Corefact & Revaluate: The SmartZip Alternative

Ten years ago, SmartZip received boat loads of funding and made a huge splash in real estate marketing – with a pretty simple idea that people really believed would work – and people have been looking for a SmartZip replacement or an alternative to deliver direct mail to targeted likely mover households.

SmartZip grew to a valuation above $100 MM but was not able to sustain growth when it was not able to raise additional funds from venture capital, experienced layoffs and eventually sold its assets to Constellation Software. But what of the magic? What was it that people bought into and believed would work?

You probably already know, but here’s the simplified SmartZip theory:

a)People move on average every 7 years – so people that have been in the same mortgage for over 7 years are more likely to move.

b)Target those people with a marketing tool that works: Direct Mail (postcards)

c) Buy a yacht

This theory works as a theory. In reality, the average time people have a mortgage does not causes them to move. No one has a calendar reminder to start moving after 6 years and 11 months. It is what it is – an average. We now know that it’s life events that cause people to move. At Revaluate we like to say “People Move, Houses Don’t”.

Life Events

The life events that cause people to move, we call the Data D’s: Diamonds, Diapers, Death, Divorce, Diplomas, the Daily Grind, Dumpsters (would you like more examples?) If you’ve been in the business, you know these life events are they key to finding movers. This is the key difference between Revaluate and SmartZip – That and we don’t sell postcards / direct mail.

But the core idea of targeting likely movers with postcards remains strong – it even grew in demand over the last two years and we wanted to find a reputable company to deliver SmartZip like direct mail service with Revaluate powered insight.

A New Hope
Enter Corefact. Ian Coggins, Director of Sales at Revaluate, hosted Sierra Stewart of Corefact in his regular AMA segment “Product Pairing” to show all the integrations you can use to grow your business!

You can watch Ian’s “Product Pairing” in the Revaluate Success Group as a segment of our weekly Ask Me Anything (AMA) Facebook Live below.

Corefact is a full-service marketing services provider for the real estate and mortgage industries, most notably known for their direct mail marketing. (Postcards) Their goal is to help listing agents market and brand themselves to generate more business. 

In today’s age, consumers receive dozens or hundreds of emails per day. How many pieces of mail do you think they get? Direct mail gives professionals the opportunity to not get lost in the digital flurry of an inbox.

Content
Corefact provides what real estate professionals always need – content! But, when it comes down to effective marketing campaigns, the total cost can add up, especially direct mailers. Corefact isn’t in the business of data, but we are! That’s why utilizing your Revaluate data to farm is much more cost-efficient than sending mailers to everyone.  Revaluate segments and reduces the audience so you can invest in those people most likely to move.

Custom audiences (like your Very Likely Movers list) deserve custom messaging too. Corefact lets their customers customize the copy and photos to make sure you’re delivering the right message to the right audience. 

Revaluate data is only as valuable as the systems and campaigns it is used for. Thats why we work hard to find integrations that make our data work best for you. Partnering with companies like Corefact is just one way to utilize our data to connect with who is going to move next.

If you’d like to learn more about partnerships, ping us at http://revaluate.com/talk