Real estate direct mail marketing (sending printed postcards or brochures through the mail) helps real estate agents reach potential new clients. Direct mail campaigns also build awareness, reinforce online marketing, and help agents stay top of mind with buyers and sellers. We reviewed 14 services and rated six the highest based on price, delivery, and mailing options.
6 Best Real Estate Direct Mail Services 2018
Real Estate Direct Mail Services | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best Overall) Realtors who want affordable direct mail services with templates, mailing lists and tracking | |
| Agents seeking specialty mailing lists for new movers, property lists and new homeowners | |
Modern Postcard | Brokers who need multilocation or multiple agent direct mail marketing to support multiple offices |
| Agents with a mailing list who want DIY design and templates for their direct mailers | |
| Realtors seeking to canvas a neighborhood with EDDM services | |
Agents seeking custom direct mail, including specialty printing with die cuts or foil stamping |
How We Evaluated Direct Mail Services
Real estate direct mail marketing helps agents and brokers connect with buyers and sellers through their mailbox. Because you have to read a piece of direct mail to decide if you want to keep it, printed pieces like postcards can be very effective in engaging buyers and sellers. Statistics show that 56 percent say they found printed marketing to be the “most trustworthy” of media channels. For these direct mail campaigns to be of value to agents, however, they need to be affordable, reliable, and versatile.
These are the criteria used to determine the best real estate direct mail service:
- Price: Real estate mail campaigns should be affordable and effective; a measurable tracking system to determine return on investment (ROI) will help real estate agents gauge results
- Delivery: Some direct mail services promise next-day delivery; it is important that direct mail delivery be timed to make sure your tracking is consistent, and you can confirm delivery of your direct mail
- Mailing services: The ability to bundle services for real estate mail marketing can save money, time and effort; they also need to be flexible; for example, some agents might need a mailing list for their real estate direct mail campaigns while other real estate agents are reaching out to their own targeted list
- Customer support: Whether you need help uploading your mailing list or creating real estate direct mail postcards, customer support should be there to handle every question or concern; as skill levels and experience varies from real estate agents to real estate agents, customer support can be a measure of success
Based on these criteria, ProspectsPlus! is at the top of the list of real estate marketing ideas because it focuses on helping real estate agents engage with buyers and sellers through affordable direct mail products and services, complete with tracking. It also boasts a large selection of real estate templates and mailing lists at an attractive price.
Best Overall Real Estate Direct Mail Services: ProspectsPLUS!
ProspectsPLUS! is the best real estate direct marketing service due to its large selection of affordable real estate specific services and templates as well as tracking. ProspectsPLUS! is ideal for the busy agent on a budget that wants to create a real estate direct mail campaign.
ProspectsPLUS! Pricing
ProspectsPLUS! is competitive in the industry with direct mail marketing pieces that start at 45 cents each for lead generation and postcards. Agents who need a location-targeted mailing list can add prospects to their real estate mail campaign for around 8 cents per record with services for expired and for sale by owner (FSBO) listings.
ProspectsPLUS! Features
While all other services offer a few real estate templates and designs, ProspectsPLUS! has more than 650 templates across 22 niche markets to help real estate agents create targeted real estate postcards at an affordable price quickly. With printing and mailing lists, ProspectsPLUS! is an end-to-end solution for real estate agents who need affordable real estate mailers.
ProspectsPLUS! real estate direct mail postcards (image via website).
Products
The real estate direct mail printing services of ProspectsPLUS! include a large variety of postcards, brochures, flyers and door hangers like all of the other companies on this list. ProspectsPLUS! stands out, however, by offering more than 650 realty specific templates and packages for FSBO, expired listing and luxury property real estate mail marketing campaigns.
Overnight Prints and PsPrint all offer a very limited selection of real estate templates, but you can customize any of its other templates to meet your needs easily. All of the direct mail services on this list offer products and printing services like postcards, brochures and flyers, but ProspectsPLUS! is aimed directly at meeting the needs of real estate agents.
Design Options
ProspectsPLUS! self-design service for real estate direct mail marketing includes a template-driven editor with clickable boxes to add text or change photos. ProspectsPLUS! is most comparable with PsPrint because both have the same type of click-to-edit interface. It does feel slightly dated and clunky, however, so Overnight Prints is a better choice if you want a nice interface that is easy to use.
