3 Ways Your Real Estate Postcard Farming Content Can Live Beyond The Postcard Itself

When discussing the merits of postcard marketing with real estate agents, one objection that occasionally comes up is that the lifespan of real estate farming postcards is just too short, given what they cost. The theory is that the homeowner gets the card in their mailbox, glances at it for 3-5 seconds and then simply tosses it in their recycling bin, there marking the end of the that postcard's usefulness.

While I will admit that does sound bleak, and I am sure that some postcards do in fact follow that exact lifecycle, I'll also note that the only postcards that are suffering this fate are postcards that set up poorly. It could be a variety of reasons. The content might be too thin. The message might be targeted incorrectly. The call to action could be weak (or, even worse, completely non-existent). Or, the card just may not be visually appealing enough to warrant attention.

Having real estate postcard content that lives beyond the initial touch the homeowner has with it is critical if you want to turn homeowners into leads and start them down the path to becoming clients. Let's face it. You are also spending your hard earned money on these postcards. While postcards, even looked at for only three seconds, will build brand awareness, why settle for just awareness? You should be using your hard earned marketing dollars to make sure you have every opportunity to capture a new lead and turn them into a client. With that in mind, today I want to share with you three great ways you can make sure people not only remain engaged with your postcard farming content, but make the content larger than the card itself.

Don't Stop with Just the Card – Take Them on a Journey

One of the most amazing things I find, especially given all the great technology that is available to agents, is the fact that agents are still content with simply sending out a postcard and leaving it at that. Why stop with simply taking someone on a trip to their mailbox when you can actually take them on an entire journey?

Using a postcard with a capture code is a fantastic way to achieve this. For instance, if you are sending out a postcard that features a new listing in the area, why not tie the video home tour to the capture code? Homeowners will then go to their computer, look at the tour and learn more about how you market your listings, and more about the listing itself, too.

Or maybe you wish to keep it super local. For instance, if there is a new coffee shop in the neighborhood, you can use the offer code on the postcard to offer a discount on a cup of coffee, or whatever else the shop owner may be willing to offer. The result is building goodwill, not only among homeowners in the area, but also local business owners.

It doesn't end there. If you are using Facebook retargeting, your campaigns will live on even further, serving ads to these very same homeowners when they go on Facebook to see what their friends and family are up to.

Give Your Content Longevity

One fantastic way to ensure that your message moves beyond the postcard itself is to think of ways that you can craft your content to ensure homeowners will take your card and hang it up on a bulletin board or on their fridge. My favorite way to do this is with things like schedules.

For instance, maybe once a year you send out an Art & Wine Festival guide that has a schedule spanning 3-4 months of events. Or maybe you create a card for your farm area with all the names and phone numbers of restaurants in the neighborhood that offer delivery or takeout services. These types of cards are exactly the type of thing a homeowner will hang onto. These cards, of course, will have your photo and your branding on them, so every time they walk by it, they will see your face and your logo— further solidifying in their minds the fact that you are the resident Realtor® in the area.

Remember, KEEP IT ORIGINAL

This one is possibly the smallest thing you can do, yet the most overlooked. Simply put, if your card does not pop visually, it doesn't matter what kind content you have on it and it does not matter what type of call to action you have on it. Homeowners are simply not going to pay attention to it.

Remember, "template" is a BAD WORD. There is nobody on this planet that sells real estate the same way you do. Why would you just pick something off an online store and pass it off as "good enough"? Put the time in to work with a marketing agency to help you design your own unique branding and value proposition. It takes a little time to set up at first, but the effort will pay off ten-fold.

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