Using Lead Gen Plays in PropertyRadar
What Are Plays?
A Play is an outbound marketing system built around a specific strategy. Each Play combines three core components:
The Right Prospects – A clearly defined audience of properties and owners.
The Right Message – Messaging and templates you can brand to your business.
The Right Channel – Recommended channels like direct mail, email, phone, and online ads.
Plays quickly answer three important questions:
Audience: Who should I target?
Message: What should I say?
Outreach: How do I reach them effectively?
Why Plays Matter
Using Plays helps you:
Move from “gathering” to “hunting” and “farming”
Hunting Plays: find motivated owners who may need you today (e.g., preforeclosure, tax delinquent, divorce).
Farming Plays: stay in front of high-potential owners for tomorrow (e.g., equity owners, absentee owners, portfolio owners).
Control your pipeline – You choose which properties and owners to pursue and when to reach out, instead of waiting on referrals or inbound leads.
Be efficient – Focus time and spend on highly targeted lists instead of broad, unfocused marketing.
Scale what works – Once you dial in a Play, you can automate it to run continuously so new opportunities are worked the moment they appear.
When to Use Plays
Use Plays when you want to:
Launch a new outbound campaign fast
You don’t want to start from a blank screen or guess at criteria, messaging, and channels.
Target a specific scenario
Distress (preforeclosure, tax delinquent, bankruptcy, divorce, liens, code enforcement).
Ownership patterns (absentee owners, equity owners, multiple owners, portfolio owners).
Stand up both short-term and long-term strategies
Pair a Hunting Play for deals now with a Farming Play to build a future pipeline in the same market.
Align multi-channel marketing
You plan to use direct mail, email, phone, and online ads together and want a coherent strategy behind them.
Note - make sure to viewing a sample list to ensure the criteria will support your custom plan. For example, if your plan involves phone outreach, ensure your owners have phone numbers.
How Plays Work
At a high level, Plays follow this model:
Choose a Play
Pick a strategy that matches your goal (e.g., find deeply discounted deals, grow a landlord client list, nurture high-equity owners).
Review + Send
Use the pre-defined audience and messaging templates as a starting point.
Launch outreach through direct mail, email, phone, online ads, or a mix.
Automate + Close
Turn the Play into a monitored, automated system.
As new properties or owners meet the criteria, your marketing executes automatically via direct mail, email, and integrations, so your pipeline stays fresh without constant manual work.
Note: Running Direct Mail plays directly from PropertyRadar.com is currently available for many distress-related Real Estate Investor use cases.
Check PropertyRadar.com for updates as more Plays are published.
Step-by-Step: Running a Play
Set Up Your Brand Once
It's recommended that you set up your Brand Center prior to running a Play.
If you haven't set up your Brand Center, you can still move forward in the workflow below. Just fill in your details as you go.
Need help getting you brand dialed in? Use our AI Brand Builder.
1. Open the Plays Library
Go to propertyradar.com.
From the top navigation, open Lead Gen Plays and choose the industry that best matches you, such as Real Estate Investors.
Scroll to The Plays section to see available strategies (Hunting, Farming, and Other Plays).
Each Play card links to a detailed strategy page that includes guidance, example audiences, and templates (for example, Preforeclosures includes an example list and you can optionally view templates).
2. Pick a Play That Fits Your Goal
Examples below are for investors and agents:
Hunting Plays (deals today)
Preforeclosures / Pre-Auction Foreclosures / Foreclosure Auctions / Bank Owned (REO) – Highly motivated sellers and distressed assets.
Tax Delinquent, Bankruptcy, Divorce, Probate, Liens, Code Enforcement, Evictions, Vacant Properties – Owners under financial or life-event pressure.
Farming Plays (more tomorrow)
Equity Owners / Absentee Owners / Multiple Owners / Portfolio Owners – Owners with equity and long-term potential.
Buy Box, Opportunity Zones, No Money Down – Tight targeting aligned with your investment criteria.
Other Plays
Trustee Sale Investors, Flippers, Cash Buyers, Import Your Own List, FSBO – Investor segments and custom-list workflows.
Click into the Play that best matches your objective (for example, “Tax Delinquent” if you want distressed sellers with unpaid property taxes).
3. Review the Strategy & Examples
On the Play’s detail page, you’ll typically see:
Why this Play works – The core insight (e.g., distress, equity, or timing) behind the strategy.
The right audience – A description of the owners and properties you should target.
Messaging themes & CTAs – What to emphasize so your outreach feels relevant and helpful.
Example lists and templates – “Open Example List” buttons and ready-to-use creative for direct mail, email, and online campaigns.
Use this page as your playbook before you jump into the application. You’ll execute the same strategy inside PropertyRadar when no "Run Play Now" button exists.
4. (Optional - Make a List) Open the Example List in PropertyRadar
On the Play page, click Open Example List.
Log in to PropertyRadar if prompted.
The criteria and geography associated with the Play will open inside Discover, where you will see a sample of the actual leads and opportunities that match your Play criteria.
This gives you a working starting point instead of a blank criteria screen.
Important: If you need to further customize the criteria to develop your specific audience at this step, you can proceed by building a list and leveraging Connect features.
