All Forum Posts by: Claire Trammell

Hello @Benjamin Blackburn!

Direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond. That's not to say you won't get any calls the first few times, but statistically speaking it takes a few times to get the calls rolling in.

I wouldn't say it's a "crazy to step away from tradition" to mail to a different zip code each month, but it would be close to a waste of potential and money to mail to the list once.

Happy Investing! 

@Victor Vazquez

There really isn't any magic size. You really could go any way. We use the standard 8 1/2" x 11".

@Keith Weigand

You're on the right track. Direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond.

Here are the average response rates we have seen based on our customer feedback as well as our own mailings throughout the years:

Yellow Letters- average response rate of 8%-9%, all kinds of calls (angry calls, curious calls, tire-kickers, quality calls)

Postcards- average response rate of .5%, mostly quality calls.

Zip Letters- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

Greeting Cards- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

Hope that's helpful!

Hello @Paul Kogan!

Especially if you're just starting out, Excel is a pretty easy way to go. I cannot speak for all the companies out there, but we use Excel or CSV formatting. Though as you grow your list and mailing size, you may want to look into a more automated CRM. I have heard of a number of them here on BP, so a quick search may yield you some detailed results.

Happy Investing! 

@Amy Clark

How many leads do you have from D4D? Just curious..

Direct mail is a great way to generate leads, though it should be just one of the ways you are marketing. 

Direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond. That's not to say you won't receive calls on the first few touches, just that statistically it takes a few touches to get the ball rolling.

As for your quantity to mail to there are two things that you should ask yourself:

1) What is my monthly budget?

2) What is my ability to handle the calls?

It might help you to answer these questions if you had an idea on what to expect in respect to the response rates. Below are the average response rates we have seen based on our customer feedback as well as our own mailings throughout the years:

Yellow Letters- average response rate of 8%-9%, all kinds of calls (angry calls, curious calls, tire-kickers, quality calls)

Postcards- average response rate of .5%, mostly quality calls.

Zip Letters- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

Greeting Cards- average response rate of 2%, mostly quality calls. (Great for follow ups)

I wish you success! Keep us posted on how your campaign goes!

@Julius Dixon

I'll try to answer your questions one at a time.

how would you define the difference between the different mailers you stated above (yellow, postcard, etc etc)?

These are just the different formats of mailers. So postcards, letters, zip letters, etc. Here are some examples:

Yellow Letter- yellow lined paper with handwritten font in envelope with live stamp.

Text Postcard- double sided postcard on card stock, indicia stamp.

Zip Letter- Pressure sealed, perforated, tear to open mailer.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of each, and where in the process do you use each one?

In my post above I broke down the response rates and types of responses. That might be helpful to review to answer this question.

You mentioned that you need about 5-7 touchpoints, so is the first one like a yellow letter (not sure what this means), second a postcard, etc etc?

I usually recommend what I call a 6 Month Campaign. It's the campaign @Michael Quarles recommends. It looks like this:

• Small Text Postcard
• Patriot Letter (like a yellow letter but with a patriotic background)
• Large Text Postcard
• Typed Letter 
• Yellow Letter
• Zip Letter

How does your phrasing in each mailer change in regards to the different formatting?

The message could be roughly the same thing each time. Changing the type of mail piece is more for continuing to intrigue the recipient enough to read it each time. If you send the same mail piece over and over, it has a higher chance of being thrown out simply because it is too familiar.

Also, what recommendations do you have for purchasing the seller's list? What criteria do you think are best to input on listsource?

This is a harder question to answer. You will have a lot of different answers on what is best. I cannot give a simple "this is best" answer, however, I can give you my recommendation. I do use listsource and this is the criteria I would recommend:

• 1-3 Bedrooms
• 30%-100% Equity
• 4 yrs. Ownership
• SFR
• Median Price Range for your area
• Absentee
• Owner Occupied
• No Corp
• No Trust

Let me know if I didn't explain something efficiently or if you have any more questions. Feel free to PM me if I can help too. :-)

Hello @Mike Anders! Welcome to the BP Community!

By having a list you have already moved away from the shotgun approach. At least, I associate that approach with EDDM. Also, while I understand what others may be thinking when they recommend mailing right after they receive their tax bill, I would say that there really isn't a specific time tho mail and that mailing anytime could produce results.  

With direct mail follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond, and it tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. So, sending only one mail piece is kind of a waste of money.

I would recommend making a monthly budget specifically for marketing then make plan and follow through with that plan.

I wish you luck! Feel free to reach out if I can help!

Hello @Adam Cox!

First of all, welcome to the BP Community!

While I agree that this business is all about marketing, that could mean many different things. I think that is what you were asking: what are some different types of marketing techniques?

I wish there was one fail-proof way to market to have consistent leads coming in, however there is not. Depending on your market and the types of leads you are targeting, you will find some things work better than others. In short, you're going to have to test your market. Facebook, Craigslist, door knocking, direct mail, cold calling, are a few ways to market.

Also, to answer your question "Generally how many times do you market postcards to the same list?", I would say this: Direct mail tends to work best when you send a campaign of 5-7 different pieces, 4 weeks apart from each other. Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond. Setting up a monthly budget specifically for marketing will help you in planning a marketing campaign.

I hope that was at least a little bit helpful. Please feel free to contact me if I can help any further!

@Paul Fagot

I second @Sterling White's question: How many yellow letters are you sending out and are you hitting the same list more than once?

Hello @Avery Gilmer!

I love reading about different and creative direct mail marketing. I'm curious to know what you decide to do.

I've seen folks send in their own designs. And depending on the direct mail company you choose, there are some templates can be modified during the ordering process. 

One of my favorite things is to utilize greeting cards during the holidays. Folks are receiving greeting cards from family and friends this time a year so theoretically the opening rate would jump up.

Keep us posted!