The major differentiator for ProspectsPLUS! is registration. A real estate agent has to register and fill out a significant form before being allowed to use the ProspectsPLUS! online real estate mail editor. Both Overnight Prints and PsPrint allow users to register the design of their direct mail campaign before moving on to payment methods.
ProspectsPLUS! online editor.
Mailing & Tracking
ProspectsPLUS! takes mailing and delivery of real estate mail campaigns seriously. ProspectsPLUS!, in an effort to provide transparency like Click2Mail, uses the USPS Intelligent Barcode system to give agents proof of delivery times and dates. With free ground shipping and a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee, ProspectsPLUS! is at the top of the list in making sure that real estate agents can track their mailers and results.
What ProspectsPLUS! Is Missing
ProspectsPLUS! is missing the pleasing new website experience found in other platforms. Although all of the functionality is there, the old-school user experience might be negative for some agents who are less tech-savvy.
What Users Think About ProspectsPLUS!
Users overwhelmingly like ProspectsPLUS! due to the quality and price of its products. With a near-perfect score across thousands of reviews on Google, Facebook and ResellerRatings, one of the few negatives seems to be the older feel of the website.
Where to Find ProspectsPLUS!
Find out more about real estate mail marketing through ProspectsPLUS! and download its free 12-month real estate marketing planner through its website.
Best Real Estate Mail Services for Specialty Mailing Lists: Click2Mail
Click2Mail has a variety of specialty mailing lists to address different market segmentations like occupant lists aimed at renters, lookalike/cloning lists for matching buyers by demographics and new movers or homeowner to address potential buyers or sellers. Click2Mail is ideal for agents who want to send target these specific buyers or sellers for their real estate mail marketing.
Click2Mail Pricing
Click2Mail prices are tiered by 1,000 mailings at a time. Segmented mailing lists, determined by demographic information, range from $12 to $30 per 1,000 records. Prices per thousand records increase as more specific details are added to narrow down the list. There is a minimum of a $40 spend to generate a list.
Click2Mail Features
While ProspectsPLUS!, UPrinting and PsPrint all offer mailing services, Click2Mail mailing services are targeted around real estate direct mail segmentation. With lists directed at occupants, recent homeowners (six months or newer), new homeowners (one week), movers and property lists, real estate agents can drill down to their perfect buyer or seller with real estate direct mail.
Products
Although Click2Mail does have design and printing services for postcards, brochures, booklets and flyers, the main place where Click2Mail surpasses other services is in mailing options like segmented lists. Click2Mail does offer every door direct mail (EDDM) services that include delivery to the post office instead of the real estate agent.
UPrinting, a competitor, gives real estate agents free file setup and templates. The segmented lists of Click2Mail are not a benefit for EDDM because the direct mail piece is delivered to every house. It is more important to make sure that files are perfect and take them to the post office yourself than to find out after delivery that something was wrong.
Design Options
Click2Mail excels at mailing lists and services, but the design interface is not for the novice. After passing through an extended registration like ProspectsPLUS!, the user is finally allowed to access the tab-driven real estate mail editor. Click2Mail is designed around quick and easy mailing of direct mail postage pieces. Online editors and templates are more of an after-thought.
Although the PsPrint direct mail interface also has a tab-driven system, the built-in templates preselected by the real estate agents before entering the editor give the user a visual to create a good real estate direct mail campaign easily. Overnight Prints takes the interface seriously with an intuitive system that lets the editor and the templates guide the user through the design.
Click2Mail online designer and editor.
Mailing & Tracking
Click2Mail allows users to generate PDF mailers and click to send via direct mail easily. Also, the integrated MailJack+ allows real estate agents to click and send PDFs as real mail to any address on the document. Click2Mail also partners with USPS to provide certified mail receipts to customers. With integrations for Zapier and Google Docs, Click2Mail is at the forefront of using electronic services to complete mailing tasks.
What Click2Mail Is Missing
Click2Mail is missing an intuitive system that allows for a streamlined workflow. Like ProspectsPLUS!, some users noted that the Click2Mail system can be quirky when trying to complete tasks like upload a file or add another page, but it was easier to do the second time around, and customer service goes out of its way to assist with questions.
