Real Estate Professional · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2010 · 609 posts · 163 votes
Part of my marketing has been direct mail for about 18 months primarily to probate, inherited, and absentee owners. For the probate and inherited properties direct mail, has anyone tested mailing letters with and without a website listed on the letter? If anyone has, have you tested listing that web address in all the letters vs, for example, after 3 have been sent or some other combination?
I guess I'll have to disagree here. And first of all, this is pertaining to mailing to Absentee Owners, not Probates as the OP asked about, but hopefully this helps.
Whether or not having the website on the card helps/hurts response rate, I don't have the records to support. But I can say that when I did put the website on the card, nobody responded via the website, and maybe just a couple people actually went to the website to check it out.
The ones who did go to the website, did not end up contacting me. My theory is that this is because they got enough info they wanted from the website, and didn't need to call me. So I didn't get to talk to them!
The direct mail piece's job is just to get them to call you. If you give them too much info up front, I believe it will decrease your actual response rate.
On top of that, I've found I get a better response rate when the mail piece looks like it comes from a PERSON, instead of a COMPANY. So if you put the website on there, you look like a company. If you leave it off and just put a phone number on there (a local phone number, not a toll-free, no extension), I've found an increase in response rate.
Interesting question, Gary. I just started mailing to probates (1 letter sent) and just stuffed my 2nd mailer earlier this week. For my first letter, I included my business card and in the letter I invited them to email or check out our website if they didn't want to call. My second letter also includes my email/website. I didn't get any responses from my first letter (54 sent).
I would be interested to hear if there is any appreciable difference between including your website & email vs. only a phone number. Maybe someone like Sharon Vornholt or Rick Harmon will chime in.
Thanks for your input Brandon Foken. I dont include my business card because I am a licensed agent and I think the recipients think I just want a listing; although, I do have to disclose in my mailings I am an agent. I'm going to tag Rick Harmon to see if we can get his input along with Sharon's.
We have been direct mailing to probates since July 2010 and have always included our website and email in the letters. We have never tried it without. We have received a small amount of emails (maybe 2-3%) and even fewer visit the website. I have found most probates are curious as to how you got their info and call to speak with us about that.
The absentee direct mail is a yellow letter with just our phone number and while we have completed that campaign when we generate the next one we will add our website to the letter. I have found that most absentee owners (the older generation) like to talk with us and let us know about their business.
If you have a website, I would definitely put it on your letters right from the start. I agree that most folks will just want to call you. But there are a few people out there will have a "phone aversion", so you don't want to miss even one contact by omitting your website info. Like Josh Wilson I also include my business card in the first mailing. When I speak with a seller or look at their property, I always send them a note with my business card afterwards. It is just one more "touch", and it's a really good time to give them your card again.
Thank you Sharon Vornholt. I go through a lot of generic Thank You cards as well. Everyone I talk to gets one. It is on my list to get some nicer cards more specific to what I do, but I agree the "tough" is most important.
I guess I'll have to disagree here. And first of all, this is pertaining to mailing to Absentee Owners, not Probates as the OP asked about, but hopefully this helps.
Whether or not having the website on the card helps/hurts response rate, I don't have the records to support. But I can say that when I did put the website on the card, nobody responded via the website, and maybe just a couple people actually went to the website to check it out.
The ones who did go to the website, did not end up contacting me. My theory is that this is because they got enough info they wanted from the website, and didn't need to call me. So I didn't get to talk to them!
The direct mail piece's job is just to get them to call you. If you give them too much info up front, I believe it will decrease your actual response rate.
On top of that, I've found I get a better response rate when the mail piece looks like it comes from a PERSON, instead of a COMPANY. So if you put the website on there, you look like a company. If you leave it off and just put a phone number on there (a local phone number, not a toll-free, no extension), I've found an increase in response rate.