Granted, this is not advice you’re about to hear every day when you embark on a postcard mailing. But it is, in my experience, some of the most valuable experience around. I adapted this very clever idea from a journalism professor I had in college who had worked for The New York Times. I figured if it was good enough for him (as well as The New York Times); it was definitely good enough for me.
Most of us find ourselves having a tough time writing our real estate direct mails. Although we know what message we want to communicate to our prospects, we find ourselves at a standstill and can’t seem to produce our ideas in the right order. Hence, the simple method we are suggesting is just to start writing, then rework the piece by rearranging our ideas into the proper order.
So when you begin writing your real estate marketing copy, just put everything that answers the AIDA marketing formula (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). Some of the basic features your real estate direct mail should contain are the attractive offer, persuasive customer benefits, and the ‘because’ answers to your prospects questions.
Additionally, be sure to put in some subheads. When you believe you’ve written your copy – and the reasons why your readers should actually become your customers, then print this piece of paper out.
Take your printed copy and use your scissors to cut it into different pieces of paragraphs. Make sure to include the subheads in each paragraph piece.
Quickly read the entire document again. Group and re-arrange the paragraphs of your real estate direct mail to come up with a properly structured copy that has a strong introduction, informative body, and clear call to action.
Once again, read the entire draft of your real estate direct mail. Improve paragraph transitions when needed. You can also replace words in sentences to enhance its emotional appeal. Additional of powerful verbs can energize the copy. Well-placed exclamation marks can also be inserted to animate the copy.
No, you’re not quite done yet. Your next step is to re-read this copy again. Decide if you need to create any transitional sentences to make the copy flow better. You may even decide you need to rewrite a sentence or a whole paragraph. You may even decide you need to punch it up some with more action-oriented verbs. A few well placed exclamation points, even a couple of interjections that create excitement.
So what was usually a stressful real estate marketing task filled with several start-and-stop moments, has now become manageable and smoothly flowing.
Making your copy has never been more easy and trouble-free. This is how anyone would want to experience making his own effective real estate marketing materials.
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