Agent Rainmaker founder and lettings expert Sally Lawson (main picture) has a strong message for agents – “leaflets are dead”.

Lawson, who has been a lettings agent since the 1990s, says leaflet dropping is a waste of time.

She says letting agents must shift their efforts to online, which is “the only place guaranteed to capture attention”.

I’ve got some news for any letting agency who is printing and dropping leaflets off – they’re dead.”

“I’ve got some news for any letting agency who is printing and dropping leaflets off – they’re dead. And I’m sorry to say, they’ve been dead for quite some time,” she explains.

“They don’t work because to the receiver, they’re out-of-the-blue, often impersonal, and are unwanted sales pitches that take the recipient away from what they’re doing.

“As is the case everywhere, potential clients are spending large chunks of time online.

“Yet many agencies are clutching onto the belief that they’re going to get big returns and hot leads from their handouts.”

They knew their leaflets didn’t work, but they kept doing it anyway.”

Sally points to a traditional letting agency dating back 58 years, which she helped steer away from traditional methods of marketing.

As a result of ditching leafleting and optimising many areas of their business, the agency achieved a £504,000 increase in revenue in just 12 months.

“They knew their leaflets didn’t work, but they kept doing it anyway, which is a problem so many face. Quite often it’s simply because they don’t know what else to do,” she says.

Personal message

“So, if you need more landlords, get in front of them in a place where they’re spending their time. Deliver to them a personal message that resonates with what they might be experiencing, need, or want.

“And there are so many avenues to choose from – YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, the list goes on.”

Online also offers something that “massively misses the mark” when it comes to costly leafleting, she says, which is measurement.

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