Need NEW Marketing Ideas and Strategies

General Real Estate Investing
12yFollow

Need NEW Marketing Ideas and Strategies

Danny Chan
San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes

Hey everyone -

I work in Marketing for a real estate investment company here in San Diego. Our main focus is buying, fixing, and selling homes. My main priority is to generate direct seller leads and work with the motivated sellers.

We are currently doing the follow marketing campaigns:

1. Online Marketing (Squeezepages, websites, SEO, social media, etc)

2. A LOT of direct mail that includes yellow letters and postcards targeting out of state absentee owners, probate, divorce.

3. Driving for Dollars

4. Every Door Direct Mail

5. Craigslist

This marketing is nothing new to us investors. But I want MORE leads and MORE deals.

My main question is: Is anyone trying something NEW and CREATIVE to find more motivated sellers?

I don't want the typical bandit signs, direct mail BS. I need something new and creative that not other investors are doing. What else are you guys doing in your marketplace besides the typical real estate investing marketing campaigns? Are there any untapped lists for motivated sellers?

Help me out here guys. Let's use this thread for a place for new ideas that can benefit all of us.

Thanks,

Danny

0Reply
128 views

Most Popular Reply

Rick H.
Lender · Greater LA/Orange County area, CA · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y

Danny Chan - your post strikes me as "all get and no give."

Why don't you share a bit of what you know and give back before you hit us up to divulge what's working. I personally will respond more positively to you requests, at any rate. Don't want to chase you off, merely commenting.

4Reply
See this reply in the discussion

50 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    Bump.

    0Reply
  • Brandon Lee
    Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2013 · 36 posts · 32 votes
    12y

    Doorknocking, or build a doorknocking team.

    Leverage strategic relationships -- agents (foreclosure, short sale, probate/estates), attorneys (divorce, bankruptcy, probate), CPAs

    You're in San Diego, call up all the cities in the SD area and ask if the RDA (Redevelopment agency) has any left over projects that they plan to liquidate. The RDA should now be governed by the Oversight Board and half of the cities may still be in litigation with the state, but some may have some inventory for you to look at.

    Try diversifying into Tax Sales and NPN's.

    0Reply
  • Brian Gibbons
    Investor · Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2008 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y
    Yes we are doing low equity deals, sub 2 and lease option assignments, pm me.
    0Reply
  • Rick H.
    Lender · Greater LA/Orange County area, CA · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Danny Chan - your post strikes me as "all get and no give."

    Why don't you share a bit of what you know and give back before you hit us up to divulge what's working. I personally will respond more positively to you requests, at any rate. Don't want to chase you off, merely commenting.

    4Reply
  • Gary Parker
    Real Estate Professional · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2010 · 609 posts · 163 votes
    12y

    @Danny Chan how is EDDM working for finding motivated sellers?

    0Reply
  • Dennis Lanni
    Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2012 · 144 posts · 65 votes
    12y

    I'm with Rick on this one. I will say this; slow down & trim up your team- times are a changing. I use the phone these days (not doing too much mail to absentee owners- overcrowded space) & a lot of probate deals.

    0Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Brandon Lee Thanks, contacting the RDA is a good idea. I will try that.

    @Brian Gibbons How do you make low equity deals work in your favor?

    @Rick H. Hey Rick, I've been doing marketing for motivated sellers since last April. We have found a good handful of deals over the past few months. They are mostly coming from online marketing as I feel like these leads are a lot more motivated. We are currently sending out yellow letters and postcards to Absentee, Divorce, and Probate with 6 touches each, all spread out throughout the next few months to a year. I've been getting plenty of calls of this but some I just can't make work and purchase. Also competition is high for absentee owners. I know the "basics" of marketing and targeting motivated sellers. Although we don't put every marketing campaign into affect (bandit signs, flyers, doorknocking), I want to utilize my time and money effectively and get the most out of my marketing. The normal rate for phone calls/deals is about 30/1. I want to cut this down to 15 to 1. I want to convert more leads into deals. Soon, I want all of my phone calls to be hot leads. I just need to find more properties this year as our goal is to flip 100 homes this year (wholesaling/fix and flipping).

