Real Estate Foreclosure Marketing Secrets

Posts Tagged ‘Message Side’

Want to power up your next postcard mailing?

Then go one step beyond merely telling your audience what your real investment business has done for others in the past – have your customers tell them.

No you don’t have to enlist your former customers to telephone prospects.  Instead use the powerful direct-marketing tool called the testimonial.  If you’ve been in business long enough, it’s easy enough to ask a satisfied customer to write a couple sentences (it really doesn’t need to be any long than this) about how they benefited from your services.

A true, honest and compelling testimonial from a satisfied customer is much like a picture – it’s worth a thousand words.

You can try to convince  your audience till your pen runs out of ink that your service is well worth their time and energy.  But, face it, you’ve got a vested interested in telling people that – you want to make money.

On the other hand, a person who is volunteering their very positive experience is much more persuasive.  I’ve seen some direct-mail for products that is nothing but two page or more of testimonials.

You can give this testimonial a clever headline. “Let our customers speak for us.”  “Our customers say it much better than we can ever!”

The point is that your message will have a more powerful impact when you add a testimonial that praises your services.

Your next question, no doubt, is just where do you place these testimonials.  You may truly believe that one area of your postcard is simply better than another.  Well, as far as direct marketers can tell right now from research, no single area is really any more effective than another.

If you feel you don’t have space on the message side of your postcard, look to the front.  That’s right the area that’s reserved for the address.  Why not put a short testimonial or two on the front.

When I worked as a copywriter for a nutritional supplement company, we routinely placed to testimonials on the front side of any postcard mailing we’d create.  And I must tell you that our postcards received an absolutely outstanding response rate!
Of course, if you can place them any where on the other side as well it only increases the potency of your marketing campaign.

Testimonials tell your audience that you’ve already done business in a professional manner.  More than that, they show your audience that you’re just not generating hype. Anyone can send a postcard telling you they can buy your house in 48 hours.  But not everyone can actually do that.  If you have a customer – or two or three – you can tell them for you, then you’ve overcome their initial, innate hesitancy.

So, be sure to include one or more testimonials in your next postcard mailing.  If you’ve never used them before, just be prepared for an increased response in your real estate investment campaign.
By Mark Bradley

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On the surface of it, this may sound like a really stupid idea for any direct-marketing plan, especially for one that produced few results in real estate investing initially.  But before you condemn me for obvious stupidity, let me clarify myself.

You’re probably thinking that if your direct-mail postcard campaign didn’t work initially, you may have done a few things wrong.  And that’s all together possible.  Let’s face it, no one performs without flaws the first time around.

But that doesn’t mean you throw everything out.  Direct marketing is a complex business.  And while I wish I could call it a science like chemistry it isn’t even close to that.  If you put two molecules of hydrogen with one of oxygen, you’ll come up with water H20 – every time.  Without fail.

Nope.  Direct marketing just isn’t that precise.  I suppose it’s more of an art, or a craft – or some of the very best marketers work on their hunches.  Which won’t help you at all – especially if you’re in the “start up” phase of your business.

But there is one thing that every marketer knows as sure as he knows his own name: few buyers act on an offer (of anything!) with the first mailing.  Oh, you’ll get a few people who’ll act the first time around, but more often than not they’re waiting.

Waiting for what, you ask.  For any number of things.  A person may receive your postcard and just not be “emotionally” ready to sell yet.  Or he may be in the process of taking another route, so he’s waiting to see how that transaction is turning out.

Quite frankly, if he’s never heard of you or your firm before, he may just be wary of your intentions, your honesty and the risk involved.

The point is:  don’t take a no response as a sign of your customer not being interested.

Of course, there may be other reasons why your mailing didn’t pull as you thought it should.  And these very well may be associated with your headline . . . your message . . . or your list itself.

Now that I’ve totally confused you, you’re wondering exactly what you should be doing. Mail again.  Make one simple change in your mailing – perhaps you’ve discovered you can write a stronger headline.  Then do it.  And mail it out again. Record the response you receive with this particular headline.

And don’t be afraid to mail these out to some of the same people.  Many people may not buy the first time around because they’ve never heard of you.  But if you consistently put your name in their mail box, then they’ll come to know you as that real estate investor.  And then — merely because you have that sticking power – they may call you when all their ducks are lined up in a row and they believe you can help them.

Remember, the direct marketing gives you the chance to present your customers with the ultimate sales presentation.  But you may have to show them – time and again – that your real estate investing is in it for the long haul.  And that may mean mailing postcards – with modified messages if necessary – to them more than once.

By Mark Bradley

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