In an era dominated by digital marketing, real estate professionals often wonder if direct mail is still effective. The short answer? Yes! Despite the rise of online advertising, direct mail remains a powerful tool for real estate agents looking to generate leads, nurture relationships, and establish a strong local presence.

Why Direct Mail Still Works in 2025

1. High Engagement Rates: Direct mail boasts an open rate of over 90%, making it one of the most engaging marketing methods.
2. Less Competition: With businesses focusing on digital ads, the mailbox is less crowded, allowing mailers to stand out.
3. Tangible & Personal: People trust physical mail more than digital ads, making direct mail a reliable marketing tool.
4. Targeted Marketing: Direct mail allows hyper-local targeting, ensuring realtors reach the right audience.
5. Integration with Digital Strategies: QR codes and personalized URLs bridge the gap between direct mail and online lead capture.

What Is the Success Rate of Direct Mail in Real Estate?

Direct mail achieves a 4.9% response rate for house lists and 2.9% for prospect lists, outperforming email marketing. A well-optimized campaign can yield an ROI of 29% or higher, especially when combined with QR codes, personalized URLs, and strong follow-ups. Consistency and audience targeting are key to maximizing success.

Cost-Effective Ways to Do Direct Mail

• Postcards: Affordable and ideal for just-listed or just-sold announcements.
• Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM): USPS program to mail to entire neighborhoods.
• Bulk Mailing: Reduces postage costs with bulk mail permits.
• Partnerships: Co-marketing with mortgage lenders can help lower costs.

Drawbacks of Direct Mail

• Cost: Printing and postage can add up.
• Follow-Up Required: Best combined with digital or phone follow-ups.
• Design Matters: Poorly designed mailers can be ineffective.

How to Market Through Direct Mail

Discover can help streamline and enhance your direct mail marketing efforts by providing specialized resources tailored to real estate agents. With our platform, agents can easily define their target audience by focusing on specific zip codes and areas, ensuring that your message reaches the right potential clients.

1. Define your target audience.
2. Craft a compelling message.
3. Choose the right format.
4. Use tracking methods (QR codes, special landing pages).
5. Be consistent (monthly or quarterly mailers work best).

Future of Direct Mail in Real Estate

As automation grows and digital ad costs rise, direct mail remains a vital tool for real estate marketing beyond 2025. Innovations from USPS and personalized mail campaigns ensure direct mail stays effective, offering a unique, tangible connection that digital ads can’t replicate. With targeted outreach and tracking methods like QR codes, it continues to deliver strong engagement and results.

Top 10 Questions About Direct Mail in Real Estate 2025

1. What is the success rate of direct mail in real estate? Around 4.9% for house lists and 2.9% for prospects.
2. Is direct mail still effective in 2025? Yes, thanks to high engagement rates and rising digital ad costs.
3. What is the cheapest way to do direct mail? EDDM and bulk mailing.
4. How do I send direct mail to a neighborhood? Through EDDM, targeted mailing lists, or bulk mailing.
5. What is a good ROI for direct mail? 29% or higher.
6. Is direct mail profitable for real estate agents? Yes, with the right targeting and follow-up strategy.
7. Do Millennials respond to direct mail? Surprisingly, yes! Many prefer physical mail over digital ads.
8. How does Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) work? It allows mailing to all homes in a chosen area without needing addresses.
9. How often should I send direct mail for real estate? Monthly mailers provide the best results.
10. What is the best day to send direct mail? Midweek (Tuesday-Thursday) yields the best response rates.

Final Thoughts

Direct mail continues to be an effective marketing tool for real estate agents in 2025. By integrating it with digital strategies, optimizing costs, and staying consistent, realtors can achieve impressive results. Whether targeting new leads or nurturing existing ones, a well-planned direct mail campaign can be a game-changer.

As an agent, you’ll constantly find yourself at the negotiating table, fighting for the best deal for your clients. Whether you’re going back-and-forth with a stubborn seller or trying to land that perfect property for your buyers, your ability to negotiate effectively is what separates the wheat from the chaff. In 2024, with market dynamics constantly shifting, mastering real estate negotiation strategies will be an absolute necessity.