    @Gary Parker , we have only done two campaigns for EDDM so far. The first was back in December where I sent out postcards to 2500 addresses to one zip code. No phone calls whatsoever. We have created a very catchy postcard featuring the company dog, Sheldon, and have used him in our postcard. We used the same postcard for our second campaign, changed out the colors and wording and sent out 3500. A total of about 6000 addresses. Only one phone call! Although this lead might turn into a deal. Since EDDM campaigns is a broad target area without any specific target market, the phone calls hasn't been ringing as much as we thought/.

    @Dennis Lanni I'm just trying to find new ideas for marketing besides the norm. My goal is to find at least 4 deals a month through marketing. I guess what my main point is: How can I get the phone ringing with more motivated sellers and get more conversions and more deals? I don't want to use the "normal" marketing strategies. These are getting old and over saturated in every market, especially San Diego. What other strategies can I implement without the competition?

    0Reply
  • Jason Dillard
    Real Estate Broker · Greer, SC · Member since 2013 · 548 posts · 271 votes
    12y

    We have added radio and tv to get more leads. We seemed to get better prices after we hired an advertising agency to find and negotiate opportunities.

    0Reply
  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    Tips not usually thought of:

    Want fixers? Make friends at the building regs dept.

    Here's another one usually overlooked - Nursing Home administrators.

    Without going into detail, these medical types will have leads, clients' homes need to be sold, even old landlords may end up there!

    Recent utility shut offs, ask the utility supplier if you can get a list or make a friend.

    Meet the postal deliver person in areas you're interested in. They can't say who lives there, they can tell you if it's vacant or will be vacant. Don't pay them on a deal basis. Buy lunch, pay for a picture or info, but not when they are working.

    Advertise with your local "Welcome Wagon", cut a deal, first month free or free cable....

    Buy T-Shirts and sweat shirts. put you logo, company name, number with your slogan. Humor is good. Take the family/crew out to a ball game, public event, walking billboards work too.

    Use a banner at your job site.

    Start a newsletter. Include good to know stuff, home maintenance tips, real short story of how you did some community project or a public benefit of a rehab. No deals advertised (maybe on the back, this should be low key) then drop them off in hospital waiting room areas, doctors' office, any place people have to wait, people will read them!

    Lastly, give free home improvement seminars at the library, no advertising but educational tips. You get 20 folks in a room that want home improvements, you'll get a rehab job/deal.

    Just thoughts before coffee, LOL

    4Reply
  • Rick H.
    Lender · Greater LA/Orange County area, CA · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Good list, Bill. I caught the coffee reference. Hope you know I have no real intention to be in the consulting business.

    The challenging part of your list (and frankly my way of marketing, too) is that it is relationship-based. I think what Danny Chan seems to want to do is from a desk. Can't blame him. Building relationships can be a lot of work with a long time before seeing meaningful results.

    So Danny, are you open to employing other strategies, such as B2B? In my experience, prospects who come to use by way of referral are better qualified and easier to convert. On the down side, you can't turn the switch on and off like you can B2C campaigns where direct marketing to the consumer (owner) is done with direct mail (target marketing) or less-exact mass media (TV, radio, etc.).

    The objective that you refer to (improving your conversion ratio from 30-1 to 15-1) may be achievable by augmenting with a dual-strategy that employs more "proof" in the form of testimonials or other techniques to install trust and comfort with the prospect. Also, are there any patterns or trends?

    So, if you are getting calls but can't make many of the deals work, is the problem that they would be too skinny (margin problem) or that your team doesn't have the skills to make them work? I just spent the weekend with Bill Tan (from SDCIA) at his 'Solution-based Financing Techniques' class in Orange County. Would better skills and tools improve your close ratio?

    Would you benefit by feeding (referring) unconverted leads to another company that might be able to monetize deals that your team did not? I resisted this tactics until about a dozen years ago and ever since, have added another $100K + to my bottom line annually.

    Lastly, you might reverse engineer you own deals even more to discover why people decided to work with your team and not with others. Was it due to a relationship with a certain team member? Your response time? Simpler message? Simpler offer? Were you the only written offer? You get the idea.

    I might mention that I had to add psychographics to my list of demogragraics and geographics when targeting prospects. By doing this, I've eliminated many of the radial rascals (tire kickers) and people who are not sufficiently motivated or otherwise profitable and a good match for our probate-related liquidity products and services.

