Do Door Hangers Work?

[Samantha M.]

Thinking of expanding the tools I use in my marketing tool belt. And door hangers came to mind, these are often less talked about around here compared to direct mail or bandit signs.

I know some investors around here use them such as @Dev Horn use them. If you have any experience with them and have had success I would love to hear about it.

[Michael Quarles]

Here's one that was used in the past.

[Alex Baev]

@ Michael Quarles, it only says "I buy houses" twice, where are the other 7 times, for brand awareness? (:

[Karen Rittenhouse]

Samantha:

Yes, door hangers work. In fact, everything works - it's just that some things work better/easier than others. We use multiple forms of marketing with the goal to be seen by the same people (those in our targeted areas) over and over in a variety of ways.

Use them and track your results. The more marketing you try, the more you will refine and understand what works best for you and in your market.

To your success!

[Pat L.]

Originally posted by Alex Baev:
@ Michael Quarles, it only says "I buy houses" twice, where are the other 7 times, for brand awareness? (:

but very innovative

the bottom appears to be a perforated tear off business card :)

I helped an investor hand out 500 over a couple of weekends but she reported only a couple of calls....so far!!

[Alex Baev]

@ Pat L.

I think it's flat out genius, and even the occasional mis-spelling that MichaAl continually engages in, is all done for his brand awareness (:

[Michael Quarles]

@Alex Baev

Its there 7 times... Five of the seven are camouflaged, a little subliminal motivation working miracles.. Did I spell those words correctly?

Just kidding... Its only written twice and I raise my hand on not being able to spell...Should see the red lines when I type.

[Alex Baev]

@Michael Quarles

I wouldn't doubt it was still hidden there, just couldn't expand the picture to check

So you just ignore those rules, just like that, letting those red lines pile up on you?(:

[Dev Horn]

Here's an example of our door hangers:

To be honest, most our investors are doing targeted direct mail and it's hard to get them to invest in these "carpet bombing" techniques (like door hangers, EDDM, etc.). But, as a marketing professional, I am pretty convinced that you should market to both narrow (very targeted) and broad (less targeted) audiences. For the people that have done the door hangers, they often find deals that would have been completely missed via their highly targeted direct mail. People get the thing, give it to their sister who needs to sell her house or whatever... As much as we like to think there is a SCIENCE to marketing, I've always contended that it's more of an ART. Yes, we test repeatedly, but guess what - different markets act completely.... differently! I've done things in Dallas that fell flat in LA. But in the end, I think no marketing message is wasted. You put your message out in the most efficient and creative ways that you can, as consistently as you can. You see what works over time, and you do more of that and less of the stuff that didn't!

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my success ~ tenacity." ~ Louis Pasteur

[Samantha M.]

@Dev Horn and @Michael Quarles Great replies guys, thank you very much! Since door hangers are sort of a different beast, do you try and routinley hit the same area every couple of months like you would with mailers?

[Shaun Reilly]

This is a great thread!

I have been looking at door hanger options. I am actually a fan of the blanket saturation style marketing just for what @Dev Horn

was saying about getting deals you may never have targeted.

I have a question. Do people find that having a 2 sided one is more effective?

Looking at the posted examples @Michael Quarles

seems to be one sided (at least that is all that is shown) but Dev Horn's is 2 sided. You obviously pay for the 2nd side of printing so no point if it doesn't help but would be stupid NOT to spend the money if people know they draw a lot better.

[Dev Horn]

We're only paying about 5 to 7 cents to print them (on a minimum of 2,500). So, you're talking PENNIES. So yeah, we try to mazimize the opportunity to communicate our message. But will one-sided ones work? Sure, why not. The advantage of 2-sided may be statistically insignificant but again, so is the cost difference for us.

With good distributors, you identify either specific ZONES or a point from which they will work a RADIUS. One in CA actually takes digital pics of every 10th one on the door of a house, and they send you hundreds of pics to verify that they actually delivered. That's cool.

I like to hit areas where many are also getting our direct mail, so they think "WeBuyHouses.com? I'm seeing those guys ALL OVER THE PLACE!" That is my dream at least! =)

[Michael Quarles]

IMHO the reason for single sided is so you can face the message towards the door of certain prospects. If canvassing it doesn't matter. And if double I would use the same message on both sides.

[Samantha M.]

Wow this is really turning out to be a great thread thanks for participating everyone.

@Dev Horn when finding people to place the door hangers do you just hire someone off craigslist and negotiate a rate like $10 per hour or $X per X amount of door hangers completed?

[Erie Springer]

I second that this is a great thread

For anyone that has used them what's the response rate

I'm sure it's higher based on the number of door knockers hung

[Shariyf Grevious]

@Dev Horn How important would you say your Vanity Number/ Website name is to your business.

[Alison M.]

Does anyone have experience with both door hangers and the USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)? After factoring in the cost of hiring someone to distribute, it looks like EDDM can also be cost efficient. Anyone tried it?

