Putting a picture of yourself on DMM?

Question

I need to switch up my direct mail and am considering putting a picture of myself and maybe even a small, "about us" in there as well.. Has anyone done this and seen a higher response rate? My marketing is pretty unique for my area as I know exactly what everyone else is sending because all my buy and hold friends save there incoming mail for me but I'm still seeing a much lower response rate that id like. Love to hear some feedback!

Jessica Stevenson · Answer

I'm no marketing expert, but I've always heard that people connect best with faces.  I think adding a picture would be a good idea, and would actually be a quick/easy way to start building trust.  They know you're a real person and not just some huge corporate company.

McKinley Crowley · Answer

@Jim Pylman I photo is a good thing to test but I would stay away from an "About us" aside from possibly a really quick description. People are more interested in what you can do for them rather than who you are. If you add something keep it short and relevant to their situation.

Greg Dickerson · Answer

The key to direct mail or any other type of marketing for motivated sellers is consistency. You need to constantly be in front of the sellers across all channels so when they are ready to sell you are a known entity.

You also need to track everything so you know what’s working and where. You don’t know your business unless you know your numbers.

Last is follow up and follow through. Stay in front of your leads on a regular basis and answer the phone when they call. If you can’t make sure you have a service to live answer every call.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

A picture is a must!!

its not just for credibility and yes for credibility alone its worth doing. It is also for phsycological reasons. Eyes meet eyes. If you walk by a poster in the mall of a house you pass it by unnoticed. But if it were a picture of a person you look at it. You will look at it because no matter at what angle you are relative to the poster that damn creepy person is looking straight at you. Your eyes will meet their eyes. Its what humans do.

so the card gets noticed. And what the back dude... YES just for credibility it is a must. If you at all understand marketing people will NOT do effort and go out of their way to go see if you are credible. Its the other way around. People will do effort to find more info about you IF you are credible.

would you go do a troublesome search on something that you absolitely have no interest in?? No. You need to spark interest first and only then will they do the effort to dig deeper.

I have noticed that most marketers make this brutal and most obvious mistake.

they write this long website with all the amazing info a seller could possibly need about selling for cash and then think they will make a ton of deals. Omg man no.

no one will bother reading your website no matter how amazing the content if you dont make it appealing to even start reading. A huge block of text wont ever get anying to read your content.

I really should put tofether a seminar for BP and give you all some awewome tips on how to convert traffic into leads! I kid you not. So few people are doing it correctly it is scary.

dont worry about an about section on your card. The purpose of your dmm is NOT to convince anyone to sell their house. The purpose is to drive them to your website. Period.

Ehsan Rishat · Answer

@Jim Pylman there's no harm trying them out. Postcard with a family photo is working great for me. Also, look at what your competitor is doing and do the exact same thing. One more thing- be consistent!

Caleb Heimsoth · Answer

@Jim Pylman. I think putting any photo of you is a good way to be profiled either on purpose or subconsciously by the people you mail to.

If you include any sort of “about us” section that just sounds unprofessional to me (my personal opinion).

Unless you’re mailing to owner occupants I’d do neither of the things you suggested.

May Emery · Answer

@Jim Pylman It can be a good idea to mix things up. Perhaps trying new list segments to target people who aren't getting the letters from your competitors. Get in touch with a list broker for suggestions.

In terms of a letter, a good tactic is to focus on the recipient rather than the sender. What do you offer that will make life easier and entice a person to decide to sell their home to you! If you are mailing to someone with financial struggles (Low Financial Stability Scores) or Seniors - talk about how much easier it is to sell their home than they thought it might be. No open houses with strangers going through, no sprucing up or fixing all those things that they put off for years.

Perhaps the part about you is to emphasise the professionalism you have that  contributes to the ease of selling to you.

Putting a picture of yourself on DMM?

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