What Users Think About Click2Mail
Users love Click2Mail for its customer service and products according to Capterra and GetApp. From real estate mail postcards to targeted mailing lists, users raved about Click2Mail quality and delivery.
Best Real Estate Direct Mail Marketing for Brokers: Modern Postcard
Modern Postcard is a turnkey real estate direct mail marketing company that handles the design, printing and mailing of multilocation or multi-agent broker offices. Modern Postcard is ideal for brokers or agencies with a larger budget that need real estate direct mail campaigns with customized pricing for several locations or multi-agent realty offices.
Modern Postcard Pricing
Modern Postcard is ideal for larger realty companies that are less focused on cost and more concerned with executing complex real estate mail campaigns. Contacting Modern Postcard for a customized estimate that the only way to get accurate pricing for design, printing and delivery of direct mail campaigns.
Modern Postcard Features
The name Modern Postcard might seem confusing for a real estate direct mail company servicing brokers and larger agencies with nationwide campaigns including newsletters and brochures. However, Modern Postcard is the only direct mail marketing service that aims at large run productions of print pieces for brokers with multiple agents or locations.
While the same services could be provided by any of the direct mail marketing real estate companies on this list, the reality is that coordinating mailing services for multiple locations to ensure they all go out on-time would be a massive undertaking for most of them. With a larger budget for real estate mail campaigns, brokers are the best audience for Modern Postcards.
Modern Postcard direct mail campaigns (image via website).
Products
Modern Postcards is not a self-design, self-printing real estate direct mail company. With products like brochures, postcards and booklets, Modern Postcards focuses on providing boutique marketing solutions including design, printing and distribution to larger agencies and brokers with bigger budgets.
Real estate agents who want the option to hand off their real estate mail marketing without the big price tag have some choices. Overnight Prints, UPrinting, Click2Mail and PsPrint all offer customize quoted design services for real estate direct mail. Additionally, ProspectsPLUS! has the Market Dominator System that helps you own 20 percent of your farm area.
Design Options
Modern Postcards is not interested in helping users with do-it-yourself. Modern Postcards creates a direct mail campaign around a broker or large realty office. With designers and marketing specialists on staff, Modern Postcard delivers creative real estate direct mail marketing pieces with special die cuts and custom folds designed for big impact and wide distribution in multiple markets.
Modern Postcard is for larger realty companies, franchises and brokers with a bigger budget. Modern Postcard offers design to print real estate mail marketing services that will stretch the resources of smaller realty firms or individual agents. If you want a DIY option to save money, Overnight Prints, ProspectsPLUS! or PsPrint are better options.
Mailing & Tracking
Modern Postcards offers all the usual UPS shipping options, including national and international mail. For delivery tracking, Modern Postcards uses unique 800 phone numbers, match-back reports to cross-reference your list against responses, website landing pages and offer or coupon codes. If tracking a large scale real estate direct mail campaign is important to your metrics, then Modern Postcards is a good choice.
What Modern Postcard Is Missing
Individual agents will probably find Modern Postcard out of their budget. Modern Postcard is missing a lower volume option for single agents, but its goal is to be a one-stop marketing shop for brokers and agencies seeking multilocation real estate mail. Cost-conscious real estate agents will find PsPrint, Overnight Prints and ProspectsPLUS! better options.
What Users Think About Modern Postcard
Users praise Modern Postcard for its creative approach to real estate direct mail campaigns and attention to detail. TrustPilot and Yelp reviewers were extremely happy with the design, printing and customer support of this full-service agency.
Best Real Estate Direct Mail Services for DIY Design: OvernightPrints
Overnight Prints is an online direct mail marketing real estate option focused on agents who like to design their own real estate marketing materials. Overnight Prints is ideal for agents balancing affordable real estate direct mail pieces with downloadable DIY templates or online design functionality for high-quality results.
Overnight Prints Pricing
Overnight Prints is extremely competitive in the real estate industry with postcards around 7 cents each. Other real estate products depend on the quantity and features like glossy finishes or folding, but you can get an instant quote including shipping using the price calculator on its website by simply inputting your needs for each product.
Overnight Prints Features
Overnight Prints is the DIY answer for real estate direct mail marketing. Templates load into an editor with a simple click and allow for easy customization. Overnight Prints shows that the DIY design interface for real estate direct mail pieces was both high-quality and accessible for all skill levels.
