Direct Market Like a Pro
Direct mail receives a 29% ROI, so why aren’t you running to the post office already?
Many new marketing channels have emerged over the past decades, from SEO to social media. With so many possibilities out there it’s understandable that you might have overlooked a tried and tested direct marketing method.
Direct mail is highly effective. On average, it is kept in the household of the recipient for 17 days. This is incredibly useful for your business as it not only gives you access to the recipient but their network as well. When a potential lead comes over to your recipient’s home and the topic of vacation rentals comes up they will have your well-designed postcard to pull out.
Learn more about expanding your network of contacts through referral marketing.
Designing Direct Mail Postcards For Vacation Rental Property Management
For a long time, direct mail marketing got lost in the ever-increasing sea of marketing strategies to choose from. As online advertising took off, it had a tremendous impact on revenues and inventory, so other marketing tactics were lost in the shuffle.
However, 2020 is the year of surprises and direct mail marketing is making a comeback. As a marketing strategy, sending postcards never stopped working. However, it did become tedious and a new generation of marketing managers forgot all about them. Now, with automation and great design tools available it’s the perfect time to get back into direct mail marketing and start growing your inventory.
How to Design an Effective Direct Mail Postcard (5 Easy Steps)
You don’t want your postcard to end up in the trash. When you think about the direct mail you have received in the past, what examples do you remember and what ones did you keep? The answer is probably the ones with the most aesthetic design and the best offers.
To design a postcard that homeowners will keep, follow these 5 steps.
Step 1: Catchy Headline
Well-written copy will engage your readers and let them know everything they need to know about your business. Your headline should be short and snappy, immediately grabbing the attention of your audience.
Some examples of headlines could include:
- More Money, Less Stress: Start Renting Your Vacation Home
- Relax and Let Us Handle It: We Take Care of Marketing and Maintaining Your Home
You need to identify the pain points of your audience. The above examples target those that have a vacation property they want to make money from but the time and stress of trying to rent it out have stopped them from doing so.
Step 2: Beautiful Imagery
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and it’s the truth. The images you chose for your postcards will convey as much, if not more information than the copy. When choosing imagery, you need to make sure it is high-quality images.
If it is a photo, it needs to be of a professional standard. While stock images can often be the budget-friendly way to go, using your own images often works better. You don’t want your postcard arriving in the same week as one from a competitor, where you have both used the same image.
Step 3: Stand-Out Colors
Direct mail postcards are going to be received with whatever other mail that person gets on that day. You need to make your postcard stand out. Use colors that are eye catching and will attract interest.
However, it is also worth noting that you should not jump too far from your branding. You need to keep the postcard recognizable to your brand and should pick colors that are in-line with your brand guidelines.
Step 4: Highlight a compelling offer
What really drives the phone to ring is a compelling offer. Go beyond simply listing or describing the features of your services, highlight the benefits and offer your recipient something that is impossible to refuse.
Some examples of compelling offers are:
- Guaranteed Rental Income
- Guaranteed to Make You More Money
- Receive a Free SmartHome Package
- Receive Discounted Commission for the 1st Year
Look at your compelling offer as a hook – something that would be hard to turn away from. Use as few words as possible and increase the font size of your compelling offer so that your recipient can’t miss it!
Step 5: Contact Information
This step seems obvious but make sure you include a way for the recipient to contact you. If you have a specific offer you are marketing you may use a more specific number or email for them to contact. If it is a more general postcard, you may simply wish to give your main reception phone number and info@email.
That concludes our 5 step guide. If you have used these tips to create your direct mail postcards, leave a comment below and let me know what the results were.
Question:
Do you use postcards as part of your marketing strategy? If so, how effective are they? If not, what marketing strategy do you see the most results from?
Author: Brooke Pfautz
Brooke is the CEO and Founder of Vintory and is well known in the Vacation Rental industry as the authority when it comes to growing Vacation Rental inventory. You'll find Brooke at his home office, on the latest Vacation Rental webinar or podcast, or at industry events across the States.
