Not long ago a real estate agent contacted me about writing a letter of introduction to go with my 10-letter expired listing prospecting letter set. He had decided to mail just once – and to include all ten letters in one package.
Here’s what I said when I wrote back:
Are you up for some advice? I understand you wanting to get your information out to these people in a hurry, 
but unless they have specifically requested it, sending it all at once would probably be a mistake. That would give you only one chance to impress – and if they didn’t happen to be in the mood that day, your entire package would be tossed.
Instead, consider drip marketing to them. That way, you’re giving yourself multiple chances to catch their attention. Plus – you’re giving them information in small enough bites to keep their interest. I doubt if any seller would sit down and read everything in a packet of 10 or 12 pieces. People are just in too much of a hurry these days, and attention spans are short.
Effective marketing requires patience and persistence.
People who test marketing campaigns say that it takes between 5 and 12 contacts before a “cold” prospect will respond to a marketing message. The more messages, the higher the response rate, but you begin to see an actual return on investment with letter #5.
Why does it take so many messages? For a few reasons.
- First, any one of your messages may arrive on a day when they won’t even look at it. They might be extremely busy, they might be ill, there might be a family crisis going on, they might simply not be in the mood, or they might even be away from home.
- Second, when you send just one message, they don’t know who you are. Why should they trust a stranger? Why should they spend their time on you?
- Third, when you send too much information at once, reading it takes too much time – and people today all seem to be in a hurry.
Drip marketing accomplishes four things:
- It increases your chance of having at least a few of your messages arrive on a day when they’ll read it.
- It presents your message in small bites – making it easy to read and understand.
- It builds name/face recognition.
- When you send interesting and informative information, it builds trust.
Just as dripping water can wear away rock – the steady drip of useful information from you can wear away resistance to your marketing message.
My advice to anyone thinking of mailing just one letter is: Don’t bother.
The time and effort (and maybe even money) you’ll spend getting your list together and getting that letter ready to go is not likely to give you a good return on investment.
It’s the cumulative effect of many letters – possibly interspersed with phone calls, emails, or personal visits – that will bring the results you want.