Products
Overnight Prints provides postcards, brochures, flyers and practically every type of real estate direct mail examples you can name, including mailing services. The types of products or services offered are not what sets them apart from ProspectsPLUS! or PsPrint. The quality of the user interface is far superior and easier to use than the other direct mail services.
ProspectsPLUS! includes more templated real estate postcard designs. PsPrint gives real estate agents a head start with templates for brochures, flyers and sales letters. If you need a direct mail marketing real estate template and prefer a large selection compared to user interface, then those are probably better choices.
Design Options
Overnight Prints direct mail editor is created with the DIY designer in mind. The easy-to-use interface does not require a complex registration before gaining access. Creating a direct mail marketing real estate piece is as simple as clicking on a template, changing the text by editing the fields and dragging images around the dashboard.
ProspectsPLUS!, Click2Mail, UPrinting and PsPrint provide easy edit platforms, but Overnight Prints loads quicker with editable elements in one sidebar menu to prevent the need for constant clicking around the design or the opening of new screens. Overnight Prints is by far the most intuitive with options that promote workflow. For ProspectsPLUS! and PsPrint, the online design feels like an afterthought or addition.
Overnight Prints template-driven online editor.
Mailing & Tracking
Overnight Prints offers BITGIT (buy it today, get it tomorrow), which allows real estate agents to pay extra for rush orders. If ordered by 8 p.m., the direct mail pieces can be delivered the next day. However, Overnight Prints doesn’t always deliver on this promise. This is the pain point of many customer concerns about Overnight Prints. With a name like Overnight Prints, the ability to deliver a product overnight is vital to the success of the brand.
For real estate agents who need a direct mail marketing real estate piece quickly, PsPrint and UPrinting allow direct pickup if you are close to its facility. Successfully receiving quality real estate direct mail takes time, so confirming the delivery schedules is vital to good customer experience.
What Overnight Prints Is Missing
With a name like Overnight Prints, delivery is the main promise of the name and the brand. Throughout thousands of customer reviews, the biggest complaints revolved around missed delivery dates and expedited shipping causing rush orders that haven’t even dried properly after printing. Realistically, thousands of orders cannot be printed and shipped to customers overnight.
What Users Think About Overnight Prints
Thousands of users gave positive feedback on the quality of the products ordered through Overnight Printing. Delivery was the primary reason for negative feedback. ProspectsPLUS! promises 48-hour or next-day turnaround on printing and is regularly able to achieve the goal.
Best Real Estate Direct Mail Services for EDDM: UPrinting
UPrinting EDDM is a form of real estate direct mail that includes postage boxes and metered mail markings printed on the piece so it can be delivered directly to every house. EDDM is right for real estate agents who want to canvas a selected area or ZIP code with a postcard or a brochure.
UPrinting Pricing
UPrinting is competitive for EDDM direct mail pieces at 14 cents per piece for 1,000 for postcards and bifold brochures around 45 cents per for 1,000. Pricing for EDDM printing is slightly more expensive due to the special layout for postal markers for mass mailing pieces mailed to every door in an area. You can order your free sample kit via its website.
UPrinting EDDM Real Estate Direct Mail Postcards (image via website)
UPrinting Features
UPrinting gives real estate agents free templates with file setup and review to make sure the printing is correct, including all EDDM indicia like mailing codes or postage boxes. UPrinting EDDM real estate direct mail is a special printing and delivery service that allow real estate agents to blanket a complete area with postcards or brochures.
ProspectsPLUS! offers three choices for EDDM delivery for an extra cost, but EDDM is not a primary service offering. Click2Mail also provides EDDM services for direct mail marketing real estate with templates for an extra charge.
Products
A selection of printed brochures, postcards and the most common pieces of the direct mail portfolio are also available through UPrinting. The place where UPrinting steps away from its competitors is setting up EDDM real estate direct mail marketing. EDDM requires certain markers, called Indicia, to make it through the postal system. This adds the postage stamp and any scanner codes needed on the printed piece.
ProspectsPLUS!and Click2Mail offer EDDM printing and distribution for additional costs, but UPrinting gives real estate agents an online editor and checks files to make sure the Indicia are properly placed before mailing. Delivery service might be an added benefit, but being able to look at the piece before dropping it off at the post office to be delivered to every house in your farm area seems like an important step.
