In real estate, farming postcards have become a core part of the agent's marketing program. Agents use postcards to announce their listings, build their brand and attract new clients.
But why is it that some agents enjoy such success while others fail? What's the secret to success with real estate farming postcards?
Real Estate Postcards Need Value
Think of your own mailbox habits for a moment. When you screen the day's deliveries, what criteria do you use to separate the keepers from the throwaways? What do you look at to determine "postal worthiness"?
I'm willing to bet you're looking for one of three things -- personal correspondence, bills, or items of value. Items of value include coupons, special offers, even college acceptance letters, anything that carries value to the reader.
Now back to real estate postcards. If your farming postcards do not carry some kind of value, what reason do recipients have to keep them? It's a tough question to ask yourself, I know. But if you're serious about postcard marketing success you have to ask it.
Postcard Value Items
The value of your postcard's offer or incentive will directly influence the number of people who respond to it. This is where perceived value comes into play. Perceived value is a combination of actual value (item) and presented value (how that item is described). In other words, you need a valuable item, and you need to convince people of its value.
It's worth repeating...
Actual value + Presented value = Perceived value
Examples of Postcard Value Items
What items of value do you have at your disposal? You may think you don't have much to offer, but think again. Here are some value items you might offer through your postcards:
School Reports -- For buyers without children, this topic is pertinent because it affects the resale value of their home. For buyers with children, there's the added relevance of a good education for their kids!
Online Resource Center -- An informational resource section of your website. Might include property listings with virtual tours, home buying downloads, mortgage guide, buyer's checklist...
Development Reports -- When you buy a home, you're also buying into the area around it. So it pays to know what's planned for that area. It affects quality of life and resale value.
Buyer's Guides -- Helps first-timers get a good understanding of the process so they can avoid costly mistakes and enjoy a smoother home buying process. Locally focused with area maps and market conditions.
Super Combo -- How about combining all of the above into some kind of super response-generator? If you can imagine it, you can create it.
The value items listed above are only the tip of the iceberg -- yours is limited only by your imagination. The point is to make your farming postcard more than a postcard. By transforming it into a thing of value, you will immediately improve your postcard farming program.
Let us close by stating the universal law of direct marketing. The stronger the offer, the better the response.
* You may republish this article if you retain the active hyperlinks below. Copyright 2006, Brandon Cornett. 
