I need help coming up with specific language for my Direct Mail campaign for apartment owners. Can someone please provide exact messaging that they know to be effective?
I have a decent idea of what I want the messages to say, but if someone can provide insight that can save me time and money, that would be much appreciated!
I'm targeting apartment owners in various counties in California. My campaign will be 7 letters letters sent out once a month. I'm not going to have very specific targets - I will be sending out at least 1K letters each month, so the messaging will need to be relatively general but hit on potential pain points that the apartment owner might have.
Looking forward to getting some awesome advice from the BP community!
Hi, I know this thread of out of date, but in case this helps anyone, I wanted to share my experience with the content of direct mail:
Over the past few months, I sent out about 700 first-time letters to expired MLS listings in Westchester county, NY. Westchester is the suburb north of NYC, and it includes some very high-income areas (eg. Chappaqua, where the Clintons live), but also many lower-income areas where a sizable portion of the population rents.
There were two main letter templates I tried, and one got a much, much, much better response rate than the other. I am going to share both templates below.
**** I want to preface this by saying, however, that I am a new investor and I did not close one single deal out of 700 letters, so I am so obviously NOT an expert (!!) But, since I get so much out of the BP community, I wanted to contribute in some small way ...
********************************
The template where I got a very low response rate (around 5%. not counting undelivered letters) was this one:
Dear __,
I am looking to buy a property in southern Westchester, and your property at __ is one in which I am very interested.
To reach me directly [my contact ifnomration].
If I don’t pick up the phone when you call, leave a message and I promise to call you back very soon.
* All cash offer guaranteed in 48 hours or less *
Warm regards,
********************************
In contrast, the letter where I got a pretty high response rate (around 20% not including undelivered letters) was:
Dear __,
I am looking to buy a property in southern Westchester, and your property at __ is one in which I am very interested. I can offer a quick closing because I don’t need bank financing, and I always deal fairly and honestly with everyone.
If you are open to selling, please contact me. Thank you so very much.
Warm regards,
********************************
My personal guess is that the first template was clearly a business solicitation letter, whereas the second template felt much more personal. One drawback to the second template, though, was that although a lot of people called me. many expressed disappointment that I was an investor, as they had thought I was a buyer occupant who fell in love with their house.
Again, I don't have any advice for anyone, but I just wanted to share my experience with the BP community.
(Finally, on a personal note, I had originally started sending these letters in the hopes of landing a deal I could wholesale to rehabbers. But now, I am thinking instead of trying to do a light-moderate rehab myself, and I have already gotten pre-approval from a hard money lender in my area. I am also slowly studying "The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs" by J. Scott, and watching online videos about rehabbing. If anyone has any advice for me, I would be most grateful.)
Thank you!
BB
Hi Gary!
I'm so happy to hear that you have a repetitive campaign planned. Here at PostcardMania, we're ALWAYS telling business owners that repetition is the key to success!
But, in answer to your question, we've got one design specifically that I think could work for you. It could be put on a letter or postcard, but the message is this:
Dear <<First>>,
I recently drove by the house you have at <<property address>> and I love it. I have CASH and would be willing to make you an all-cash offer in the next 72 hours. I'm willing to pay all closing costs and will get you CASH in a hurry.
Give me a call today at ______________
Sincerely,
Gary
We have quite a few other samples that might work better though, especially since you're targeting apartment owners and not single-family homes. Let me know if you're interested in seeing more and I hope that helped!
Best,
Rachel Scott
@Gary A. Hey Gary, welcome to BP! Here's an example of a Multi Family letter that we have. You're headed the right direction with your plan to mail at least 7 times, the only thing I would advise you on is to not send the exact same letter each time. Chang the letter, the envelope color, and even the type of mail piece each time. This way your potential lead doesn't know exactly what it is before they open it which will increase your open rate significantly for the follow up mailings.
Thanks, @Rachel Scott and @Cody Alexander. These are great examples.
You're right in that I definitely won't be sending the same letter each time. Mixing and matching the tidbits you've provided, I think I can come up with a 2-4 different letters.
If there's any other examples, I'd be happy to take a look at them.
@Gary A. We have hundreds of templates, all of which can be modified to better fit your specific target group.
nice @Cody Alexander.sell them on the benefits(save on commissions,fast closing etc)
Hi, I know this thread of out of date, but in case this helps anyone, I wanted to share my experience with the content of direct mail:
Over the past few months, I sent out about 700 first-time letters to expired MLS listings in Westchester county, NY. Westchester is the suburb north of NYC, and it includes some very high-income areas (eg. Chappaqua, where the Clintons live), but also many lower-income areas where a sizable portion of the population rents.
There were two main letter templates I tried, and one got a much, much, much better response rate than the other. I am going to share both templates below.
**** I want to preface this by saying, however, that I am a new investor and I did not close one single deal out of 700 letters, so I am so obviously NOT an expert (!!) But, since I get so much out of the BP community, I wanted to contribute in some small way ...
********************************
The template where I got a very low response rate (around 5%. not counting undelivered letters) was this one:
Dear __,
I am looking to buy a property in southern Westchester, and your property at __ is one in which I am very interested.
To reach me directly [my contact ifnomration].
If I don’t pick up the phone when you call, leave a message and I promise to call you back very soon.
* All cash offer guaranteed in 48 hours or less *
Warm regards,
********************************
In contrast, the letter where I got a pretty high response rate (around 20% not including undelivered letters) was:
Dear __,
I am looking to buy a property in southern Westchester, and your property at __ is one in which I am very interested. I can offer a quick closing because I don’t need bank financing, and I always deal fairly and honestly with everyone.
If you are open to selling, please contact me. Thank you so very much.
Warm regards,
********************************
My personal guess is that the first template was clearly a business solicitation letter, whereas the second template felt much more personal. One drawback to the second template, though, was that although a lot of people called me. many expressed disappointment that I was an investor, as they had thought I was a buyer occupant who fell in love with their house.
Again, I don't have any advice for anyone, but I just wanted to share my experience with the BP community.
(Finally, on a personal note, I had originally started sending these letters in the hopes of landing a deal I could wholesale to rehabbers. But now, I am thinking instead of trying to do a light-moderate rehab myself, and I have already gotten pre-approval from a hard money lender in my area. I am also slowly studying "The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs" by J. Scott, and watching online videos about rehabbing. If anyone has any advice for me, I would be most grateful.)
Thank you!
BB
@BB Liu Thanks for sharing. I am no expert myself but my advice would be that if you find a great deal why not partner with someone more experienced and make it happen. less risk for you. less profit but you'd learn a ton for the next one.
Finding deals is the hard part, especially around here. Everyone thinks their house is worth more than it is b/c houses are selling for big numbers in the area.
Thanks for @BB Liu for sharing! I am starting my direct mail campaign so I am scouring the forums to see what works for everyone. Good luck on rehabbing as well! I will have to check out the book!