How to Build a Real Estate Direct Mailing List

Spring is one of the BEST times of year! Not only is it finally warmer and sunnier in much of the US, but it’s also the ramp-up to the most productive and fun time of year in real estate.

One thing you should be thinking about – ALL year, but especially now – is how to market to your target real estate market. People are thinking about buying and selling, and YOU want to be on their radar!

Many Realtors® purchase a real estate direct mail list, and that’s certainly one avenue. But this article is specifically about how to reach out through the mail outside of purchasing a list.

Build Your List with Freebies

Most business owners, including Realtors®, are very familiar with the idea of building an email list by offering a free resource. In a nutshell, here’s how it works:

• You create a high-value free report or giveaway
• You offer it in return for a prospect’s email address
• The enter their email address, it goes on your list, and they get the free report

You can use this same technique to build a physical mailing list. The key is to offer a physical freebie. It can be a physical copy of a report, a small book, a CD of useful information, and more.

You could also go a different direction and hold a contest to give away a physical prize. When the prize has to be mailed or delivered, it makes sense for you to ask for everyone’s address!

Build Your List with Known Contacts

Realtors® can always start with a mailing list based on who they already know. Reach out to your circle of influence with a simple, “Hey I’m updating my address book. Can you please send me your physical address?”

You can also ask for referrals, including addresses, of folks they know from work/school/the gym that have talked about moving lately. Don’t just ask “Do you know anyone,” because that’s too broad. Add a location, and you’ll get better results.

Of course, if you post this on social media, ask for them to use a direct message so the information doesn’t go to people they don’t know.

Skip the List and Use EDDM

Every Door Direct Mail, or EDDM, is a great workaround when it comes to list building. Because people move so often, it may be hard to keep your direct mail list “clean” unless you spend time on it every year.

A great alternative is to let the post office do it for you. With specialized EDDM postcards, you can reach out to an entire zip code or geographical area with your marketing. This can be done very inexpensively, and you don’t need any addresses!

I’ve talked before about how incredible EDDM is for Realtors®, and the price as of April 2017 is only 17.7¢ per piece!

Take Advantage of Direct Mail Marketing

However you choose to build your list, it’s vital to take advantage of direct mail marketing. There’s a lot of focus right now on email marketing and social media marketing, and I’m not opposed to either one of those.

However, you stand out a LOT more in the mailbox than in the inbox.

 I can’t even tell you how much email spam I get every day. But I promise I get less direct mail marketing in a day than I do email marketing in a single hour. Use this to your advantage by building a high-quality direct mail marketing list and using it!

If you’re ready to get consistent about your farming and outreach, take a look at our farming postcards and EDDM postcards. Both can help you connect with your target market on a regular basis.

Don’t have time to mail them? We get it! At Printerbees, we can take care of mailing it for you for a small additional fee. No more money wasted on postcards that just sit around your office! Contact us today for more information.

PrinterBees provides real estate marketing materials like: Just listed Postcards, Just sold postcards, Short sale postcards, real estate business cards, real estate door hangers and pretty much everything else you can think of for marketing your real estate business. Visit us online at www.PrinterBees.com.

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PrinterBees also publishes the e-magazine Real Estate Marketing Magazine for Realtors® looking for current and up-to-date tips and tricks to grow their real estate businesses.  Visit Real Estate Marketing Magazine to get your free-subscription.