Top agents know that negotiation goes way beyond just hammering out prices. It’s about finding creative solutions that work for everyone involved, building trust, and ultimately walking away with wins that keep clients coming back for more. So if you want to stay ahead of the game and elevate your real estate hustle, you need to be a negotiation ninja armed with the best real estate negotiation strategies for 2024. In this guide, we’ll dive into five battle-tested strategies to level up your negotiation prowess and start landing more deals.

1. Understand the Market

Stay updated with the latest market trends and understand the factors that influence property prices in your area. For example, if you’re working in a seller’s market where demand is high and inventory is low, you might need to advise your buyer clients to make more competitive offers.

Actionable Step: Subscribe to real estate newsletters, attend local real estate investor meetings, and use online resources like Zillow or Redfin to stay informed about your local market. Additionally, consider joining a professional organization like the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which provides valuable market insights and resources for its members.

2. Know Your Client

Understand your client’s needs, motivations, and limitations. For instance, if your client is a young family looking to buy their first home, they might prioritize safety, good schools, and proximity to parks and recreational areas.

Actionable Step: Streamline your client intake process by delving into their lifestyle, requirements, and future aspirations. Employ a comprehensive tool such as a client needs assessment form to gather pertinent details, ensuring a profound grasp of their priorities. Access a list of helpful questions tailored for this purpose by downloading it here.

3. Be Prepared

Do your homework before entering negotiations. This includes knowing the property’s details, understanding comparable sales, and being aware of the seller’s situation. For example, if the seller needs to move quickly, they may be willing to negotiate on price.

Actionable Step: Use tools like the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to research comparable sales and gather information about the property and the seller. Additionally, consider utilizing a real estate data and analytics platform like Remine, which can provide detailed property insights and market trends.

4. Stay Calm and Patient

Negotiations can be stressful. It’s important to stay calm, patient, and focused. Remember, the goal is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Actionable Step: Practice stress management techniques like deep breathing or mindfulness meditation. These can help you stay calm and focused during negotiations. You could also consider taking a negotiation course or workshop offered by organizations like NAR or your local real estate association.

5. Practice Active Listening

Listen carefully to the other party’s concerns and objections. This can help you address them effectively and move the negotiation forward. For example, if a buyer is concerned about a home’s old roof, you could negotiate a lower price or ask the seller to replace the roof before closing.

Actionable Step: During conversations, repeat back or paraphrase what the other party has said to ensure you’ve understood correctly. This not only shows that you’re listening but also gives them a chance to clarify if necessary. Consider role-playing with colleagues or attending negotiation workshops to improve your active listening skills.

Example: One effective way to practice active listening is to use the “mirroring” technique. For instance, if a buyer says, “I’m worried about the age of the HVAC system,” you could respond with, “I understand your concern about the HVAC system being older. Let’s discuss some options to address that.” This shows you’re listening and open to finding a solution.

Remember, mastering negotiation is a journey. With patience, practice, and continuous learning, you can become a more effective negotiator with these Real Estate Negotiation Strategies and close deals more efficiently and profitably.

How Real Estate Agents should measure Marketing ROI: the Right Way and the Well Intentioned Way

As Agents work to pivot and re-group, we’re seeing an influx of new agents and a resurgence of effort from existing agents. With so many realtors in the game, carefully selected marketing has become a key differentiator of the best agents. And when it comes to marketing, there have never been so many choices… so knowing what works for you in your market has never been so important.

So let’s talk marketing ROI, and why we should be a little more careful in how we analyze it.

ROI is just “return on investment.” In the real estate business, this usually refers to the amount gross profit off of marketing-generated leads (less marketing expenses) as a percentage of marketing dollars spent in the same time period. That’s:

But beware!

