Experience with brochure-like self-mailers for direct mail?

Question

Hi BP,

I've been brainstorming ideas for low-budget and creative direct mail pieces (I have already sent 3 rounds of postcards to absentee owners, but I think it's time to change it up a bit).  Since I have access to a high-throughput color printer, it occurred to me that printing out creative tri-fold "self-mail" pieces (no envelope, sort of like a brochure) might be something worth trying.  Of course folding, sealing, and adding postage would be quite labor-intensive, but I think I might also have access to a folding machine, and in any case those are the sorts of tasks I don't mind doing while watching TV or something.

I've done some research and think I have a decent understanding of how to get bulk mail rates with folded self-mailers, and how to save even more on fees by adding a barcode (probably by using the free USPS IMsb tool?), CASS-certifying your list, pre-sorting, and using pre-canceled stamps.  I imagine that the direct mail companies out there leverage these bulk-mail discounts for their economies of scale, but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with / thoughts on whether doing something like this is worthwhile for more of an individual smaller-scale operation.  I'm thinking it's not likely a great return on time investment, but wanted to at least consider it.

I'm also curious if anyone has thoughts on how the tri-fold self-mailer might perform for marketing, as I've not really heard it discussed much.

Thanks!

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

Often people send to a list, they get no results, so they immediately out of the blue conclude it is their mailers. It may not be your mailers, but your list!

Consider this!

Absentee owners list SUCKS! It is beyond me why everyone thinks absentee owners is the list to send.

Why would anyone think that someone that has 2 houses wants to 1) sell one of them, and 2) sell it at BELOW market value.

Having 2 houses has No relation to "motivation". They are not more likely or less likely to sell.

Wouldn't you agree that the chances of someone having plenty of money, and therefore bought 2 houses, (because they can afford it) are MUCH higher than someone having 2 houses and desperately need to sell one?

If someone has 2 houses there is a solid chance they WANTED 2 houses. So why does everyone simply assume that when someone has 2 houses there is a good chance they are willing to sell one, below market value?

Isn't it then just LUCK?! I bet the probability of someone with one house that desperately needs to sell, is a LOT higher then someone with 2 houses.

So you are in fact PAYING money TO reduce your chances of success.

And I was just being polite when I said "the probability". The fact of the matter is that I have stone cold data that says: you will be a lot more successful NOT targeting absentee owners. We rank #1. I get all sorts of organic truly motivated seller leads.

Although I do get leads from people that have more than one house, they do not compare with the sheer amount of leads we get from people that are NOT absentee owners. So there is no incentive to go after absentee owners. It gives you no advantage.

At one point some clown here on PB said that absentee owners list is the way to go because they made A deal So everyone runs and does it because "it works".

If you do the same methods all other 97% of investors that fail are doing, you most likely will fail too! Keep that in mind. So when you ask people for advise here, don't just take it as truth. Many people will say anything/something without having actual experience in the field (I am NOT targeting anyone specific). Just be mindful whose advice you follow. Use your own logic!

Now. Your tri fold mailers.

What is the point of DMM mailers? To NOT look like spam. So realize this:

Unless people send their friends trifold mailers in abundance you will INSTANTLY look like a Dominoes Pizza "buy 2 toppings and get a 3rd free" mailer. HOWEVER.... that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Here is the thing about sending mailers. People always preach about standing out. Let me tell you this. Credibility is EVERYTHING! Not standing out. Standing out is important sure but not at the expense of credibility! Always focus on coming across as credible. Having said that:

Here are 2 paths you can take each with valid logic.

1) Your trifold idea is (could be?) good, IF you purposely want to make sure to let people know you are not "friendly" mail. You have to let people KNOW this is spam. And that is fine, as long as they have no choice but notice that your mailer is about buying houses in cash!

Here is why:

You can not create motivation! If they don't want to sell they won't no matter what you put in the mailers. If they are considering selling even subconsciously, they will be interested in your mailer IF they immediately see what the mailer is about. So in that case absolutely look like spam! Those that are not interested in selling will ignore your mailer and that is good! You do not want to deal with time wasters!

2) you can disguise the mailer as "friendly" mail. Obviously by not sending out trifold brochures. I wouldn't recommend disguising your mailers as friendly mail. When they open the mail they will be turned off! I wouldn't want to do business with anyone that lured me in, in a sneaky way!

Now, I have never done any trifold mailers, so if you have money try it. Send out 500. See what the response is and check it out. Who knows, maybe that is the magic formula!

May Emery · Answer

@Annchen Knodt I agree about the time vs money above, but doing your own lets you use multiple designs to see what works.

I would also suggest that you try more than just Absentee Owners. Seems that everyone is mailing to them which, even with your tri-fold, it will be hard to make your offer stand out from everyone elses.

Consider Owners  with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS) or even Seniors with Long-Time Ownership. Your mailer can focus on how much easier it is to sell their house than they might think - when they work with you. (no open houses, no fixing things or updating)

McKinley Crowley · Answer

Hey @Annchen Knodt there is such a thing as a "Tri-fold flyer" I will message you details as I don't want to break any promotion rules on the forum. What I would recommend doing is thinking about time vs money and see if doing it yourself justifies the amount of money you are saving. Typically I see that people notice that outsourcing direct mail is not much more expensive and it save an incredible amount of time. I will message you but feel free to reply here if you have any other questions so we can add some value to the thread!

Annchen Knodt · Answer

Thanks @McKinley Crowley @May Emery and @Jerryll Noorden - you make some good points! We have gotten some response from our absentee mailers, but I have also been thinking that it's probably time to shift toward high equity / long ownership.

Thanks again, really appreciate your perspectives!

Experience with brochure-like self-mailers for direct mail?

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