Is it better to personalize my direct mail?

Question

This far in my investing career I have only used SMS and cold calls to market to multi-family properties. I am working on getting my direct mail campaign up and running, but would like to hand write each letter in an effort to stand out from generic direct mail. However, it was brought to my attention that I do not have the best handwriting, some even referring to it as illegible. In an effort to still make it personal, I plan on creating a template in Word and changing the address for each property, signing my signature at the bottom of each letter, and hand writing the address on the envelope.

I would like to know :

- Is my approach personalized enough to stand out in a sea of direct mail multi-family owners get every day?

- Should I just take more time and really focus on neatly writing my mailers because a true hand written letter has that much power?

- Should I not even attempt to hand write any part of my mailers because success is found in repeat mailers and it just makes more sense to go with a direct mail company rather than taking on all this myself?

I appreciate all responses!

Tyler Lynn · Answer

Hayden,

The approach you are suggesting is similar to the one we use. We have a template that we use and insert property specific information on Word, print it out, sign, and hand written address. I think it does matter to have some parts of the letter show that you personally put effort into it and makes it more personable while still being efficient, because with mailers it still is a numbers game. If you only send out 10 perfectly written mailers it won't get you where 1,000 typed letters will get you. But being somewhere in the middle is a great strategy.

Jonathan Greene · Answer

We go granular on the seller and customize the letters from 8-10 different options. We never send the same postcard with the same message to all sellers. There is a HUGE difference in motivation for an absentee owner, an old person, a local investor, and someone in foreclosure. You can't press the same emotional buttons on all four of those with the same I want to buy your house for cash. We spend more time on personalizing and no time spamming.

Justin Goodin · Answer

@Hayden Wright Sounds like you are off to a great start! I am also doing a direct mail campaign right now. I am having somebody hand write the postcards for me. I made custom post cards off vista print and hired somebody in my local neighborhood to hand write them. I would much rather use my time elsewhere.

Check out this great article from Joe Fairless. I am following all of his strategies in this article. Just started 2 months ago, so I will let you know how effective my campaign is.

https://joefairless.com/ultima...

@Tyler Lynn I am doing a couple things to make my postcards more personable. I am including a picture of myself, handwriting all of them, and putting the stamp on at a very slight angle. Might sound like a small detail but I think it increases the chances!

Hayden Wright · Answer

@Jonathan Greene thank you for your response Jonathan! I had not considered the different emotional stages of sellers. If you don’t mind me asking, how often do you send out follow up cards, and are they hand written or do you have it all automated?

Juan Vargas · Answer

@Hayden Wright, I acquired my first multifamily property (32 unit) via hand written direct mail. It works.

I actually had several people call or email me with interest in selling. Most were overpriced.

Although it’s not ideal and would really be tiresome, my advice would be to have them handwritten by someone if your handwriting is not the best. It makes the letters more personal and sellers will tend to keep them (at least for a bit longer) than printed letters. If they’re not ready to sell now, they may still have the letter months later and reach out to you.

Best of luck!

Jason Hirko · Answer

@Hayden Wright Consider the market you will be targeting - if you are sending to Houston, you will have to stand out in a sea of competition. How much data does your list have? If this is something that you are buying, repetition is likely to be the biggest factor to success in my opinion, as opposed to handwriting or personalization. However, if you have a list you created while driving for dollars, as an example, then write the owner a letter about how you like the trees in the front yard or something else very specific, and send it first class in a hand addressed envelope, etc and basically pull out all the stops. BTW there are services that will hand write your letters (and even mail them for you) - just be prepared to budget accordingly.

Hayden Wright · Answer

@Tyler Lynn thank you Tyler! Hearing that you’re doing the same thing is very comforting. I would love to hear back in the future when you start seeing results. Wish you the best.

Hayden Wright · Answer

@Justin G. Thank you Justin that sounds like great advice! I haven’t even considered having someone else do it, but it seems like a good idea for the future when I have a bigger budget.

Hayden Wright · Answer

@Jason Hirko thank you jason! I really like your idea of mentioning something unique about the property.

Taylor L. · Answer

Did you write the letters yourself? I'd like to hear more about that strategy if you're up to talk offline or on an interview.

Is it better to personalize my direct mail?

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