3 Ways to Make Your Real Estate Postcards Less Boring

One of the most difficult problems with postcard farming is that you have so many competitors in your farm area that want to sell the same homes you do. With roughly 1 million Realtors® in the United States, this makes sense. There is literally no neighborhood in the entire country that isn't being farmed by at least one or two Realtors.

Further compounding the problem is that, in the most basic sense, there is only one way to sell a home. It's a regulated process. While no two transactions are alike and while everyone does, to a degree, run their real estate practice differently, at the end of the day, the overall path is the same.

So with so much competition, and basically only one way to get from point A to point B, how do you stand out from the crowd and get the attention of the homeowner when they are considering selling their home? To start, let's discuss the ways you DO NOT want to try and grab their attention.

You may be the top x% in the nation, part of the President's Club, or an all around "swell person." Nobody cares, though.

This is one we see all too often. At times, agents fall into the trap of thinking the way to separate themselves from their peers, and the way to grab the attention of homeowners, is to talk about how great they are on their farming postcards.

The problem with this is that the homeowner doesn't care. Homeowners cannot quantify what it means to be top x% in the nation (let alone in their marketplace). Even more than that, as humans, we are all a little bit selfish. How does being top x% equate to a benefit for them? If you cannot draw a direct line, answering their question of "What's in it for me?" you will lose them.

There are so many agents advertising in this incorrect way, homeowners become fatigued with the messages and they just end up ignoring them all together.

While, technically, "Call me for a free market analysis" is a call to action, it is a VERY weak one

While I suppose any call to action is better than none at all, this particular call to action is quite possibly one of the weakest you can put on your farming postcards. Your job is to demonstrate your value to homeowners, your knowledge of your marketplace, and your ability to help them sell their home quickly with the most favorable terms possible.

A free market analysis does none of these things. It does none of these things because it leaves a homeowner feeling like if they call you, you are going to give them the "hard sell," bugging them about selling now, when possibly they are just looking to maybe sell in the future. As a result, they will not take you up on your offer and will not call you.

So now that we know two things that are not great ways to grab the attention of the homeowner, let's discuss three easy ways to grab attention, endear yourself to homeowners, and establish yourself as the agent that they have to call when they finally decide to put their home on the market.

Put an offer for an INSTANT online home valuation with a capture code on your postcard.

Now I know I just said offering a market analysis isn't a strong offer, BUT this is different. By offering homeowners an automated way they can do this—on their own, without having to call you—you are giving them power. You are lowering the barrier of entry and they are going to take you up on your offer.

Even more, by using capture codes, you can pinpoint EXACTLY which homeowner has requested an automated home value, allowing you to follow up with them personally. So you still get to have the personalized interaction that a phone call would provide if you sent a card with the weak CTA I described a moment ago. But in this case, you are presenting it in an attractive way to the homeowner that will undoubtedly get them to react.

Educate, Educate, Educate... with Ebooks.

One of the best philosophies you can establish when planning out any postcard farming campaign is to establish yourself as the thought leader in your marketplace. When you do this, you will be the instant choice for homeowners to contact when they are ready to start speaking with Realtors®. The easiest way to do this is by educating them.

My favorite particular way of educating homeowners is by, again, using capture codes on postcards. This allows you to track specifically who is responding to your postcards. Additionally, if your postcard system is flexible, it will allow you to vary the item of value associated with that offer code. So one time you could do a instant home valuation. Then, the next card you could follow up with an ebook such as, "The Top 10 Things to Do When Preparing Your Home for Sale."

Our particular marketing system offers pre-written ebooks to our clients, at no additional charge. Even if your particular marketing service doesn't, you'll find they don't take too long to build, and educating homeowners will always be your best bet on making them think of you as their "go-to source" for everything real estate.

Remember, it's more than just selling homes. It's about community.

While offering real estate related information to homeowners is important, it is also very important to remember that there is more to the relationship that you are building than a simple business deal. Real estate is a VERY personal business. You are being trusted by a homeowner to sell their most valuable asset, their home.

One fantastic way to endear yourself to homeowners, while solidifying yourself as a Realtor who is committed to the community, is by sending them value added items related to their area. We often refer to these as distraction pieces. For instance, if in the summer your farm area has a thriving downtown district that does weekly "concerts on the street," you should send a postcard with the summer schedule before the concerts begin.

There are literally dozens of ways you can leverage pieces like this in ANY real estate farm area, no matter how large or small your marketplace.

Just because you have lots of competition DOES NOT mean you have to be one of the humdrum, boring agents that isn't grabbing the attention of prospective clients. With a little tweaking, you will be able to position yourself as unique and valuable to homeowners in ways that will pay dividends for years to come.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.