by Cynthia Fedor | October 6th, 2011
Realtors® today are facing a daunting, multi–pronged challenge. Never before have real estate agents had to develop business while dealing with so many competing elements.
- How do I list/sell in a distressed housing market saturated with inventory?
- How do a find people willing to do business in a failing economy?
- How do I make prospects come to me when they have access to a wealth of information?
- Where do I concentrate my marketing efforts when there are so many options?
- How can I stretch my marketing dollars without compromising campaign performance?
- How do I stand out from the other agents that are targeting the same prospects?
These are just a few questions Realtors may be asking themselves on a daily basis.
Many real estate marketers are finding that the answers are in a targeted and integrated strategy that uses the best of both traditional and digital marketing channels.
Deliver Magazine recently published an article featuring an automated, turnkey program that helps Realtors do just this. TriggerMarketing®, an instant lead–generation program, combines digital technologies like unique QR codes, texting, and PURLs with targeted direct mail to motivate action, track individual responses, and provide lead information back to the agent. Agents just click a link from an email to launch a local direct mail campaign to prospects surrounding a property listing or recently sold property.
From the article…
Recipients can scan a QR code, text a unique phrase to a code number or visit a keyword-protected website to get more information. TriggerMarketing notifies the real estate agent via email when prospects seek property information, including details about each lead. And the system also includes links to the property listings on Facebook and Twitter to create social buzz.
Read More »
by Cynthia Fedor | September 2nd, 2011
Jumbo postcards have the ability to stand out in mailboxes and get noticed. Simply due to their size, they demand more attention than a standard postcard and are less likely to get lost in the pile of mass–produced coupon mailers most consumers receive on a daily basis. Using this medium in unexpected and interesting ways can increase the probability that a business will make a lasting impression on existing and prospective customers.
Here are some ways you can use jumbo postcards as part of your local marketing strategy to positively affect business and foster customer loyalty:
Boost traffic to your website or social media properties online
Relying on digital advertising and search engine optimization techniques alone to drive business to your website can be an ineffective and costly endeavor. Direct mail postcards can help you target local prospects that are not finding your business online through search. Use jumbo postcards to invite audiences to Read More »
by Jamie Matusek | August 18th, 2011
There’s no denying that as marketers, we’re heavily influenced by the social media bandwagon. While it’s still hot, companies in nearly every industry are focusing their budgets on it, to use the power of Facebook, Twitter and online networks to get their message out to customers and prospects. Be cautioned: social media is not a numbers game, nor is it one that reaches all consumer audiences.
An article in Luxury Daily reports that 50% of our wealthiest populations (the top 10% of affluent U.S. individuals who make up 35% of all U.S. income; individuals with a minimum net worth of $828,000 and an average net worth of $3.1 million) don’t engage with social media at all.
Although the United States is still considered to be in a recession, the Center for American Progress’ Prosperity 2050 study claims that the very rich are growing in Read More »
by Cynthia Fedor | June 22nd, 2011
Quite a while ago I read an article that described the list woes of a mail-order gourmet brownie company. They ran into some issues trying to effectively manage and grow their mail catalogue distribution lists. Because the majority of their business, or all of it, depended on responses to their catalogues, the company decided to expand their customer mailing list by acquiring multiple purchased lists from an agency. The rapid growth of their mailing list caused them to increase catalogue production and, as a consequence, increase costs associated with their direct marketing campaign. The tough part for this company, though, was that they didn’t see a correlating increase in response rates. After investing all this money, the responses were not sufficient enough to recuperate the growing cost of catalogue production, let alone producing any bump up in profit.
So, what went wrong? A lot of people assume that if you increase your marketing campaign’s reach, the ratio of responses should grow at the same rate. Statistically, this theory might be true if you’re talking about something like playing the lottery – the more you play, the more chances you have to win. Unfortunately, this rule doesn’t apply in direct marketing. Success isn’t necessarily dependent on quantity, but rather on quality of your marketing message and the relevancy of it for the people that receive the message.
Proper list management is an incredibly important part of a successful and effective direct marketing campaign. The effort of reviewing and refining your mailing lists should be constant and should hold just as much importance as things like defining your marketing message or balancing your budget. Read More »
by Cynthia Fedor | June 13th, 2011
Great direct mail design has the ability to capture a recipient’s attention, get them to read and process content, commit to the message, then execute a specific call to action. Although there is no secret formula for direct mail design that will guarantee 100% participation from all recipients, there are best practices marketers should follow to increase brand visibility, response rates, and overall ROI.
First, know the target audience and determine the end goal.
Before starting to develop direct mail copy and design, the following should be clear: What are the characteristics of the target audience and what is important to them? Knowing details about the target audience will help determine the appropriate tone to use for copy, which images should be included, and how to structure ideas in a way the target audience will understand. Also, the more detailed a marketer can be when identifying qualities and characteristics of their audience, the better the opportunity to refine the message for specific segment groups. For example, a real estate agent directing a postcard to potential home buyers can segment that broad group into specific categories – investment purchasers, renters, first-time home buyers, expanding families, etc. Each of these segments would have different motivating factor for purchasing a new home; therefore, the message should speak directly to those issues.
Just as important is clarifying the goal for sending a direct mail piece. What is the intended outcome of the piece? Is the intention of the message to inform, provoke an action, or just to promote awareness of the brand? Whatever it may be, there should only be one main idea represented on each direct mail piece. Marketers may only have but a few seconds of the target audience’s attention; therefore, marketers need to choose one goal and drive that point throughout the direct mail piece. Read More »
