Are you quick to dismiss print marketing materials as old school? If you’re a company that does business in a defined geographic area, print can bring in customers as well as increase the value of your brand.
Become the Face of Your Location
Take, for example, a long-time Marstudio client, Burlingame Properties in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. Burlingame’s owner, Raziel Ungar, has marketed real estate so successfully that he’s become THE face of home sales in the neighborhoods he covers.
He’s an expert on the people who live in the different neighborhoods – his target markets – and knows where they work, how much they earn, where they were educated, how long they are likely to stay in the area, and the main reasons they want to own and sell property. He segments some markets by developing bilingual marketing collateral in different languages for different neighborhoods.
Raziel has always insisted on very high quality materials to ensure quality is associated with his brand. He uses print pieces for mailing and handing out, and he also goes beyond sales material for houses currently on the market. He uses print to introduce customers to Burlingame, follow up with recent buyers, and keep neighbors apprised of the housing market.
He’s a high-touch marketer, and it works – the numbers of properties Raziel’s team sells each year has grown exponentially over the last five years, and the company has expanded into many new neighborhoods.
It’s Always About the Customer – Make Them the Story, Not You
Most Realtors pitch themselves. You’ve seen those cards – one side lists homes sold and the other side has a photo of the Realtor with a “call me” action item.
To market to neighborhoods where he’d like to solicit listings, Raziel creates print mailers that are profiles of real homeowners with whom he’s worked. Potential sellers make the connection: “People like me used this Realtor – I will, too.” After he sells the house, he creates another print piece profiling the new owners, which he distributes to the neighborhood. It’s a feel-good piece that serves to solidify his “people person” brand.
Create Before and After Touch Points
Burlingame Properties has mastered the art of consistent communication, and that’s now part of the brand, too. Raziel currently produces twice-yearly reports on the booming state of real estate in the area. Reading good news makes people feel very comfortable with their home purchases, and equating that with the Burlingame Properties brand creates a high rate of repeat business.
“You’ve Got Mail” Has a Whole New Meaning
Remember the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie from 1998? They meet online and are so excited to get email. Now we are so over that and annoyed at having to read (or delete without reading) the 100+ emails we each get every day.
If your marketing emails are getting deleted, maybe it’s time to revisit print marketing. Print marketing done well – if it makes sense for your business and geographical target market – can be very effective in this digital world.
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