Musing: So I’m sitting here, opening my mail. And I’m surprised at how much mail I’m getting again these days. Used to be that I got hardly any mail… now I’m seeing the trend of going back to snail mail and not as much email. Hmmm…
Proves my point about postcards being a super effective way to get in front of your customers eyeballs. I read the colorful, easy to read items (postcards) first and foremost… and then move on to the letters… maybe.
Postcards are STILL a fabulous way to get your name and services in front of your clients.
I did send postcards at one time. I followed all the new home buyers published in the Newspaper. I bet I sent out 100-200 of them. Nothing!!!
How many do you send, and where else could you get names of new home owners?
Hi Caroline. Great question! There are several things that have to be taken into account when it comes to postcard marketing… first and foremost is the design of the card. Is it compelling? Colorful? Does it have a call to action? What about the photography used… is it professional?
Then you have to look at the list and determine if you are sending the postcards to the right people who are interested in your services.
Thirdly, if you plan up front, on getting a standard rate of 1% of the people contacting you, then you need to be sure you are sending out enough postcards each and every time you do a mailing.
When I was doing postcards, I would send 600 – 700 per month! And I’d get lots of calls, which then turned into clients. So you have to realize that it’s a numbers game. The more you send, the more work you will get.
Think of it this way.. 600 postcards mailed = 6 Calls = 3 or 4 turned into clients, each and every month.
Personally… anything under 500 postcards, I don’t think will be worth your time or investment.
I hope that helps!
Barbara 🙂
I send postcard mailings every month to new homeowners, but I also send to my previous customers a couple times a year. I always get repeat business after the mailings.
Hi Jayne, like you, I could always tell each month when the postcards were mailed out. Shortly afterwards I would get a flurry of phone calls which turned into new business.
hello barbara and caroline,
i am not sure which city you are in, caroline. i live in denver, CO and a few years ago i purchased a list from a company called Panache Publishing http://www.panache.com/locations.html. the list included the contact name, address and price of homes that had sold in my area. your observation about snail mail is interesting, barbara- it makes sense to me. i think email blasts have over-saturated many of our electronic inboxes.
warmly,
jen
Hi Jen, The list you purchased… was it a one time purchase that you’ve mailed to over and over again? Or are you using a list service that sends you new names each month? The second option is what I have done. I only mailed to the names one time and had so much business coming in, I didn’t mail to the names more than once. A series of well thought out postcards would probably work quite well, if sending to the same list each time.
Barbara 🙂
Hey guys,
I think this is one great idea.
Later this year I’m taking over an existing business with three filing cabinets worth of old customer files (no electronic database…yet).
I was going to mail shot a letter but I think the post card idea is fab. They will really stand out and if good enough may get pinned to kitchen notice boards or placed on mantles – so thank you for the idea.
Does anyone know if in the UK we can get a list of new residents or recent home sales?
Hi Jonathan,
You should be able to find a company over there by doing a Google search. There are lots of companies that provide that service over here in the US, so I’m guessing it would be offered there in the UK as well. But keep us posted on what you find out…
Barbara 🙂