Including Real Estate Postcards In Your Overall Marketing Strategy

Being a realtor is not easy, with fierce competition and trying to find ways to set yourself apart from the rest every single day. There is good news, however. Using real estate postcards that are part of your overall marketing campaign can help you achieve your goals and become the successful realtor you've always dreamed of being.

When most realtors think about postcards they think of the 'just sold' or 'just listed' type that gets sent to the immediate area around your listings. There are, however, many more varieties that you can use to generate interest, create brand awareness and help establish yourself as an expert in your field.

There are many ways to create a campaign that is built around real estate postcards. The first step is to find an area that you'd like to farm; in other words, pick a neighbourhood of about 350 homes that you will focus on. Choose an area with good sales prices, but not too low or too high. If your budget is not strained, you may even choose more than one farm.

Then, choose the type of postcards you are going to mail out. It is crucial to mail something that the homeowners are going to want to keep. Inspirational messages, do it yourself tips or recipes are all great ideas. Your cards will end up on their refrigerator instead of their garbage bin.

Plan on mailing out your cards once a month, at a minimum, via the post office. You need to establish the habit of regular mailings. Consistency is key in any marketing campaign and soon the homeowners will come to expect and await their next recipe or trivia question.

If you are consistent with your mailings you can expect results anywhere from six to eighteen months. It takes awhile to build your reputation, no matter what marketing strategy you use. You will see results much quicker, however if you incorporate follow up phone calls or door knocking into your marketing plan.

The plan is very simple: each month, mail your postcards to your farm. After a couple of days, follow up by giving the homeowners a call (check the national call list first) or go and knock on their door. This will establish professionalism and trust and let them know that you are indeed a real person. As old-fashioned or outdated as this sounds it is still an effective technique. Many realtors these days are concentrating so heavily on getting their leads from the internet that they have lost the true art of communicating face to face.

Becoming a successful realtor takes patience, determination and persistence. When you include real estate postcards in your marketing strategy you are setting yourself apart from your competition; when you follow up with them on a regular basis you are establishing yourself as the expert. People will contact you when it comes time to sell their home because they know you and have talked to you; you're not just another face in the newspaper or on a for sale sign. You'll soon have so much business you will have to hire an assistant to help you.