Direct Mail Marketing for Apartments That Will Drive Leases

In our digital age, direct mail marketing pieces are often-overlooked in favor of flashier online alternatives. But taking it back to basics with a marketing mailer can be one of the best ways to generate interest among prospective residents. 

From showing off property photos to advertising special promotions to highlighting your amenities, direct mail marketing is a simple and effective outlet to talk about what makes your community unique. If you’re considering marketing mailers to help fill current vacancies, try advertising a few key events to pique prospects’ interest.

Direct Mail Marketing Stats

• On average, Americans receive 605 emails and 16.8 pieces of mail every week.

• For roughly every 36 emails you receive on average, you get 1 piece of mail in your mailbox.

• The average lifespan of an email is 17 seconds, compared to direct mail’s average lifespan of 17 days.

• 73% of American consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via direct mail because they can read it whenever they want.

• 58% of the mail American households receive is marketing mail.

• 59% of US respondents say they enjoy getting mail from brands about new products.

• 60% of catalog recipients visit the website of the company that mailed them the catalog.

• Up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to only 20-30% of emails.

• Prospects are 15% more likely to respond to an oversized mail piece if they have never done business with you.

• Per USPS, 98% of people check their mail daily and Americans spend upwards of 30 minutes with their mail on a single occasion.

• 68% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased website visits.

• 60% of marketing respondents said combining digital and direct mail increased ROI.

New Construction Grand Opening

If you’re new to the neighborhood, putting your list of leads to good use with an eye-catching mailer will help you drive brand awareness and generate more interest for your new community. By reaching out to prospects to showcase your available units and announce your presence can lead to a full schedule of tours, and ultimately, help you lease-up faster. Use mailers to get prospects in the door before opening for pre-leasing visits or even hard-hat tours to generate more demand.

Promote Events

If you’re hosting events for your residents regularly, why not invite prospective residents, too? Send out a mailer to invite them to happy hours, meet & greets, or holiday get-togethers. Attending these events will give prospects a sense of what it will be like to live in your community and help show that your building is more than just a place to live—it’s about a community. Just be sure to send the direct mail marketing with enough notice that they can pencil you in ahead of time! 

Leasing Promotions

Leasing promotions are one of the best times to send mailers to prospective residents. By letting them know they can get a free month, waived application fees, or even a lower deposit, you’re very likely to grab their interest and get them in the door for a tour. Be sure to showcase the promotion prominently on the front of the direct mail marketing piece so they won’t miss it and ask them to “bring in this mailer” to get the deal.

Mailer Design Formula

When you’re pulling together the information to include on your mailer, there are a few tried and true items that should always be included. Your logo, bedroom count, property photos, and contact information are vital to show off your community and let people know how to get in touch if they’re interested. Including key features and amenities of your community, the tagline and a short ‘about’ paragraph is a great way to provide more detail and really sell prospects on all your property has to offer. Be mindful that it’s best to keep text to a minimum so your mailer doesn’t become crowded with information. Working with professional branding agencies like zipcode creative to design your direct mail marketing makes it easy to be sure all of the essential information is included in an elegant and eye-catching way.

PRO TIP: Add a QR code on the mailer that leads to a landing page for your campaign or promotion. Doing so will enable you to better measure the interest your mailer created among potential leads! (Pro tip couretsy of Christine O’Toole)

Once your design is finalized, your local printer can print, address, stamp, and mail the mailers so you don’t have to worry about doing all of the legwork or adding another administrative task to your to-do list. Try sending out a modest batch of mailers to the warm leads in your CRM or target prospects by surrounding zip codes for the most effective approach. 

If you’re interested in diving into direct mail marketing for your community, get in touch today!

The image of Areum Apartments is ©Fairfield Residential  |  Executed under creative direction of Fairfield Residential.

Stats sourced from Compu-Mail.