Why Is There So Much Confusion Over Direct Mail Marketing?

I have written a number of articles about direct mail marketing and the fact that it is my number one source of leads for my business. But it seems that no matter how many articles I write about the importance of setting up ongoing direct mail campaigns, there are still folks that “proclaim” that they get great results sending one letter; that it is in fact a waste of time and money sending out multiple letters. And to those folks I would say, you got lucky if that worked out for you. I personally have never heard of anyone getting enough leads for the whole year from one mailing.

Just last week I was on one of the national sites for real estate investors. One person said that if you had a quality mail piece and a good list, one time is all you ever had to mail to a particular list. The unspoken message was that all of the other real estate investors that have direct mail campaigns in progress were somehow confused about how this process works. And if we were better at weeding out motivated sellers from these lists prior to the first mailing, subsequent mailings were just unnecessary. I’m still trying to wrap my thoughts around that one.

The Profits Are a Result of the Process

I know that this process works. With over 20 years of experience in direct mail marketing, I have proven time and time again that is will bring a steady stream of leads in the door, and this repetition builds brand awareness. This brand awareness is one of the things that will set you apart from the competition.

Setting good parameters in your list is very important, and some mail pieces are better than others. There are some mail pieces like those very vague yellow letters that will drive tons of phone calls your way. Have I found these letters to be effective in bringing me actual deals? Never! For me those letters were just a huge pain in the butt. I don’t want a million phone calls; I want a few motivated sellers landing on my doorstep.

I will tell you this; more often than not, I am the only person still mailing to these sellers over an extended period of time. Everyone else has thrown in the towel after a couple of mailings and that is good news (for me). Once you really understand this, it leaves the door wide open for you to be that investor that is still there when they finally become a motivated seller.