August 2013

Direct mail is an affordable real estate and small business marketing tool that garners excellent results. By following some direct mail and postcard marketing best practices, you can increase customer response, brand visibility, and overall return on investment. First, refine your mailing list to reach your perfect customer. Second, tailor the content of your direct mail piece to your intended recipients. Third, draw attention to only one call-to-action, and be specific in the action you want the recipient to take. Fourth, track and measure your response to see which messages or offers work best. Fifth and finally, set measurable goals, learn from your successes and challenges, and be consistent.

Motivate real estate and small business customer direct mail response with a great call-to-action statement. Use a message on your direct mail postcard that either appeals to your prospect’s emotions or creates a sense of urgency. Start your call-to-action statement with a verb and use language that is direct, simple, and easy to understand. Use effective postcard direct mail design to visually separate the statement from the rest of the postcard message.

Making your brand consistently and easily recognizable makes it easier for your real estate or other small business organization to stand out and be noticed. Follow these five best practices to make it easier for customers to recognize and approach your brand: 1) make your brand unique and simple, 2) use a bold logo that is easily seen by customers and prospects, 3) select and stick with consistent colors that represent your brand, 4) use the same one to two fonts on all branded marketing items, and 5) once established, consistently apply your branding guidelines for all outbound marketing communications efforts.

Placing focus on customer retention and loyalty can not only help you maintain your business, but also increase revenue. Communicating with your real estate or small business customer base on a consistent basis using direct mail postcard marketing is a great way to make your business top of mind and keep customers coming back. Maintain an up-to-date customer database, create a mailing schedule, and set reminders for yourself to make it easy to remember to stay in touch. Real estate agents and brokers, for example, can use postcards to inform customers of just sold and just listed property success as a way to capture attention and obtain additional listing opportunities or referrals.