Direct Mail - Should I include the Property Address I'm Seeking?

Question

I'm planning on conducting a targeted direct mail campaign to Mobile Home Parks and Multifamily units that fit my unit size and price criteria in the next coming weeks, however I was wondering if it would be a good practice to include the address of the property I am targeting or not in the mailer?

I see pros and cons to doing it; it can help the recipient know exactly which property I am seeking out, but if the person owns multiple pieces of property then they might be open to selling another property and not the one I am specifically speaking about so they won't call at all.

Thoughts?

Ray Lai · Answer

@Zachary Bradigan

There are pros and cons and we've tested both and found that for owners with one property, the response rate increase was worth the additional effort to add the personal address. For owners that owned multiple properties, their response rates are usually lower because they are investors that aren't in distress anyways, so taking the additional effort to do a personalized address for each property was not worth it, furthermore deals have materialized by not including an address. Why? Because we actually got deals on another property owned by the same owner, not the address being addressed to, due to having the write scripts and having a high conversion rate by knowing how to effectively talk to sellers.

Zachary Bradigan · Answer

Luke and Mark, to better answer your questions, first off this is my first DM campaign, and it will be only 250 to see what type of response I get from this group with one letter a month for ~6 months. If my results are poor, then I'll send out a different type of campaign later. I'm trying to target local properties that have been owned the same property for over 5 years by individuals or small LLCs.

Having said that, the letter is as close to possible to handwritten as I can get it. I used https://www.calligraphr.com/en/ to create my own font based upon my handwritten letters, and I plan to use it on the envelopes too with a stamp I personally put on, however reading through my letter, I don't reference the property and it seemed out of place, so I figured I would ask others since it was my first time.

Any pointers would be great!

Mark Holencik · Answer

I personalize them with name and address. I also hand write them and the envelope. I usually do 10 -15 at a time. I have never sent them and not made a deal with someone.

If they have anything to sell they will call.

Luke McCann · Answer

The problem with putting the address on the card is that each card must be customized. I'm not sure how many letters you are sending out, but if it is more than a couple dozen it can get tiring making sure that each card has a different address.

I would suggest inferring the property without specifying the address. For example, when I sent out a DM campaign to multifamily properties in my target market, I basically said "I'm interested in your multifamily property in the Jax Beach area".

The worst thing that can happen is someone picks up the phone to call you regarding a different property they own. Most people would call that a success with response rates to DM being so low.