Design Options
UPrinting offers a good editor for real estate agents who like a freehand approach to their design process when creating real estate mail campaigns. While all editors allow you to upload your own pre-created image, the online editor is an important part of a design process if you need help getting started. Like Overnight Prints, ProspectsPLUS! and PsPrint, UPrinting supplies a downloadable template for every direct mail piece.
The UPrinting design interface starts with a blank canvas, so you will need to create your own real estate direct mail piece or download a template. Overnight Prints, PsPrint and ProspectsPLUS! starts the editor off with a template. If you need some design help, then UPrinting might not be the best choice.
UPrinting online design editor.
Mailing & Tracking
UPrinting has all of the standard shipping options with some interesting service guarantees. The 100 percent quality guarantee includes a 100 percent refund or reprints for defective orders and free expediting for orders lost in shipping. There is also a 20 percent refund per business day for late printing.
These are unusual service guarantees for the industry, so asking customer support about the specifics is necessary before ordering. With an online chat ready to help 24/7, UPrinting is a good choice for your real estate direct mail marketing if customer support is an important part of your experience and satisfaction.
What UPrinting Is Missing
UPrinting has a template for EDDM real estate mail postcards, and it should be clearer that an EDDM template is available. Downloading the template for EDDM postcard design helps to avoid revisions and delays due to the addition of EDDM Indicia like metered postage boxes and address stamps.
What Users Think About UPrinting
Most users are very happy with the direct mail services received from UPrinting. The advantages noted were heavily in favor of fast service and quality products. The downside was that shipping was more expensive than other services and delivery dates are not on target.
Best Direct Mail Services for Custom Printing: PsPrint
PsPrint is a real estate direct mail company that stands out from the crowd with customized printing options to help real estate agents impress buyers and sellers. Real estate agents who want to make an impression with printed and cut designs for luxury properties or special mailers will find PsPrint useful for their efforts with an affordable price point, ongoing deals and low-cost shipping.
PsPrint Pricing
PsPrint offers competitive pricing for direct mail marketing pieces like brochures, door hangers and sales letters. Frequent deals on its website make real estate mail pieces extremely affordable. Full-color brochures with double-sided print cost 62 cents each for 250 with $17 for shipping. You can get an instant quote on the website.
Brochures from PsPrint (image via website).
PsPrint Features
PsPrint provides quality custom direct mail marketing pieces like brochures, door hangers and sales letters. With customization like die cuts for interesting shapes, foil stamping for flair and ultra postcards with a heavy paperweight for feel, PsPrint is an affordable way for real estate agents to stand out from the crowd.
Products
PsPrint has easy template designs for marketing materials like brochures, door hangers and sales letters with add-ons to make real estate direct mail marketing stand out in any mailbox. The extra-thick paperweight of Ultra postcards, custom die cuts to make creative shapes and foil stamping can create interest and make readers pay attention to a real estate direct mail campaign.
Most real estate marketing companies offer customized printing services, but these add-ons could create a better impression at an affordable price point. PsPrint provides these custom benefits as part of routine service choices or add-ons.
Design Options
PsPrint is the middle ground in the design interface category between the highly intuitive platform of Overnight Prints and the blank canvas of UPrinting. With real estate direct mail templates that auto-load into the editor, it is easy to get started by clicking to add images or text. The layout and design are simple to change with a few clicks.
If you need a postcard template to get started, then ProspectsPLUS! definitely has more real estate direct mail designs than any of the other platforms. If you need to adjust any template to your own needs easily, then Overnight Prints is a much easier solution. Like Overnight Prints, PsPrint is the only other real estate mail company on the list that does not require preregistration to access its editor and create a design.
PsPrint Online Editor for Brochures
Mailing & Tracking
PsPrint goes the extra mile by boasting of a 99 percent on-time delivery. Inviting real estate agents to pick up their real estate direct mail orders at its printing facilities in San Francisco and Chicago is an added benefit for rush orders or those who want to save on shipping. Only UPrinting makes the same pickup offer for real estate mail pieces.
What PsPrint Is Missing
Reviewers noted that the print preview did not reflect the color and scale of the finished product accurately. Some customers suggested that a better proofing system would help make sure that quality was perfect.
