Benefits of Unsolicited Flyers & Letters in your Mailbox and Gate

"BUY. SELL. RENT.", "Award-winning realtor",  "Top Division",  "ATTENTION: HOMEOWNER". These are all the different types of callouts agents use to try to stand out from all the other flyers you have in your mailbox.

Some might feel that these flyers are unwanted and a nuisance as shared by Billy Tan as per this mothership article, however, there may be some benefits of taking a look through the flyers. What could the benefits be?

Well, the purpose of these flyers is to get to you reach out to the agents for a "non-obligatory" consultation. So you'd expect them to hit you with the best they have - trying to compete with each other to get your attention. So let's talk about the ways they try to get your attention and the value you can extract:

1. Graphs and charts! Some flyers come with graphs of past resale volume, and resale price index, showing you the previous X years and how the trend is going up. You'd also find the last transacted prices (hopefully) in your estate or block. So from these types of flyers, you'd know how much to estimate your unit could potentially sell for.

   While this is true, keep in mind that if you're looking to purchase another home, it'll be just as true, and your purchasing home would be more expensive too!

2. Keyword stuffing. You've seen it: Divorce, Bankruptcy, Probate, Foreign Spouses, Part Share Transfer, etc. Just try the spray and pray method that you would fall into one of these categories and drop them a WhatsApp. 
   

   So what's the benefit here? If you have a unique circumstance, the agents on these flyers may just as well be the people you want to help you out.

3. Recent Transaction Prices. This one is great and informative, but beware as many of them will list the highest price that has been sold in the area. For example the top floor, no afternoon sun, corner unit, instead of the second floor beside the garbage chute. But this information is a good gauge of where to start.
   

   A better way if you are actually keen on selling is to head over to HDB's Transactions Within 200 Metres to check past 2-year transacted prices within 200 meters from any HDB Block or DBSS Site/Project. The difference is that HDB is updated daily.

4. All the amazing things we can do for you! Build your legacy with us by ... you got it — Selling with us! While there is nothing wrong with this per se, these flyers serve no additional purpose instead than just letting you know that they are agents.

5. Award-winning photos and certificates. These are fun to look at. The purpose of this is to let you know that these agents work hard. But has a trophy, or award, or a-person-shaking-hands-with-another-person-on-a-stage-while-in-a-suit-with-the-aforementioned-person's-picture-behind-them, ever been the deciding factor if you work with someone?

6. Awkward poses. While some have a headshot, some of the flyers we've received have over half the page covered with the agent's agency's headshot. It is attention-grabbing for sure, but it may not be for the right reasons. 

Now, having seen countless flyers and ads, if you're an agent, give this a try for your next flyer:

1. Testimonials. These can be in various forms. The best would obviously be a video, but until we can print videos, the next best thing is to have a recently sold unit from the same estate printed and distributed to the same estate. Personalization is key here. For example, if you stay at Block 123A and saw a flyer that has sold in Block 123A, chances are you'll read a bit closer into it.

2. Good quality material. In the same way, when you purchase luxury goods, you get a very nice bag for your items, as a potential seller, you want to know that the agent values you enough to source good quality material for you.

3. (Thoughtful) Gifts. This can shoot up your budget, but we can be smart about this too. We have received red packets in our mailbox from agents a month before the Lunar New Year, and of course, if we were to sell our unit, out of all the agents, we know that this agent has given some thought about our needs with no expectation in return. So if you're thinking of gifts, keep them personalized and have them targeted. Instead of flyers to 1,000 blocks, identify 100 blocks you want to target and work through them.
   

4. Focus on one message. We know you want to put everything onto your flyer. But remember the purpose of your flyer is to educate the customer and bring them through each step of their seller's journey. So your flyer should be specific and have only one message at a time. Don't cram the entire seller's journey on one flyer.

5. Your additional qualifications. To some, selling (and buying) a home can be a very personal event in their lives. And they would want to know who you are, and what have you done in the past (beyond your real estate qualifications) to help them. Think of it as a professional blind date, how would you increase your chance with someone? 

6. Think outside the box. We have received a flyer where a whole side of an A4 page is dedicated to 4 different puzzles with a call to action to "message me to get the answers and a free consultation!" We're curious to know the effectiveness of this unique campaign idea. 

   But please for the love of all things great, don't give out magnets with your face on them. You're not family or friends to your clients yet, so more often than not, you'll not be ending up on the fridge. 

Working with a team of real estate professionals, we feel that we should evolve and adapt to the times. While we long for the days of keyword stuffing and printing large clipart fonts on two-sided A5 40gsm paper, the truth is that the digital era is here to stay.  

This doesn't mean that there is no value in traditional media, but rather, traditional media has to work in conjunction with digital media to best serve our clients and customers. We need to understand both sellers' and buyers' journeys and tailor our outreach accordingly to make the tree's that we cut down worth it. (Also if you have flyers as a large percentage of your marketing makeup, please consider planting a tree.)

Thank you.