How Many Times Should I Mail to Leads?

You purchase a lead list, or put it together yourself, send out your first batch of Direct Mail, and then wait by the phone. When the phone rings, you answer excitedly and BAM!!! You’re confronted by a very angry voice on the other line threatening to sue you for… sending them a postcard?  We’ve all been there.

This is often discouraging to newer investors, or even established investors who are new to direct mail, and that is perfectly understandable. Some people get very upset by the idea of you reaching out and letting them know you want to buy their house.  But the problem occurs when this feedback has a direct impact on whether or not you continue mailing.  

The Direct Mail Feedback Loop

Managing Direct Mail for our Real Estate investor clients as long as we have has given us some incredible insight, including our Direct Mail Feedback Loop. This analysis pertains to Direct Mail sent to property owners specifically for the purpose of acquiring their property whether for outright purchase, wholesale or for some other exit strategy. My point is that I cannot speak to other industries, but REI Direct Mail seems to operate with its own set of typical outcomes.

The way this Direct Mail Feedback Loop works is based on multiple drips. In other words, it’s based on sending direct mail to your lead list more than once. Here is a breakdown of what we typically see:

Direct Mail Feedback Loop; Typical REI Direct Mail Cycle explains what to expect with each drip and the benefits of multiple drips.

So you see, by reacting to the feedback you get from calls coming in from your first drip, you might assume that the campaign is a bust. But, you’re going to get the people who seriously hate getting direct mail about their property calling in right away. In reality, this is a great thing for you! You can remove them from your list and no longer spend money on sending mail to someone who has zero interest in selling you their property. Getting through the first drip and finding some good leads from the batch is a serious win!

Why You Should Continue to Drip

Drip 3 is where the magic really starts to happen. That’s why we always recommend clients drip a minimum of three times. Don’t stop there though! There is nothing wrong with continuing to mail leads 7, 8, 9 times or more. Depending on the lead type, the point where you’re going to see diminishing returns varies wildly. We have clients getting deals from Probate and Absentee leads 6 – 12 months after the leads were initially pulled. By giving up on the leads too soon, you simply warm them up for another investor to come along and scoop the deal.

So in summary, expect high opt-outs the first time you mail a lead list.  Keep mailing the list at least three times!  

And remember, you’ve got to scale to be better before you scale to be bigger.

Are you wasting money on Direct Mail? 

Marketing for your real estate investing company can make or break your business. You could keep trying stuff and guessing at what works or use a proven system. Or, you can work with a company like ours, who uses data analytics to generate lead lists and create proven systems for RE investors all over the nation. If you are a real estate investor who is serious about growing your business bigger or better, we’d love to talk. 

For years, we’ve worked with some of the biggest real estate investors in the country and have insights into the current trends. We know what will work for you.

We handle the marketing process from start to finish to ensure maximum results. We know how it will work for you.

We track results all the way through the marketing AND sales process and use that data to enhance your campaigns. We know when it will work for you.

The difference is in the data. Start Now!