Running a Successful Direct Mail Campaign

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Marketing campaigns that result in a lack of responses are perhaps the most frustrating scenarios for new investors. Unfortunately, reality TV shows portray the entire marketing process in a false light. They make marketing seem too easy. However, as you may already be aware, this is not the case. A quality direct mail campaign requires an acute attention to detail in the following areas: building a list, presentation of the medium, timing, tracking, followup and targeting. Neglecting to account for any of these may result in a poor campaign.

Everything matters when you are trying to convince someone to contact you. The recipient is evaluating everything from the color of the envelope to the font size of your text. This is why it is so important to know what you are doing. A successful campaign usually starts with a good list. Regardless of the quality of your materials, the stronger the list, the more successful you will be. If you are going to spend time and money on any one area, the quality of your list should be it.

If you have an old list, your response rate will be hurt or you will have multiple letters returned. The first thing that any recipient will notice is the envelope. A white, handwritten envelope has shown to be the most successful, but many have also had success with bright pink or green as well. This is a chance that you have to be willing to take.

The text of your letter is dependent on who you are mailing to specifically. If you are mailing to distressed property owners, you need to remember what they are going through. This is an involuntary ordeal that they would much rather not be dealing with. Your letter should be aimed at helping them through the situation as painlessly as possible. They may not want to sell in a month. What they usually want is to be told exactly what is happening and what will happen if they cannot make the payments. If you go in with the mindset of explaining and helping, you will get a much greater response for your letters.

Just because your recipients need help doesn’t mean they will call you. Too many investors will send out one batch of letters to a quality list and think their phone will just ring off the hook. You should plan to send your list one letter every month for six months. You can tweak the letter based on the feedback you receive, but sending just one or two will not tell you if you will be successful.

Finally, you need to track your results. If you don’t know who is calling and what is working; how can you know what to improve? You do not need an elaborate tracking system, but you do need something to let you know if your marketing is working.

Direct mail can be frustrating and difficult at times. You need to stay on top of what you are doing and what needs to be changed. The most important quality is patience. Give your list a few months before you grade your success or failure. If you stick with it, you will find that success takes longer than you may have thought.