Oftentimes it is this very equation that causes an agent to abort good efforts in the name of “business sense.” Why? Two reasons: first, a marketing effort by itself might not work. Your marketing plan should be a concert of several different channels playing in harmony with each other, delivering a consistent, top-notch message; and second, marketing programs often need a year or more to truly build traction, especially for agents with less than 5% market share. The standard marketing ROI equation ignores these truths.

So, we’d like to offer a slightly modified ROI equation with the big caveat of be prepared to wait. For this equation, we let the marketing do its magic, then we calculate.

First, let’s define the pieces of the puzzle:

• Average customer commission. This is how much commission you earned in total last year divided by the number of sides you completed.
• Lead conversion rate. This is the percentage of leads that become customers. Do you track this? If not, take an educated guess.
• Marketing cost. This is the total cost of the marketing program you are honing into. This can be actual or anticipated and must span a specific time period. Include a percentage of staff time dedicated to helping with this type of marketing.
• Leads generated. How many leads did you receive from the marketing program you are honing into? This must be measured over the same time period as your marketing costs.

Next, you’ll want to determine your Time to Break-Even. Because so much of your marketing is intended to communicate what you’re already doing, the more active you are now, the quicker you will get results from new marketing efforts. So if this is a new plan, or one you are considering but have not yet tried, put a deadline on the break-even and discipline yourself to wait until that date before you decide to measure marketing ROI and being running calculations.

In general, your Time to Break-Even should be set based on what the industry declares, and then adjusted based your market share. It is simple to figure out your market-share:

If you’re unfamiliar with housing turnover, it is simply a measure of how often people in your target market move. If 100 homes sell in your neighborhood of 1000, your turnover rate is 10%, and there are 100 listing prospects in your area per year. Here is a great article from Joe Manusa on housing turnover.

A good baseline on any new channel, especially direct mail, is 1 year (if you are hitting your farm with quality mail at least once per month). If you have greater than 20% market share, you might expect results a little sooner, and if you have less than 5% market share, you might be waiting 2 or more years. You should also adjust your time to break-even according to the turnover in your area. If you’re marketing to 10,000 homes with a 5% turnover, you should expect to wait longer (paying more in marketing costs) than if you marketed to 5,000 homes with a 10% turnover.

Now that you have established your Time to Break-Even, here are two ways to look at your marketing efforts. The first is a way to see what the performance of efforts should look like after they have already broken even. The second is a way to “spit out” how many leads you need to generate from the marketing channel for it to pay for itself, so you can gauge how realistic the new method is. If you only need a few leads a year to make it break-even, you might adjust your Time to Break even.

Measure Marketing ROI after Break-even:

Number of Leads needed in 1 year to Break-Even:

We hope this helps as you forge ahead this year. Best of luck, and never hesitate to reach out to us here at Discover if you’d like feedback on any of your marketing decisions. Please click below to download a complimentary calculator.

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Why Salesy Real Estate Marketing Fails with Today’s Sellers

Quick: take a look at these two headlines. Each appears on the front cover of a real estate agent’s local newsletter or publication.

1. “Peter Pumpkin-eater named #1 Producer at Joker Broker Inc!” (by Peter Pumpkin-eater)
2. “Record High Prices for Sunnytown Homes this Season!” (by Berta Experta)

Which article would appeal to you, a homeowner in Sunnytown? How much would you care about Peter Pumpkin-eater’s awards, even if you happened to know him? After getting a newsletter with a cover story like Peter’s, month after month, you’d probably start throwing it right in the recycle bin without so much as a glance.

But what about receiving a newsletter – or publication – with cover stories like Berta’s, month after month? You might begin to anticipate some useful market information when it appears in your mailbox. Instead of pitching it, you might toss it on the counter, and read it the next morning while your coffee brews. This all seems obvious, but yet we see it every day: agents who wouldn’t give two hoots about, for example, their insurance agent “hitting goal” turn around and build huge expensive campaigns about their personal awesomeness.

You’ve probably already made massive changes to your business in the wake of Coronavirus, so what better time to take a good hard look at your marketing messages!

Fact: buying patterns have changed dramatically in the last 10 years.

