How To Create The Best Type of Postcards for Realtors

The best type of postcards for realtors are the postcards that get your properties sold. (Duh!) All joking aside, the question isn’t what type of postcards are best for realtors, but how can you create the best postcard to sell properties?

This isn’t going to be our typical How To post with a bunch of screenshots and steps, this post will cover the basics of how you can design your own postcards. If you’re looking for a How To post about creating postcards, you can check out our post: How To Create Your Own Promotional Postcards. These postcards will help you spread the word about the properties you’re trying to sell and hopefully make the sale! And you don’t even have to go to a print shop; you can print your own postcards right from the office!

The Headline

Your headline will be one of the most important parts of your postcard. The headline is what will capture the recipient’s attention. Your headline needs to do several things all at once:

• Capture attention
• Give an idea of what the postcard is about
• Create curiosity
• Be memorable

In the headline you don’t want to give away everything in the postcard. You want to give away just enough information that it creates curiosity to learn more. Remember, your headline is a headline; it’s not a paragraph or an essay. It should be short, to the point, and full of curiosity.

The Copy

When dealing with the body copy, you want to keep white space in mind. White space doesn’t always have to be white. If you’re printing on key lime postcards, you won’t have “white space”, you’ll have “key lime space”, but it’s the same thing. Space.

Don’t scrunch all of your copy into a tiny little square. If you don’t have enough room to space everything out, then you probably have too much copy…or you need a bigger postcard. If you have images of the properties you’re trying to sell it’d be a good idea to put those on your postcards where it’s appropriate. With images, you should use white postcards instead of colored postcards. Since printers don’t print white, anything that is white in your image will turn to the color of your postcard, which may or may not be a good thing.

The Call to Action

Obviously if you’re sending postcards to a bunch of people you want them to do something once they’ve received the postcard. This something could be to call you, visit your website, scan your QR Code to fill out a form, etc. Not everyone is a mind reader (like cats are); you’ll have to tell your audience what youd like them to do. This is called your Call to Action.

A Call to Action can be anything from “To Take The Next Step In Owning Your New Home, Call Me Today!” to “Call Today For a Limited Time Offer!”. Giving a sense of urgency is always a good idea. It doesn’t always have to be about calling. You can direct your audience to your website for more information or to browse the newest properties for sale.

The QR Code

QR Codes have been getting some bad publicity lately and that’s mostly due to the fact that not everyone is using them correctly. To correctly use a QR Code you have to give it purpose. That purpose can be linking to a short form on your website or giving people an easy way to call you without having to dial your phone number or email you right from their phone.

If the QR Code is taking the user to a web page, make sure that web page works well on a mobile phone and remember that the people scanning your QR Code are on their phone. If you link them to a 10 field form, they’re most likely going to leave right away. Getting their first name, phone number, and what they’re looking for in the way of properties would be a short enough form that people would most likely fill it out.

The Contact Information

Tied for most important piece of your direct mailer is the contact information. You can write the best copy in the world, have the most beautiful images, and have a breath taking headline, but if you don’t include your contact information, all will be for naught. Having the best way to contact you on both sides of your postcard is a good idea, but you should give multiple points of contact on at least one side.

Common points of contact:

• Office phone
• Work mobile phone
• Email
• Fax
• Website

The Mailing List

Ah, our final section, the mailing list. Before you start designing your mailers you should consider who your audience is. Is it a targeted list of people that your company has been working with for the past few months? Is it a general list of businesses in a local area?

Your audience is going to greatly affect how you design your mailers. If the audience already knows a bit about your company, you don’t need to introduce you or your company again. If the audience is a group of local businesses, make sure you reference the locality and speak to them as a business.

What other tips do you have for designing your own mailers?

Ready to start printing your own? Check out our Free Getting Started Guide today!

Image: Images_of_Money

Related posts:

How To Create and Print Your Own Photo Postcards. 10 Must Have Things Realtors Need on Their Door Hangers Using Direct Mail Postcards to Announce a New Product. 6 Ways Your Direct Mail Campaign Can Flop and How to Avoid Them.