How to Build a Real Estate Mailing List

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Real estate is a somewhat unique industry for several reasons. One is the fact that traditional approaches to marketing remain fairly effective in real estate.

For example, many realtors know that distributing postcards is an affordable way to connect with new leads and attract more business. However, it’s important to remember that simply creating and mailing postcards randomly isn’t enough to yield ideal results. 

It’s essential that you build a robust mailing list before implementing a marketing campaign based on real estate postcards. The following tips will help you do so:

Determine Your Geographic Area

This is one of the first steps you must take when building your mailing list. Naturally, you won’t be randomly sending postcards to people throughout the country. You need to define the area you plan on serving. This will help you start building a list consisting of people who live in that area.

Determine the Income of Your Ideal Customer

Not everyone who resides in your chosen geographic area may be able to afford the properties you’re selling. Thus, you must narrow down your list by determining what the median or average income of your typical customer should be. This will help you avoid wasting money by sending postcards to those who can’t afford to work with you.

Search Records

There are various documents and public records you can search through to find names worth adding to your mailing list. For example, you might choose to research eviction records if you want to contact leads who are interested in selling their properties. Sometimes, when landlords have to repeatedly evict tenants, they grow frustrated and decide they would rather sell their properties instead of going through the process of finding new tenants and evicting them once again.

You might also look through probate records. It’s not uncommon for people who inherit properties to be interested in selling them as soon as possible.

Those are just a few examples of free methods that can potentially help you build a strong mailing list. However, if you’re willing to spend a little money, there are also a range of broker services that help realtors and similar professionals build lists for a fee. 

Just be sure to thoroughly research a service before beginning to work with them. You don’t want to waste any of your budget on a service that fails to deliver results.

Test and Experiment

Once you have a small list, start testing it by mailing a few postcards and monitoring whether they generate calls or emails from potential customers.

That said, it’s essential to remember that you shouldn’t expect results overnight. You may need to wait a few weeks to determine if a campaign is effective. 

It’s also worth noting that various elements can influence the overall effectiveness of a campaign. For example, while building a strong mailing list is important, it’s also important to design eye-catching postcards with clear calls to action. By experimenting with different mailing lists and postcard designs, you will eventually develop a strategy that helps your real estate business grow efficiently and easily.