Direct Mail Response Rates in Different Parts of the U.S.

[Blair Halver]

Hi all,
I wanted to provide some valuable intel from the front lines of the world of direct mail marketing for real estate investors.

The last time I mentioned response rates on here, it was an average response rate throughout the nation, since I market in various parts of the country. Now I'm noticing some significant differences in response rates depending on the market.

These are all postcard mailing campaigns mailed to Absentee owners who have owned the property at least 10 years. The response rates listed here are RAW CALLS (i.e. all calls except duplicates) divided by number of postcards sent. Each market listed below represents a number of contiguous zip codes. The postcards all contained relatively similar copy and other variables.

Here are the stats from some of the areas we mail for our clients:

Washington D.C. - 3.77%
Boston Area - 10.69%
Northern Mass. - 10.68%
Southern Los Angeles - 2.16%
Allen, TX - 4.64%
Memphis, TN - 9.02%
Burlington, NC - 9.15%

What can we learn from this? Well, I'll throw that question out to the BP community here - can we draw conclusions regarding direct mail response rates based on other factors such as median home price, average home price, sales volume, etc?

Anybody out there good at researching some stats and doing some simple math? I'm sure all of us here would appreciate seeing what this data can lead to!

Thanks!
Blair