As more advertising mediums become available, the more consumers are becoming conditioned to tune out to anything that seems “promotional.” Content Plus found that 70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads, and a TMG Custom Media study revealed that 78% of consumers believe that organizations that offer custom content are interested in building good relationships with them. While it’s important to communicate the value you offer – and to share real-life success stories about who you’ve helped – building a trust-based connection is the foundation for generating listings and referrals.

Trust is built in the emotional part of the brain, deep in the subconscious.

We don’t decide to trust a person; rather, we one day realize that we trust someone. Add to that the the fact that big decisions – including most major purchase decisions – happen in the part of the brain where emotions are processed. Trust is an emotion. To put it very simply: trust = purchase.

A brain scan study by Mart Lindstrom in 2015 backed up claims that 90% of purchasing decisions are not made consciously, and that brands that are intentional about evoking our emotions always win. Decision-making may be wired to our emotions for very good reasons. For one, it is impossible to consciously tally, process, score, and react to the hundreds of facts and other non-overt pieces of information coming at us. Our emotional subconscious does this for us and outputs a “gut feeling,” without our awareness.

The beautiful thing is that this “gut” is very efficient at making the right call. It’s in no way a shortcut. In fact, relying on a well-honed instinct is indeed more efficient than manually – consciously – wading through a million variables. We’re built to rely on it – in extreme cases, our very survival depends on trusting our gut rather than a painstaking conscious calculation. For most people, the emotional brain is a well-oiled super-computer so it’s no surprise that decision making occurs there.

What does this mean for real estate agents?

The key take-away for real estate agents is this: if two agents are competing for a listing, the one who has taken time to embed themselves in the emotional brain of the homeowner will get the listing, even if they’re younger or less successful.

“Embed themselves in the emotional brain” means marketing and prospecting in a way that resonates at a human level, garners an emotional response, and leaves the prospect feeling that the agent knows and cares about the market, gets great results, and can be trusted.

In order to develop these emotions about the agent, the homeowner needs to repeatedly experience these emotions while at the same time learning about or engaging with the agent’s brand. For this to happen, the agent must truly be trustworthy, get good results, and care – because those are the things he or she need to impart through their marketing. Otherwise, no amount of “messaging” will seed legitimate emotional headspace in prospects.

So, how can you do this?

How to implant yourself as the Real Estate Agent of Choice
in the emotional brain of homeowners in your farm

First, you must show (not just tell) your prospects that you care about them, the community, and ultimately, their home sale. Marketing with information they personally care about accomplishes this much faster than sending information they don’t care about. Against our best advice, we’ve worked with agents over the years who’ve insisted on publishing self-promoting articles on the front covers of their publications. After investing thousands of dollars, they either learn the hard way and begin publishing community-related content, or they quit publishing altogether in frustration (and to be blunt, arrogance). We encourage agents to keep their custom content focused on the community; for example, during the pandemic, we published articles for agents about how Coronavirus was impacting the local housing market. Similarly, we take care to ensure the general articles (the syndicated stories we publish inside each client’s paper) hit home and resonate with homeowners. Whether you publish with us or do your own newsletter, these principals apply.

And here’s the key: make sure your picture and branding is on the header and all throughout your marketing, so that when the reader is engaged with an article or feature, they implant you in their emotional brain as they read and react to it.

Branding remains paramount

When you regularly supply your prospects with interesting, valuable information (such as with your newsletter, publication, emails, social posts, webinars, etc.), you need to be front and center. This doesn’t mean how great you are, but your branding must be prominent. Otherwise, you’ll be cultivating meaningful emotional responses, but the connection to you will be lost.

