
… the more people recognize us and either do business with us or send people our way.
More marketing is exponential.
Not linear.
So think of how much “stuff” you have out there (your online presence, your network, mailers, etc) to get the utmost results from your mailings.
4. Be a follow-up king.
We know that around 33% of your callers from mailer are “ready now” sellers… the other 33% ARE sellers but no ready yet… and others are just tire kickers.
Most investors capitalize on the first 33%.
But then they forget the other 33%.
Which can lead to an extra 0 in their bank account balance.
Develop and maintain a SYSTEM of follow-up.
5. Hand-written mailers
Think quality over quantity here. People love to receive personalized mail with QUALITY.
Compare our mailers to other “handwritten mailing” providers and you’ll see how much better the quality of the product is.
And it shows in responses from sellers.
There’s something to be said for receiving a piece of mail that shows real interest. It very easily boils down, motivated sellers are human beings, not numbers.
That single hand-written mailer has a greater chance of success than one spammy looking letter with all the intent in the world. The personal little touches may be the difference between a big deal and a big flop.
Our best direct mail approach
Overall, direct mail is an extremely effective way to reach potential customers and add to your ROI.
If you’re ready to take that leap, try one of our mailers. They’re both eye-catching, personal, and relevant.
Our own clients have seen HUGE SUCCESS using our hand-written mailers for their direct mail campaigns.
Don’t just take our word for it, take David Pere’s from Missouri:
““[BPM letters] ARE my deal flow, haha. Almost every deal I’ve landed over the last year has been from BPM!”
Or Arvi Carkanji from Tennessee:
“BPM has really exceeded my expectations when it comes to direct mail. I’ve used different companies before and the response from the handwritten letter has been ridiculously high. Totally surprised me. Because of their handwritten letters I got my first deal with only 500 letters dropped in the first week.”
You may be one direct mail campaign away from your best deal! If you want to know more about how direct mail can help you, give us a call. We’d love to help you launch that successful direct mail campaign: