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Direct Mail Experiences

We've been having a bit of a debate in our office as of late, regarding the use of direct mail. I'd love to hear peoples opinions and experiences with direct mail.

We have used direct mail to varying degrees over the years. We had a big campaign to several hundred doctors a year or two ago to advertise one of our listings, and nothing came of it. More recently, a couple of us have sent out cards advertising our own services to prospective tenants, buyers, and landlords and have found some success. My contention is that for a mail campaign to be successful, it has to be consistent.

Any thoughts?

Posted by Patrick Foley on 12/10/2008 02:49 PM

Comments (9)

Direct Mail in the Offline Marketing Channel

direct mail, advertising

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9 Comments on Direct Mail Experiences

DEC

Many factors come into Direct Mail. Here is a few tips for your next direct mail piece that could boost the effectiveness:

1) You only have a few seconds to catch the attention of the receiver, then they will lose interest. Having a visual or something eye catching is key. No one is going to read all the copy unless you grab their attention.

2) Keep the piece in their hands. As you see from your postcard, having different material, sizes, feel, color, etc. are effective ways in order to keep your piece in your readers hands. The longer they hold the piece, the more effective it will be.

3) Cardinal Rule of all marketing: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!) Do not over complicate. Stress your main points and do not make the reader have to think.

Thanks James. Do you have any thoughts about how to get a piece past the gatekeepers and into the hands of a decision maker?

DEC

Hand written and hand addressed gives you a better chance of it getting to the right person. But that makes it difficult to make it a "mass" mailing. I think the statistics show a 1% response rate on mass mailings.

DEC

Patrick,

(1) Door knocking, (2) phone calls, (3) direct mail.

If you are going to use direct mail, develop a good system, and possible invest in a bulk mail permit.

Richard - Do you really find that knocking on doors helps? When you make phone calls, are they cold calls or warm?

Tim - I've heard similar statistics on mass mailings. I also believe that hand written and/or hand addressed pieces have a much better chance of being seen.

It not only must be consistant but it could take a year before you start seeing results from it.

DEC

Patrick,

I do think door knocking is the best. It just take time and dedication. I must admit I don't do it as often as I should. The calls I make are more of the cold type as I have only lived in Dallas 18 months and don't have a larege sphere of influence.

JAN

Patrick, it will take 3 months of mailing one post card per month for your target to know your name. Continue mailing and you will start to get calls. I mailed to a farm of 3,300 monthly. I cannot tell you how many deals came out of my mailings. I can tell you that the bulk of my 10 million dollar per year practice was a direct result. The most memorable call I received was from the son of a man who owned several properties in the Tucson market. The 90 year old father told his son to "go to his desk, open up the top right drawer and fins a stack of post cards. He said list all my properties with that guy, he ha been around for ever" This man was on his death bed and in fact died prior to the properties being sold. I ended up selling a tri-plex, four-plex and a couple of houses for the family. It was remarkable to go into the fathers house and see all my post cards rubber banded together. Direct mail works!

Gregory Urroz CRS, GRI, ABR

http://www.c21crs.com

JAN

Thanks Gregory, I certainly appreciate your detailed experience.a

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