It's been over 100 years since the first direct mail campaign went out, but many successful real estate agents and investors still rely on this marketing strategy to promote their company and products.
While 'Yellow Letter' campaigns have been around for decades, they're still very popular. In this article, we'll go through why yellow letters are so effective and how real estate investors and agents can make them better.
Simply put a yellow letter campaign is a series of direct mailers also known as “touches” that are snail mailed to a prospect. Generally with a handwritten font on a yellow piece of paper with red lining. The yellow letter should be mailed in an envelope (typically colored) with a real postage stamp. Depending on your campaign these will be mailed to your target market with a series of messages with a clear call to action.
Yellow letters tend to stand out in the pile of junk mail because they are not mass mail. They stand out as personalized because they were written individually rather than as an automated form of communication.
This piques interest in the prospect you are reaching out to and has a much higher chance of getting opened and read unlike postcards. Even in the days of the digital world people still enjoy getting pleasant personalized mail so long as its done classy and provides value to your customer.
When you start a campaign, it's important that you know who your target audience is and the best way to find them. Identifying motivated sellers is one of the most important areas most content marketers focus on. Motivated sellers are homeowners who might be open to offers, even if their home isn't necessarily on the market. One example could be if a family member recently passed away or if they simply want to move and are unable to do so because of the property.
Run a search of the current owners' home mortgage, information and identify if they are in a situation where they might need your services. Situations like foreclosure, absentee owners, back taxes can all be indicators that a homeowner might be motivated to sell.
Pro Tip: You can find information about tax liens, foreclosures and this sort of thing at your county’s public records offices. This sort of information is also usually available online. If you want to find out more advanced tips & tricks to get the best leads schedule a call with the Authorized team.
Consider the people in the vicinity of where you plan on targeting and take note. Getting a deep understanding of your customers needs is important for creating effective marketing messages that will resonate with them. The best way to get people to sell their home is by showing them that you're on their side and understand what they're going through.
Make sure you use language that will be relevant to the person reading your letter. Think about how they’ll be impacted and tailor the language you use accordingly. You want to build a quick connection, so take the time to craft your message carefully. Keep in mind you also want to create a clear call to action several times, like “Please Call Me”.
Sending consistent repetitive messages with a clear call to action in a yellow letter campaign will cut through a crowded market of junk mail. Done correctly these campaigns will get you deals that require a more human, personalized touch.
Without a doubt you should send multiple letters. Unless you get returned mail or a request to take you off the mailing list, we recommend you always send multiple letters or touches to get the best response rate.
Pro Tip: Check out this article to learn why seven is the magic marketing number needed to build a reputation and convert a lead “Rule of 7”.
It’s wise to test your marketing campaigns in smaller batches to see what is working best and make improvements before going all out. However, you really have to make sure you are testing on a big enough scale. Different prospects will have different motivations for selling. Some are more pressing than others, be smart about when and how often you reach out to them.
Pro Tip: Sending seven mailers to a prospect is better than sending on mailer to more prospects.
Any small campaign can get a lot of responses or be a total flop. Test on a larger scale and more than once to make sure you have a solid response rate calculated.
Again mailing lists are very critical, your responses will only be as good as your data. This is a very important factor to consider. You can have a great marketing mailer and get zero responses if you have bad data to begin with.
Do not make this costly mistake. Again get in touch with an Authorized team member to learn more about getting authorized lists.
Getting more focused with targeting the right prospects, investors can send less direct mail letters and still get better conversion rates. Ultimately, this means a better return on investment and certainly far less wasted time.
Making sure someone is available to pick up when these leads call is another major factor that investors fail to handle.
Pro Tip: DO NOT let all of your inbound responses go unanswered when you run a marketing campaign. This is the number one way to missing out on opportunities you already paid for.
Consider using a call tracking software with enhanced routing to make sure your calls get answered no matter where you are.
To find out more tips and tricks get in touch with an Authorized team member or check out this article.
