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When William Shakespeare wrote “What’s past is prologue,” we can rest assured he wasn’t talking about an email marketing platform called MailChimp.
Regardless, the very popular email marketing platform has launched into beta a postcard creation and mailing feature.
Customers of the service can use their existing databases to create customized printed mailers to be sent, yes, to USPS mailboxes.
We’d be remiss in not pointing out the special kind of irony present in a company with MailChimp’s reputation recognizing the value of print media in today’s hyper-mobile business universe.
The fact remains that direct mail hasn’t died, and it remains an effective component of most savvy real estate agents’ marketing mix.
MailChimp-vested real estate agents can choose from a number of provided templates and imagery and assign any size budget to the mailing.
As is the case with its Facebook ad-builder and general email services, postcards can be found under the Campaign menu, a smart way to keep the user experience consistent.
Provided users have a mailing address for a contact, any number of audience members or established list segments can be selected to receive a mailing.
Budgets are manually set in a text box and overlap with the cost of postage and how many cards can be printed. The card design process is similar to its email builder. Visual assets can be dragged and dropped, logos placed and text inserted.
For those who want to use the postcards to send event announcements or invitations to educational seminars, a promo code box can be inserted that links to any online purchasing systems. MailChimp can track how many times that code is used.
This new service can be a big benefit to those fans of the often-clever user experience of MailChimp, and more so if you happen to maintain a tight database of customer mailing addresses.
Some use cases for getting in on MailChimp’s postcard beta test, include:
- Open house announcements to nearby homeowners
- First-time homebuyer seminar promos
- Specialized agent training courses
- Agent recruiting pitches
- New listings
- Quarterly closings
- New agent or team announcements
- Welcome to the neighborhood introductions
The list goes on, of course, and so does MailChimp’s value as more than a way to merely reach inboxes.
Its automation tools and landing page creator can also become valuable components to an agent’s marketing plan and often at costs far below those of more real estate-centric software platforms.
Agents can learn more about the postcard beta program at MailChimp.com.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