    2Reply
  • Dev HornPro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Here's a strategy that will admittedly sound a bit self-serving, but hear me out:

    INVEST IN A MEANINGFUL & MEMORABLE BRAND

    Now, this may cause more of those "Republican vs. Democrat" kind of debates over whether branding matters in REI. In my opinion, it clearly does. But that's not just because I represent a brand and use that brand in my marketing, but it is a key strategy when there is TOO MUCH COMPETITION. If you are sending yellow letters and postcards that create no "actionable" memory of who you are and how to reach you, you're wasting a huge portion of your marketing budget.

    People can generally remember only about 3 to 5 providers in any category of service or product provider. Name the carpet cleaners you know, the tax specialists, etc. You will run out after just a few names. Ultimately, we will win when people can remember us at the moment the need arises, not just the moment that they see our letter or ad. Branding works in other businesses and - you can argue this point if you wish - it works in this business as well.

    Branding goes hand in hand with the "rule of 7" - the idea that we need to touch people at least 7 times before they will convert (contact us).

    These are not quick and easy "rent a blimp and drop flyers" kinds of ideas - but if you're looking to build your business and dominate your market, look for ways to brand your business and touch your best targets repeatedly.

    1Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Bill Gulley Thanks for the list. Creative.

    @Jason Dillard The two owners of the company are always on ESPN Radio on real estate hour. It sure does get some publicity but it hasn't brought us any deals. TV might be a little expensive. But still something we can look into. Thanks.

    @Rick H. I'm the marketing guy here for the company. We have an acquisitions manager who handles all of the relationship building with agents, brokers, and wholesalers. I'm in the one in the office, refining our marketing strategies, answering phone calls, and also building new relationships over the internet.

    I am definitely open to Business 2 Business strategies if it can definitely find us more homes to purchase or wholesale.

    As of late, our testimonials have been awesome. The feedback from the direct sellers and our team has been phenomenal. Definitely putting all of these on our social media sites, squeezepages, and other websites.

    Some deals we can't make work is because we can't pay for what they are asking, they are asking for too much, some are not really motivated to sell, numbers just don't work in our favor, and some aren't open to creative financing like subject-to's.

    As for reverse engineering, this is a great idea Rick. We have been keeping a spreadsheet of motivated for all the direct sellers we have worked with to find patterns and similarities as to how they became motivated in the first place.

    Thank you for your input.

    @Dev Horn When we create our marketing pieces, we always try to make it memorable, maybe a piece they can keep and store away for future references. We definitely have campaigns that include 6-7 touches spread throughout the next few months and years. I've actually been noticing a lot more calls from Divorce lists after the 3rd touch.

    We are also creating a brand that people can trust. We have many testimonials from sellers that can back us up.

    0Reply
  • Dev HornPro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Sounds like you have a good handle on the art & science of marketing, @Danny Chan !

    Heck, just to be getting ANY leads in San Diego is a challenge, so it's refreshing to hear that you are challenged with finding MORE. Best of luck.

    "A daring beginning is halfway to winning." ~ Heinrich Heine

    0Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Dev Horn Thank you! I like to think I have a handle on all this marketing. It's tough but there's always something I can do to refine it more. I'm always looking for new ideas. I feel like the marketing aspect for real estate investors is getting outdated and I want to change that.

    Getting deals in San Diego IS very difficult but there's so much opportunity. I want to make 2014 my best year yet.

    0Reply
  • Dev HornPro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Dude, I try EVERYTHING! Not long ago, we BOMBED the LA area with these pre-printed sticky notes that appeared to be hand-written... =)

    I (heart) Marketing!

    2Reply
  • Joe Norman
    Property Manager · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Awesome thread everyone, great conversation! I picked up several great ideas just reading through it. One thing I would add is to build those relationships. Its not a direct mail strategy, but I have gotten my best deals through referrals from other professionals (some in RE, some not). Make a game out of mentioning to multiple people every day that you are looking to buy distressed property and don't go home until you've done it.

    Good luck!

    1Reply
  • Brian Gibbons
    Investor · Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2008 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    @Brian Gibbons How do you make low equity deals work in your favor?

    There are 20 million houses with little equity. I have my Virtual Assistants comb the US Property websites for houses 3-4 B in good school districts, they say we can give them a Cash Offer or a Terms Offer for their equity.

    They then fill out this form.

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/REISkills/file/seller-property-info-form

    They ask these questions

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/REISkills/file/seller-questions-to-ask-the-seller

    We offer a cash offer and a terms offer, or maybe two terms offers.