Additionally, it’s important to layer in messages about what you do and how you can really help. Do this in ways that actually resonate; for example, instead of a dry testimonial, run a short feature called “Sunnytown Success Story” with a photo of a happy couple you helped, and tell the story of how they needed to move quickly, how you helped them with fix-ups and staging, and how you marketed it to your broker network for multiple offers. Or instead of an ad about being #1, present an infograph of exactly how you stack up to other agents (Average Sunnydale Agent: Sells 2 homes per year. Berta Experta: Sold 28 homes last year. / Average Sold Price in Sunnydale: $200k. Average Sold Price for Berta’s Clients: $235k). This communicates to the homeowner that you don’t expect them to hire you just because of a fancy award – that you mean business and get tangible results.

The most important message here is that self-promotion fails as the core of any marketing strategy. Think instead of how to show the area you are a caring, knowledgeable, trusted expert. And make sure they know it’s from you.

Step by step guide to the Ad Program top agents use at Discover

In Thanksgivings past, we’ve blogged about wonderful topics like gratitude and giving back. This year, with so many agents asking us how they can get more bang for their marketing buck in 2020, we decided to break from tradition and Talk Turkey.

Across the country, many markets still face limited inventory – and this is compounded by the seasonally slow months ahead. The sad truth is that the cost per lead – regardless of your strategy – goes up when the market is dry. Agents need to find smart ways to stretch every marketing dollar. The best way? Other people’s money, of course!

The vendors that have a good relationship with you should understand that those referrals have to come from somewhere – and no matter how many they receive, they’re always eager to get more. They are not paying for referrals under the guise of an ad; rather, they are supporting your efforts to grow so that they can receive even more opportunities in the future. They should understand this; if they don’t, explain it – but don’t be afraid to pitch the idea.

Here at Discover, agents farm with 12-page real estate publications, which have plenty of space for paid advertisements. Over 80% of our clients have an average of 2.2 vendor advertisements in their papers. Managing so many vendors would be impossible without a program in place, and a simple process for both the agent and the advertiser.

1. Identify your Ad Prospects

First, create a list of no more than seven local professionals who know you well and would no doubt benefit from any increases to your business. Well over half the ads we see are from title agents and lenders, and the remainder come mostly from insurance agents, landscapers, moving companies, and contractors.

Instead of thinking, “how can I sell a ton of ads?” – because that never works! – you should be thinking, “who are a few good partners who would see real opportunity in supporting my marketing?” Remember, you’re just trying to maximize your budget to generate leads and listings. Set a goal to save about 15%, and consider any additional savings a real bonus.

Agents who have the most success with advertising stay focused on the partnerships they have already built. Your ads should be from vendors you already know; you will spin wheels if you try to sell an ad to a professional you “want” to build a relationship with. If you don’t have many strong partnerships today, start by building a few good referral relationships, and then ask for ad support.

Here are a few industries to consider when making a list of vendors to approach:

• Title Agent
• Lender
• Moving Company
• Home Inspector (especially if you order a lot of pre-inspections)
• Landscaper
• Insurance agent
• Interior Designer or Stager
• General Contractor
• Service Tradesmen (Repairs)

Once you have your list, contact your account manager to set your ad prices.

2. Set your Rates

You always have full control over the rates you charge, but Discover is here to help.
The process of determining ad rates begins with Discover examining the average home values in your farm, as well as the quantity of publications you mail out (your circulation). Based on this, Discover will suggest pricing for the different sizes of ads you wish to offer. Discover has three standard sizes, and some agents create custom sizes in addition to those options.

After you make a final decision on your ad rates, Discover develops a custom rate card for your ad prospects. This rate card will also include any special promotions or discounts you want to offer – and your account manager will give you plenty of ideas. For example, one popular promotion is to offer a free ad with a 6-edition sign-up.

3. Customize a Sales Plan

When it’s time to approach your vendors, you are in the driver’s seat and decide how much involvement you want Discover to have. There are two general tracks for ad sales here at Discover.

Full-service approach

Many agents take advantage of Discover’s full-service ad sales, which doesn’t cost anything and can make the process much simpler. In years past, Discover simply took your list of vendors and hit the phones. The results were lukewarm at best, so we’ve added the step of an email introduction, resulting in double the conversion rate.

