With the economy in a recession and the real estate market real estate out, real estate agents are having a tough time making ends meet. It’s getting harder and harder for us to justify spending money on marketing materials when we don’t know when we’ll see our next commission check.
The problem, of course, is that if we don’t market ourselves, then we’ll never generate the new business we so desperately need.
In the past, agents have had great success with standard real estate postcards. Agents typically mail out postcards to neighborhoods and their past clients to generate new listings and new buyers. The downside to these mass mailings is that agents can easily spend thousands of dollars on their mailings with printing and postage costs. That money is gone forever and may never bring in any new leads.
As a high volume real estate agent for the past decade, let me share some of the ways you can save money on real estate postcards here:
Target You Mailings
In the past, my real estate team has sent thousands of postcards out each month to every home in many neighborhoods. To reduce expenses, we now only target homes that have recently been on the market and couldn’t sell (expired/withdrawn) or homes that have not sold in the past 5 years.
While it takes a bit more research time, the savings have been substantial. Spending a few hours researching a neighborhood can save us over ten thousand dollars a year. All we have to do is pull neighborhood data from our title company and recent listing activity from our MLS. This highly targeted marketing has helped us keep our revenue steady and save money on real estate postcards.
Hand Deliver You Postcards
Uncle Sam keeps raising the cost of a postcard. A large 8 x 6 postcard can cost almost a dollar with first class postage. Another way to save money on real estate postcards is to hand deliver them or have your postcards hand delivered by someone else. You can usually find services that hand deliver fliers for about $0.10 a home. Saving over thirty cents a home can add up very quickly.
If you have the time, hand delivering your postcards yourself allows you to meet your potential clients and can help you build relationships in your community. Shaking their hand and giving them a marketing piece can be extremely effective.
Real Estate Postcards Coupons
With all of the agents trying to save money on their real estate postcards, the printing suppliers are feeling the heat. Because of this, many printers are offering real estate postcard coupons and other deals. Spending an extra 10 minutes using these coupons can save you 10% – 20% on your printing costs!