What Users Think About PsPrint
Reviewers are happy with the value received for the cost. Negative reviews are centered on dissatisfaction with shipping costs and customer service responses.
Pro Tips for Real Estate Direct Mail Services
“
A lot of times, agents will send out generic mailers to a specific area and, when they don’t see a return on their investment or gain any new clients, they move on to the next neighborhood. If you take the time to work the same neighborhood over and over again and give the residents in that area information that is beneficial for them, you are more likely to see returns and gain new clients.”
— Brian Fairweather, Vice President of Operations & Realtor, Sutter & Nugent Real Estate
A lot of times, agents will send out generic mailers to a specific area and, when they don’t see a return on their investment or gain any new clients, they move on to the next neighborhood. If you take the time to work the same neighborhood over and over again and give the residents in that area information that is beneficial for them, you are more likely to see returns and gain new clients.”
— Deanna Robinson, CEO, Social Impression
“Make sure you are targeting the right people with the right message. Know your market and what will impress them; do not advertise a house sale that won’t compare well. After you know who you want to send to and what the message is, you should purchase a list that directly reflects your target market. Be specific. You can always run multiple small campaigns with fewer people and a good comp house.”
— Gail Romansky, Real Estate Professional, Pearson Smith Realty & Gail Gets It Done
“A portion of my direct mail marketing is through American Lifestyle magazine, which is a beautiful publication that I customize with my branding and content and is mailed to former and current clients as well as friends. Each edition has articles that vary from decorating trends to homes, travel, art, gardening, music and recipes. My sphere receives this bimonthly periodical, which has not only given me accolades but additional referral business as well.”
— Leonard Nwoteh, Owner, ANB Homebuyers
“I use direct mail services mainly because it’s still one of the most important lead generation methods for my industry. The main benefits are that it helps me reach motivated sellers who are looking to sell their homes and is highly measurable, but also highly personalized or individualized. My tips for using direct mail would be to get good data with high equity or absentee owners. Also, send direct mail five to six times to get leads or responses. I’ve found that most people will only respond after several direct mailings.”
— Sarah Anderson, Vice President Marketing, VHT Studios
“If you want to grab a potential buyer’s attention in the midst of a pile of junk mail, using professional quality photographs from a professional photographer can help a direct mail marketing piece avoid the waste bin and end up hanging around the house for a while. Using photographs that are attractive and welcoming can be a big differentiator when marketing a property via direct mail. Professional quality photographs have been found to help sell a listing 32 percent faster and at the best price.”
— Harris Brown, Founder, HFB Advertising
“Benefits of direct mail services are keeping in front of your customers by showing them you are an expert in your field. Personalize your direct mailer with the customer name and consistently send usually once a month with useful information like tips on recipes, winterizing a home steps, spring clean up advice, energy savings idea and home financing guidance.”
Personalized Mailer Example compliments of HFB Advertising
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I Need a Mailing List to Participate in Real Estate Direct Mail Marketing?
Many real estate direct mail services offer mailing lists segmented through your choice of demographics. You should be aware that you do not physically get a list of records to send direct mail pieces. Your real estate mail campaign is sent through services like ProspectsPLUS!, Click2Mail and UPrinting to the contacts selected.
Should I Include a Disclaimer?
Some states require a disclaimer on a real estate direct mail campaign sent to a generalized farm area using EDDM or other types of mailing services. It is best to check with your local NAR representative regarding the laws in your state and add a disclaimer if necessary.
What Do I Need to Increase Real Estate Direct Mail Conversion?
It is important that you send your direct mail marketing recipients to a website or lead capture page to convert. A service like Real Geeks can give you a strong internet data exchange website with a customer relationship management tool so that direct mail contacts can find out more about a property and receive information about the area to become a lead.
The Bottom Line
Real estate direct mail services give agents the opportunity to design their direct mail marketing materials or use a template before sending to potential clients. Whether you need mail services or real estate marketing collateral, these six best real estate direct mail services combine quality online printing with affordable prices, reliable customer service, and acceptable delivery rates.
ProspectsPLUS! is the best choice because its one-stop-shop services directly aimed at the real estate market give agents a head start on its real estate direct mail marketing. From design to printing to delivery with tracking through USPS Intelligent Barcode Technology, ProspectsPlus! gives agents high-quality real estate direct mail campaigns at an affordable price.