[Chris Feltus]

Originally posted by Alison Miller:
Does anyone have experience with both door hangers and the USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)? After factoring in the cost of hiring someone to distribute, it looks like EDDM can also be cost efficient. Anyone tried it?

EDDM distributes door hangers as well?

[Daniel Root]

Great thread! Very interested to hear what the response rate on these is. @Dev Horn If you have a response rate, do you know of an area in DFW that responds more readily to door hangers?

[Alison M.]

@Chris Feltus EDDM does not do door hangers, but they put a direct mail piece in every mailbox within your selected routes.

[Dev Horn]

OK, so:

1) Hiring DH Distributors - In most markets, to be honest, I start with Google to see who are the big advertisers in that category & location. Also then look to see who is in the top 3 natural search result positions. These advertisers & high rankers are less likey to be fly-by-night distributors. If they offer to distribute for too low a price - i.e., less than 12 cents per door - I might be a bit suspicious because it probably costs at least 10 cents per door in labor and gas to put them out. So - too low a bid is a red flag in that business. Hire people with a good history that are willing to give you references.

2) It may not surprise anyone to hear me say that I think our vanity number and website being = to our brand is critically important. Sometimes I imagine a new investor/marketer imagining that their postcard or letter is being lovingly read and remembered by the recipient. In reality, you maybe have 2 seconds as they toss your carefully crafted card into the trash. We believe, and research backs us up, that the vanity domains & numbers help you to imprint your message on the consumer in that 2 seconds. Maybe they are not considering selling now. So, we just want to make the imprint - we're here if you need to sell fast. When the time comes, if we've hit them enough times, they can easily recall how to reach our licensees.

3) Response rate - We just introduced the door hangers this summer and they just haven't been used enough yet for me to have any meaningful data. But you can't expect the response rate you get from highly targeted direct mail - i.e., 2-3 per cent after a few mailings. The first time you put out door hangers, you are going to get less than 1% response rate. But hey, if you get 20 calls from putting out 2,500 door hangers (0.8% response rate) - at a cost of say $525 (a bit high, for illustration) - your cost per call is $525 / 20 = $26.25 -- I will take that ALL DAY LONG.

4) I don't doubt Michael's strategy for a second. For us, our materials are all part of an integrated program - so a person that gets our postcard and then sees our door hanger has no doubt they came from us and the messages are reinforced across all our materials. Our strategy works well within our brand system. Your mileage (and strategy) may vary - but it's great to hear different things that work. Remember - marketing is more an ART than a SCIENCE. =)

[Dev Horn]

Originally posted by Samantha M.:
Wow this is really turning out to be a great thread thanks for participating everyone.
@Dev Horn when finding people to place the door hangers do you just hire someone off craigslist and negotiate a rate like $10 per hour or $X per X amount of door hangers completed?

All the distributors we've worked with do it at a set price per door - like 14 cents per door for a minimum of 2,500. Some have minimums of 5,000.

In that business, everyone says they can do nationally - not true. Many vendors in other states will just find a local guy in your market and your rate might get jacked up. Find the best local providers.

This is a cool video - from Door-to-Door Marketing, a vendor we have used in CA (both LA & San Diego) - that explains why a too-low bid can be a red flag:

http://www.doorhangerswork.com/900lb-gorilla

Door-to-Door does have a network of local offices around the country. They are one company that we trust.

[Brian P.]

OK, I'm late to the party and everybody has left. I have responded to posts with long answers only to recieve the message it couldn't be sent. This was the only site it was happening on. So I left for awhile, messed with my computer, I'm not a computer person, and this is a test.

I wanted to point out that door hangers are a usefull tool and don't need to be done in mass. Keep a supply in the car. You should always being driving for dollars, see a lead, hit it and the homes around it. Give some to your bird dogs to use the same way. It is a good first contact. And as mentioned you may get a call a year or more later.

OK time to hit the post button and see if my messing around worked.

[Mat Trenchard]

@Dev Horn

What kind of paper are your hangers printed on? We just got a quote from our printer that came in really high (about $.26 per unit on an order of 5000). He is printing double sided, full color, on 80# gloss cover paper.

The printer mentioned that the print doesn't come out as clean on anything less than that. My question is, is he just driving price or is he accurate in saying so?

Thanks!

[Dev Horn]

Whoa @Mat Trenchard - that's too high! We've used a couple of vendors - check out NextDayFlyers.com - they can do them 2-sides on 100# with gloss front for 7 cents per piece at 5,000 Qty...

http://www.nextdayflyers.com/door-hanger-printing/45x11-door-hangers.php

(I have not seen their products but one of our large licensees uses them and recommended them.)

[Mat Trenchard]

@Dev Horn I thought it was too, but being I have no comparison to it, I wanted to ask around first.

Thanks a ton for getting back to me and I'll look into Next Day!

We are going to do a test run in an area we currently do no marketing in and then compare that to a test run of the same quantity in an area we are currently direct mailing.