How To Market New Construction Homes

When it comes to how to market new construction as a realtor, you need to start with reaching the right people with your marketing — meaning:

The people most likely to list and buy from you.

And luckily, this is pretty easy… using direct mail.

Yup, even in our digital age, people still pay attention to direct mail…

In fact:

Given ad fatigue and a growing distrust in social media platforms, consumers are turning to direct mail now more than ever for trustworthy messaging.

Check out these statistics:

• 70% of consumers prefer to be marketed to with direct mail over digital (DMA)
• 70% report they’re more likely to remember your business from direct mail
• 82% of millennials trust your business more when its marketing is delivered by the post office.

That’s right —

Millennials love direct mail.

So where do you start with how to market new construction?

Procure a quality mailing list FULL of your ideal prospects

Mailing lists reign supreme when you’re looking at how to market new construction homes because you can laser target your ideal prospects…

Which means:

DO NOT, I repeat do not, blanket an area with your marketing. That approach equals a waste of money.

Instead:

Purchase a quality mailing list targeting the precise people MOST likely to do business with you, and when it comes to how to market new construction, you’re looking at these demographics:

• Specific zip codes
• Household income
• Credit score

You can also target business specialty lists, targeting:

• Company size
• Annual income
• Age of business

Before I give you tips on what design piece to send a mailing list, a quick word to the wise…

Any mailing list provider worth their salt will guarantee at least 90% deliverability with their lists, so definitely ask about that when you’re consulting with a company. (We make out around 95% here at PostcardMania).

Sending direct mail to undeliverable addresses (because people move, pass away, get divorced, etc.) means wasting postage money. And postage is the lionshare of costs when it comes to how to market real estate.

Now let’s look at some direct mail design best practices!

Capture the attention of 81% of prospects with direct mail

Yup, believe it or not, 81% of people look forward to the mail…

Which means that if your competitors are strictly marketing online (a common tactic on how to market yourself as a realtor), prospects will see YOUR marketing.

Remember:

How to market yourself as a realtor comes down to getting your marketing NOTICED…

Here’s some help with that:

How To Market New Construction With 10 Lead Generation Design Elements

1. A clear, bold headline.
   On the postcard there should be one central message. The best way to achieve that is with a bold, clear headline that isn’t cluttered up with other text. The headline should allow the recipient to immediately know what you’re selling.
2. A graphic that supports the message.
   The graphic should be easy to understand and add to the message the headline is conveying. For instance, if you are trying to get people to list their home, you would want to show a home with a SOLD sign clearly visible out front. That graphic reinforces the message more than a plain picture of a home.
3. Color that pops.
   Make the headline and other text stick out by using a color that stands out from the background color. When you look at the card, ask yourself, “What do I see first?” If it isn’t the headline, you might want to tweak the colors.
4. Subheads that lead into text.
   If you have a couple paragraphs of text with no lead in on the back of your postcard, there’s nothing to entice people to read the copy. A subhead will give prospects a place to start reading. If you have only a hundred words or so, you may be able to get away with it, but if the text gets any longer the average reader will need some guideposts along the way.
5. Benefits, benefits, benefits.
   One of the biggest errors people make in advertising is stating features, rather than benefits. For example, never assume recipients know what benefit can be derived from a lower interest rate on their mortgage. Instead, let them know their monthly payments will go down.
6. The offer.
   An offer is always a good idea and should represent a specific reason to call NOW, such as “Limited supply” or “Interest rates are climbing,” or “Save $50 before the end of the month.”
7. Your company name and logo.
   Although this needs to be on the mailer, it shouldn’t overshadow the offer. Customers care most about what you can do for them – not who you are or how great you say you are.
8. Call to action.
   Tell prospects exactly what you want them to do. “Call today for more information” or “See us online” are two of the most common desired actions.
9. Contact information.
   Provide your name, phone number, and web address directly following the call to action. Whatever you ask prospects to do, give them the means to do it – right away.
10. Return address.
    A return address ensures you’ll get returned mail from the post office and communicates you’re an established professional. People feel better knowing the company they’re dealing with has an actual location.

Another genius idea for your direct mail design:

Personalize your direct mail piece to reach 90% of prospects.

Using a printing technique called “variable data printing,” we can print the first name of every recipient onto your postcards — 100% automatically — thereby personalizing each postcard to every prospect on your mailing list!

Here’s an example of how that’d look:

Plus:

We can personalize each postcard with property address, home value, and more.

Another design tactic that’ll stack you above your competition…

REVIEWS.

Check out these statistics from a 2017 consumer survey:

• 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses
• 85% of consumers trust reviews just as much as word-of-mouth
• 68% say positive reviews increase their trust in a local business

These stats support something we intrinsically know today…

Reviews REALLY, REALLY matter.

So how do you use this when you’re thinking about how to promote your real estate business?

Add a happy testimonial to your real estate postcard!

Like this:

Now let’s move onto the digital answer to how to market new construction homes!

Run online ads at the same time postcards hit mailboxes.

To reach those same prospects online — like on internet websites in the Google network, and on Facebook and Instagram — you can run online ads that match your postcards.

Online isn’t just a trend — a digital presence that matches your direct mail campaign can amplify results! Here’s proof:

Integrating Google, Facebook, or Instagram retargeting ads into a direct mail campaign can 400X your response.

Couple a consistent direct mail campaign targeted at your ideal prospects with matching digital ads, and when employed as a year-long strategy you can get your real estate business seen everywhere — and called FIRST… which brings me to this last point:

When you’re considering how to market new construction as a realtor, you need to address your marketing as a consistent strategy.

Whatever marketing you can afford, space it out so that your prospects receive your marketing consistently throughout the year.

This may require you whip out a calendar and actually map out how to market new construction homes, every month.

IMPORTANT:

Marketing consistently is the #1 successful action of my most successful clients who’ve conquered how to market new construction and more!