Consistency and meeting the neighbors naturally: I did it walking my dog.

Consistency is key. You are in the right place for advice.  Good luck.

Yes, direct mail works. I like EDDM but have not been as consistent as I should be. Check out Barbara Todaro 's blog - you will learn everything you need to know about direct mail...better yet call her!!

Be in it for the long term.   In addition to the mail, you need F2F.

All the time. 

Follow the direction of Barbara Todaro - she is the resident expert (and quite successful at what she does) with regards to farming and direct mail. Spend a few hours reading her blog - you won't believe the knowledge you'll gain there!

Chad Durr - as long as you do not use run-of-the-mill direct mail, you will succeed.

EDDM is a nice way to spread the message - as long as it is unique and has a call-to-action.

Follow Barbara Todaro , she has a lot of great deal to say about postcards.

Barbara does plenty of direct mail, and is very successful with it.

I know of some that have done well and others that it wa a waste of money

Yes if you are consistent.

Does 130 transactions $72 million volume in 2017 count?  If so - then yes.

I started questionning the effectiveness and then got a call..."We've been getting your cards and I made sure to keep one because I knew we'd sell sometime soon...".   You just never know who's paying attention.  Be consistent & then get out there and meet them!  

I would defer all questions of a bulk or farming mailer to Barbara Todaro your up Barbara :)

Follow Barbara Todaro asap.

Seek out Barbara Todaro 

Consistency is the key.  Barbara Todaro is the Tom Brady of this arena and does not lose!

I've used this over the past 31 years - from purchasing a stock newsletter to creating, writing and publishing my own professionally printer newsletter. The tools are much more available today. You can usually download addresses from your association or MLS websites or apps.

Pick an area you know well, or intend to learn thoroughly. It can be useful to do some research as to average turnover in an area - how many homes sell in a year - check historical sales. No point spending your money in a neighborhood where people rarely move.

Make it doable - consistent communication with 200 homeowners is better than occasional mailings to 400. Also, 200 is the minimum for best bulk pricing - check this with the post office - things change, but the bulk of USPO revenue comes from bulk mail, and they are typically very helpful.

Mail out quarterly - in my experience, to much, too often gets set aside. Skip the cute photos, recipes, and jokes - you are a professional - they can read Reader's Digest in the bathroom (is that still in print?).

If you want to be known as a real estate professional, stick to useful real estate news - what's sold, what's available, the market in general. Maybe something like value recouped from home improvements, but make certain that any info is relevant to the local area. Many pre-printed newsletters contain things like protecting pipes from freezing or keeping a basement dry - hardly pertinent to central Florida where I operate. Keep it simple and concise. 

If bulk mail, use the bulk mail stamps - regular postage stamps, at bulk mail rate - looks less like junk mail. If you are mailing out an enclosed envelope (perhaps with a notepad or something), get someone to hand address the envelopes if practical. Notepads or refrigerator magnets can cost you over $1.00 each with postage and all so you want to make sure they are opened. Eventually, they will welcome your letters, information, etc.

Occasionally, you can get a local title company or loan company to sponsor an ad and help pay for your mailings, but be careful - you don't want YOUR reputation tarnished by what someone else's concept of customer service. I've always stayed away from this, as well as referral fees, selling warranty programs, etc. You will be WELL rewarded financially if you just do your real estate job well and take care of all of your customers.

I hope this helps and is relevant. I haven't mailed out in a few years, as my business comes from referrals. I used to send out very nice 3D pop-up Christmas cards to all past customers but as it got up to 700+ cards, it became overwhelming after a while - maintaining current addresses, etc. 

Yes, consistency and performance was the key!

Barbara has written posts about direct mail.

Follow the blogs by Barbara Todaro for some very successful marketing practices.

I have.

It's the neddle in the haystack . Is there a good ROI  ?

I have with some areas, but it has to be consistent, and for quite some time before it pays off.

With a large enough budget - yes.  As others have mentioned, consistency is key.

I know some here on AR have had very good success with postcards.  I've picked their brains and used their suggestions to no avail. 

I've tried direct mail postcards before for over a year, each month, with no responses.  I know it takes time, but I gave up.  I used Expresscopy.com and designed my own postcards each month with good call to actions I copied from online examples.  I even did just listed and sold postcards to other areas of town when needed.  I focused on one area of town the entire time I farmed and sent out about 1000 postcards a month.  It gets really, really expensive even with Expresscopy.com's 20% discounts they constantly send you, so I decided to do social media advertising instead.  I can reach more people for less money and target people based on my specifics.  At least with social media, I see when people click on my ads so i know they are getting viewed.  For all I know, my postcards went in the trash.

I got my list of addresses off our county assessor website.  With their website, I was able to select the area and able to export all of the situs addresses. Pretty easy, but not all counties use the GIS website, so yours may not have an export feature.

The problem with EDDM is some delivery areas include apartment complexes.  If you are directing your advertising to potential sellers in single family homes, you'll waste your money on sending to apartments with the same single family home message using EDDM postcards.  EDDM does allow you to unselect business, but not apartments.

EDDM also requires a larger postcard.  I calculated it out and it was cheaper to print and send regular sized postcards via first class mail to my own mailing list then it was to send out the larger EDDM size postcards to one section of town.

Like I said, this was my experience.  Maybe I should have done it another year, maybe two.  Others here have had success.  The best thing is to gather as much info and decide for yourself.  Doesn't hurt to test it either.  At least you'll get your face out there!

Chad ~ What has worked for me is market updates into the area you are farming.  For one of my farms with frequent sales I send out quarterly updates, but also mix in Just Listed & Just Solds for 8-9 touches a year.

I don't buy lists, I download the owners mailing (not property) address from the MLS and periodically send items by first class mail, so that the ones with bad addresses come back to me so I can remove them from the list.  Bulk does save some money as long as you don't have time sensitive material like Open Sunday, etc.  Best of luck with whatever you decide to do, but be consistent.

I use EDDM all the time - it is a great way to send, but it is about consistency and branding.  

finding listings will be done offline more often than online.... direct mail marketing with standard sized postcards will work well... I have many posts on AR that can be found by doing a search in the search box at the top of the page.... search for direct mail marketing....

Depends on your goal and budget.

To establish some boundaries lets set the goal to be a closed transaction (sold) within 90 days. First, the agent must identify those comm unites that statistically indicate there are owner about to make that decision. This mean identifying and monitoring communities with 5% or greater mobility.  Combine communities until you have a critical mass of 1500 to 2500 owners.  Make note of the non-occupant owners. The occupant is a buyer the owner perhaps an unhappy landlord. These are to be in a separate campaign.

Mail the remainder of the list a market report with your intelligent interpretation.

Follow that with an invitation for them to calculate the value of their home based on their personal knowledge of the house. This is NOT a free CMA. Your message will got lost is the noise for the real estate agent sea of smiley faces.

Then, while your name is still fresh in their mind. introduce yourself and reveal your solutions and their options/choices.

In those communities with less than 5% mobility, persistence and multi-portal messaging will prove beneficial. Nothing has greater value than living in the community and chatting up everyone during the dog walk.

Yes, lots of success. Tried everything & it all worked. It all depends on your message.

It works if you work it, consistency is key.