Real Estate Mailer Ideas that “Work” [Examples Analyzed]

It’s a bit paradoxical to discuss real estate mailer ideas that work.

Why?

You may know some marketing gurus on YouTube that throw around one hundred dollar bills using a cash cannon.

Most of the time, these are Ponzi schemes, but that’s for another topic.

They often seem to have helpful information. 

And when they share a tip about a particular marketing method or tip that allegedly works, it likely doesn’t anymore.

The moment these tips are shared with a large audience, they will not work anymore.

Why?

Because if it were a method that truly worked, they would have milked it for as long as possible before sharing it.

But they can share it once it is saturated. It just doesn’t work as effectively anymore.

And once they share it, the saturation effect accelerates because everyone following the “guru” is now implementing it.

It looks like this graph I drew with my “highly elaborated” painting skills below.

So, all marketing methods and channels have a saturation point.

That’s more so if you copy something that allegedly still works.

This is especially true for concrete marketing tactics and tips, in contrast to principles that stand the test of time.

I researched a bit further to share real estate mailers that “work” with you.

And I found two websites with a collection of allegedly working real estate mailers. 

At least in the title, it was mentioned that they supposedly work.

I found this one and this one.

Maybe I need glasses or contact lenses. I couldn’t find a word about marketing performance data (response or lead conversion rates for different designs, etc.).

Also, I couldn’t find what “work” means in the first place.

Yes, I know what “work” means, but when they write “work,” do they refer to a particular open rate larger than X% or a specific lead conversion rate?

I don’t know, and you don’t know either.

So, we can only take their word for it.

Now, what can we do to determine which ones most likely work regarding conversion rates?

Thankfully, copywriting principles can help us out.

Based on them, I will filter them out for you from the first source I mentioned above.

We can assume that the better copywriting principles are applied, the better they will convert. Thus, they likely “work,” provided they are sent to an ideal target group.

So, I went through them individually. I checked how well the AIDA or PAS copywriting formulas were applied.

AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. And PAS stands for problem, agitate, and solve.

As you know, on a mailer (especially postcards), there is not much space to use all elements.

So, especially in the case of the AIDA formula, I focused on whether headlines were attention-grabbing.

But I also checked whether pains and benefits were mentioned, and a call to action was included.

I made a table that collected the different real estate mailer copies. Then I analyzed them based on the above and graded them from 0 to 10 for each copywriting element.

I would consider the ones that reached a total score of 40 as winners.

From the 21 examples mentioned in the article, only 5 reached a total score of 40. 

For these, chances are high that they will “work.”

My absolute favorite of the winners is this one:

“Are You Tired Of… Rent? Having Landlords? Unexpected Rent Increases? Paper-Thin Walls? No Front Yard? No Back Yard? That One Maintenance Guy? No Parking Spots? Your Neighbors? Wasting Money? – Let Us Help You Find an Affordable Home You Will Love! – Call today and we’ll show you how easy it is to own your own home!”

It ticks all the boxes in terms of required copywriting elements (using formulas).

The design also aligns with the copy well.

What I want to bring home here is this. Instead of copying some marketing tactics that “work,” you may want to first understand the principles that make something work.

Concrete examples can inspire you, but then you modify these examples with knowledge about the principles.

Within this context, you may also want to read my article about direct mail here and “Just Sold” postcards here.

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.

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Tobias Schnellbacher

Tobias is an internet entrepreneur with a passion for digital marketing and copywriting, particularly in the real estate sector. He also likes cats and fitness. For nine years, he operated an international online referral real estate agency serving U.S., Canadian, and German sellers and buyers, which resulted in multiple seven-figure property sales.Learn more

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