Forgot there was a Marketing forum… moved it over there…
Just curious what everyone else is seeing on their mailing campaigns.
I’ve seen a drastic response rate drop in the past 18 months or so in the Raleigh area, and I assume it’s because the market has improved so much over that time period. What are all of you seeing lately? What have you done differently to improve your results?
All the Best,
Merrick
Are you using the same list? I get a ton of responses on my first mailing, then each subsequent mailing I get less, by the 4th mailing its really low but those calls can be the money call. Do you have some bread and butter low income homes in Raleigh?
Here in Central California were in the big city of 750K population and the entire inner city is lower income, with tons of houses needing repair. Also many other areas of the city with mid income houses that are over 50 years old. Then we have all the smaller surrounding towns with older homes. This place is ripe for wholesalers & investors.
These lower income houses are in demand and sell fast. A 40K home that needs 20K in repairs will rent for $950 a month. A 150K home that needs 20K in repairs will rent for $1,200 You can see why my buyers luv these cheap junkers.
I also noticed I get a better response rate with letters than post cards. I just ordered some yellow envelopes, people think these are invitations and will open them. I order them in bulk, 1,000 costs about 75 buks including the 20 buks UPS shipping.
What’s that, 7.5 cents each?
Thanks for the replys. I do have a “bread & Butter” sector in the Raleigh area, but I’ve also done fairly well on newer homes that need far less work, so I tend to target pretty much everyone in Raleigh and the surrounding areas. My lists usually get updated a few times a year and we start over, so I’m touching each person 7 times before the list updates. The first few mailings always have a little higher response, but still not how it used to be. Last mailing of over 1,300 names I received 18 calls, and that’s not considering hangups or the number of people that asked to be removed from the list I realize this was a few years ago, but my response rates used to be in the 9 - 11% range. I started wholesaling part time in 2005, I’ve been full time since 2012 and this is the worst I’ve seen it. Once I find the deals, they’re easy to sell, usually getting bid up over my asking, just having a harder time finding anything
I’ve mixed it up with letters and postcards over the years. I predominantly use postcards because my response rate with YL vs Postcards are not really any different (even using invitation or greeting card envelopes).
Thanks for the input!
I think as we continue to shift in marketing strategies throughout business in general, we as wholesalers need to adapt. Direct mail still works for us here in Nashville, TN, but I have noticed a sharp decline in response rate. Our company has been successful at finding really targeted lists and mailing those smaller lists multiple times. Absentees are getting 10-13 letters/postcards a day here. I think direct mail is still wonderful, you just have to be laser focused. Best of luck!
Are you guys mixing in FB remarketing when you send these out? We’ve noticed a big hurdle in people just knowing the name. One lady said it best with “I got your letter and then looked you up. Then saw you guys pop up in FB”. Seems like hinging everything on DM is like a crapshoot. We tend to build our marketing so it’s end to end. Or in other words, we expect people to get the letter, go look us up. Go look around on our site and other places. Maybe think about it. Then find a reminder on FB. And so on.
Sure beats a one off DM piece all by its lonesome.
Excellent point. I’ve been using facebook’s remarketing for over a year, but still not really seeing much from either.
We only see results when we really build a clear vision and then build intensely in the medium.
That’s how email has worked for us. We built a clear vision to get a certain amount of people coming in through email. We setup ads, got people on the email list, and kept pushing along. Remarketing is the same. Just another ad medium and it has to be developed until it’s performing the way you want.