Marketing frequency - when enough becomes too much

Every now and then an agent who purchases my pre-written prospecting letters will call or write to ask how often to mail them.

The answer always depends upon the letters and the circumstances. If you're reaching out to short sale prospects, you need to contact them every 3 or 4 days, because they're in a time crunch.

I'd also write to expireds and FSBO's more often, simply because they might be in a mood to make a decision soon.

If you're writing to a geographic farm area or a niche market, every couple of weeks will likely do the trick.

If you're staying in touch with your sphere of influence and past clients, once a month is fine.

An agent wrote last week to ask if I had a longer set for prospecting to estate executors. His idea was that you need to stay in touch monthly for at least a year and a half.

So - the answer, unfortunately, is that there is no hard and fast rule.

Meanwhile, what prompted this post was a case of "It's not enough - it's too darned much!"

My husband likes cigars - one per evening. Thus, a box of 50 lasts more than a month and a half.

Two weeks ago he was getting low, so I placed an order with Thompson Cigars. It's easy to do because they send promotions at the rate of a couple each week - or at least that's what they USED to do.

Ever since I placed that last order, I've been getting promotions at the rate of 2 or 3 per DAY. The result is that I'm becoming less and less fond of that company. I'm starting to want to snarl and scream "Leave me alone!"

What does this have to do with you?

It's simply a caution.

It can be tempting to write every day, but you probably shouldn't do it. Every 2 to 4 days is probably fine for those who are in need of an agent soon, and every 2 to 4 weeks is often enough to keep you "top of mind" with prospects who may or may not be thinking of selling.

Another example of too much...

I know no one on Active Rain would be this silly, but do have to share an experience from a few years ago...

I entered my name on an agent website just to see what he was sending... and I was sorry!

The first day I got 10 messages, all written to a different target audience. He covered everything from my impending nuptuals to my move to a nursing home.

Then, for about 2 weeks, I got from 3 to 5 messages every day - equally unfocused.

I suppose he thought he was using the shotgun approach, and that one of his messages was bound to hit it's mark. All it hit with me was a thought that he was "goofy in the head."