• First, send your list to Discover.
• Next, send an email introduction to each vendor, and copy your Discover sales rep. Discover will provide you with an email template to use, if you choose. On this email, there’s no need to talk pricing; it’s just a warm hand-off to Discover.
• Discover contacts the vendor via phone and email (up to three attempts), and sets up a short call.
  On that call, Discover will go over the benefits of the ad, everything that’s included, how many homes it will go to and how often, and how the paper is also marketed on digital platforms (if applicable). The rep will cover the different size options and rates, as well as any promotions you are offering. Most importantly, Discover will emphasize how effective real estate publications are for generating leads – not just for the agent, but for everyone the agent relies upon.
• Discover will utilize a variety of sales tools such as a sample publication, advertising materials, and your custom rate card.
• Discover also provides customizable ad agreements, so that both you and Discover can be protected from any copyright, design error, or payment problems that might arise. Discover will fill this out for any vendor who wishes to sign up (according to the perimeters you set up in the beginning), and send a copy to you.

Sell and Transfer approach

Depending on your relationship with your vendor, you may decide to pitch the ad yourself. In that case, we will arm you with all the tools you need to secure some ads. These materials include:

• Email template for laying out the benefits of an ad
• Custom rate card
• Advertising sales sheet
• Custom ad agreement
• Custom advertiser landing page (by request) – a great tool to streamline the sign-up process, for larger agents expecting to enroll at least five advertisers

Once you’ve sold an ad, it couldn’t be easier. Simply put the advertiser in touch with your account manager, send Discover a copy of the signed Ad Agreement, and you’re done.

Some agents will mix up both ways of selling. For example, you can get a commitment from a vendor to participate, then introduce the vendor to your rep to finalize the ad selection and to sign the agreement. Whatever your preferences are, Discover is set up to make make ad sales easy and pain-free.

4. Enroll the Advertiser

You’re done!
Whether Discover sells the ad for you or you sell it yourself, your involvement ends there. Any details related to their ad are now off your plate completely.

Discover will take the ad agreement (if you’ve chosen to use one) and set up the advertiser accordingly. Your graphic designer will personally reach out to the advertiser to collect materials and design the ad. If the advertiser signs up for auto-pay, the billing department will contact them directly to set it up.

5. Get the Ad Credit

The best part of Discover’s ad program is the ad billing and collecting. Agents are so relieved to know they do not have to chase payments or collect money from industries that fall under RESPA guidelines.
Discover sends a bill to the advertiser about 30 days before each publication goes to print. The Ad Program is a free service, so once an ad payment is collected, 100% of the ad revenue is credited to your invoice. Discover does not take a cut.

On average, agents who take advantage of Discover’s Ad Program save 10-25% on the total cost of their farming. Some save far more than that, and some less. It depends on how valuable a marketing partnership is to a particular vendor, based on the opportunity for more business for them in the future. If you’re shaving about 15% off your bill, know that you’re right where most agents are, and don’t spend too much time trying to get even more. In time, if you nurture your vendor relationships, it’ll increase in an organic way.

Ads have benefits beyond money alone

In addition to offsetting the cost of your custom publication, advertising carries with it tremendous benefits for you and your vendors and affiliates. It’s a phenomenal way to increase loyalty and strengthen partnerships on both sides. It keeps you connected in a common goal.

In fact, several agents provide pro-bona advertising to promote charities and volunteer opportunities. Discover’s custom publications are a spectacular way to get your message of leadership, community involvement, and expertise out to thousands and thousands of homeowners – and this power can be extended to the causes you care about, too.

Agents have long known that content-driven direct mail raises brand awareness, but beyond generating leads and listings, it’s a chance to show the community that you’re a well-connected mover-and-shaker in the community.

Selling a few ads is easier than you think

We’ve tinkered, honed and streamlined our Ad Program process for many years, to give agents an easy way to take advantage of ad revenue.

Check out this page, which also has an informative video on the process of Discover’s Ad Program, for more information on how easy it is to get a few ads in your publication. Or, simply inquire below and we’ll set up a short call to answer your questions.