    The techniques include sub2, lease option assignments, wraps, wholesale flip, etc.

    You need face to face presentation skills for these.

    Your profit is $5K to $20K.

    1Reply
  • Raul Chavez
    SFR Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2013 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    12y

    Hello All, great ideas, all though those ideas are all great and do work, I prefer to sit back and answer the phone by having motivated sellers call me and ask for my help. I prefer to broadcast myself with my company on TV, radio and billboards, this is the reason why big companies spend the money to get there name out there.

    The key to mass media is you have to be large enough to get the discounted rates associating your self with a bigger team will help extend your marketing dollars.

    This type of companies are out there such as www.homevestors.com www.800buykwik.biz www.800noagent.com the cost vary from company to company. do your research and i m sure you can find the right one for you to take your business to the next level.

    Raul Chavez

    0Reply
  • Robert AdamsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Henderson, NV · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 373 votes
    12y

    @Danny Chan Just curious what is a squeezepage? Never heard of that.

    [email protected]702-349-9175
    The Adams Team at Rothwell Gornt Companies4.970 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Eric F.
    Real Estate Investor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2012 · 427 posts · 297 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Dev Horn:
    Dude, I try EVERYTHING! Not long ago, we BOMBED the LA area with these pre-printed sticky notes that appeared to be hand-written... =)

    I (heart) Marketing!

    Dev, where did you get these? I had this idea too and went and bought some sticky notes, hand wrote roughly 20, then gave up. I spent some time on google and could not find a company which could print these up on a pad so I could walk door by door peeling and sticking. I was going to do door hangers instead, but in my mind I feel like the sticky note would get noticed way quicker. Personally, I know I toss a door hanger right in the garbage, but if there is a sticky note at eye level I sort of have to read it lol

    Thanks for the ideas everyone, great thread Danny

    0Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Joe Norman I'm glad you learned a lot from this thread! Most of our business in San Diego has been coming from referrals. However, we want more direct seller leads! This is a easy way to increase business and deals!

    0Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Robert Adams A squeezepage is another name for a landing page. It's a simple, specific website with a clear call-to-action. My landing page attracts direct sellers that are motivated to sell their house. They fill in the simple contact form and I get a new lead. Google "sell my house fast" and you can find plenty examples of landing pages.

    0Reply
  • Robert AdamsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Henderson, NV · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 373 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Danny Chan:
    @Robert Adams A squeezepage is another name for a landing page. It's a simple, specific website with a clear call-to-action. My landing page attracts direct sellers that are motivated to sell their house. They fill in the simple contact form and I get a new lead. Google "sell my house fast" and you can find plenty examples of landing pages.

    I see. I have heard of landing page. Squeezepage was a new one to me. Thanks for the input.

    [email protected]702-349-9175
    The Adams Team at Rothwell Gornt Companies4.970 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Mike S.
    Investor · Los Angeles , CA · Member since 2014 · 132 posts · 25 votes
    12y

    some great info and insights on here!

    @Danny Chan Go check the trustee sales hundreds of homes sell every week on the courthouse steps, sounds like your company handles a large volume of deals and you can benefit from economies of scale making this a good option for you. The other thing you might wanna consider is generating higher margins through room additions. In higher end markets like La Jolla for example if you pick up a small house rather than do the usual flooring paint kitchen etc. add a master bedroom or in some cases consider tearing down and rebuilding. I follow the L.A. market very closely and right now I see a lot of that being done in the better parts of L.A. the developers are squeezing the quick flippers out here.

    How have your yellow letter campaigns been going? what type of response rate are you getting in SD?

    0Reply
  • Danny Chan
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2012 · 37 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Mike S. Yeah, except trustee sales get bid up so high that it's too much to pay for us. A lot of other investors buy these properties because it's a smaller return on investment. We try not to waste our time and resources if we're only make $5-10k per deal. These auctions always get bid up so high by other investors. It's crazy what they are willing to pay for a house. We have our own construction team to cut costs as well but geez, it's crazy out there.

    As for the yellow letters, it depends who I'm sending to. For out of state absentee owners and divorce, we have been seeing a 2-3% rate. The call volume is a lot since we send out A LOT of letters. The response rate has also gone up when we are getting to the 3rd to 4th mailer/touch. As for probate leads, there aren't that many per month (probably around 50 addresses) so the response hasn't been great.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free