If you're using this method, it's recommended you use the Play (or related Playbook) as your guide to execute your targeted outbound marketing strategy.
5. Launch Outreach
When you're ready, select "Run This Play Now" - after doing so, you will be able to customize your Direct Mail design, variables, and more.
Direct Mail - Customize your design
The Right Channels
Use Connect from your List or Play in My Lists to explore additional channels beyond Direct Mail.
Direct Mail
Who it’s best for: High-impact outreach for both hunting and farming Plays (e.g., Preforeclosure, Absentee Owners, Equity Owners).
How to send:
Go to My Lists (→ choose your list or play→ Connect → Direct Mail -
Or, update your design right from the Plays workflow when available.
Use marketplace templates (often tied to Plays) or your own designs, with variables and Brand Center assets.
Email Marketing
Who it’s best for: Owners with valid emails; follow-up to direct mail or online ads; longer nurturing.
How to send:
From your list, choose Connect → Email Marketing.
Draft from scratch, use a template, or use Radar AI to generate cold-email copy aligned with your Play.
Respect CAN-SPAM with signatures and unsubscribe links (handled in Email Settings).
Phone Marketing (Calls & Texts)
Who it’s best for: Urgent hunting Plays (preforeclosure, tax delinquent, vacants, code enforcement, etc.).
How to use:
Unlock phone numbers for your list.
Use WAVV Dialer for calling:
From My Lists → Connect → Make Calls, or via phone icons.
Use Send Text Messages for compliant SMS campaigns with WAVV Messenger.
Remember to apply DNC filters and manage your own DNC list to stay compliant.
Online Ads
Who it’s best for: Farming Plays and multi-channel reinforcement (e.g., Equity Owners, Homeownership Anniversary, Strategic Geofarm).
How to send:
From your list, use Connect → Online Ads to have PropertyRadar’s team build and launch hyperlocal, data-driven ad campaigns based on your list and brand assets.
6. Automate the Play
Turn your Play into a “set it and grow” system:
From My Lists, open your list and click Automations.
Enable New matches and/or Status changes as triggers (for example, when a new property becomes tax delinquent or moves into preforeclosure).
Add Email Marketing and/or Direct Mail actions so new matches receive your campaign automatically.
Over time, this keeps your Hunting and Farming Plays running continuously while you focus on conversations and closings.
7. Measure Performance and Refine
Use built-in stats and activities to optimize each Play:
Email Marketing Statistics – See scheduled, emailed, opened, clicked, replied, bounced, and opted-out counts per order and in aggregate.
Direct Mail Statistics – Track mailed, in-transit, delivered, and undeliverable postcards, plus reason codes like “vacant” or “insufficient address.”
Activities in Property & Owner Profiles – View a timeline of mailings, emails, and calls/texts for each contact.
Use these insights to:
Tighten your audience criteria.
Refine subject lines and creative.
Decide which channels to double down on for each Play.
Tips & Best Practices
Start with One Hunting + One Farming Play
Pick a Hunting Play (e.g., Preforeclosure or Tax Delinquent) to create near-term opportunity.
Pair it with a Farming Play (e.g., Absentee Owners, Equity Owners, Opportunity Zones) in the same geography so you’re building future business at the same time.
Match Channel to Motivation
High-stress, time-sensitive situations (preforeclosure, tax delinquent, bankruptcy, code enforcement, eviction):
Combine phone, text, and direct mail for fast, personal contact.
Longer-horizon scenarios (equity owners, absentee owners, portfolio owners):
Lead with direct mail and online ads, then use email and phone for warm follow-up.
Follow Compliance and “Good Neighbor” Guidelines
Phone & SMS: Respect national and personal DNC preferences; manage your own DNC list; understand call recording laws.
Email: Always include honest sender info, a clear signature, and an unsubscribe link (handled in Email Marketing Settings).
Overall: Market like your best customer lives next door, and be transparent, empathetic, and quick to honor opt-outs.
Standardize Branding Once
Invest the time to complete Brand Center (or run Brand Builder) before you start launching multiple Plays.
Once your logo, colors, fonts, and voice are set, all your Plays share one professional, consistent identity across direct mail, email, and ads.
FAQs
Do I have to use the example criteria exactly as provided?
No. Plays are starting points, not rigid rules.
Use the example list and criteria as a template, then adjust:
Geography (markets you actually work).
Property types and price ranges.
Ownership length, equity, and any additional filters you care about.
Note- if you are running a play directly from PropertyRadar.com, you will NOT be able to modify the criteria, outside of geographic and list size designation.
To modify criteria, just view the example list, and modify. Run the same strategy through the related list.
Can I combine multiple Plays into one list?
Yes. Many investors and agents:
Run separate lists per Play for clean reporting and automations.
Or merge/export lists when they want a single outreach campaign that targets multiple strategies (for example, combining Tax Delinquent and Preforeclosure for a “highly distressed” campaign).
Just be aware that different Plays may deserve different messaging and offers.
How are Plays different from building my own criteria?
You can absolutely build lists from scratch using Discover. Plays simply:
Encode battle-tested strategies (audience + message + channel).
Provide example lists and templates so you don’t have to reinvent everything.
Help you get to a live campaign faster and with more confidence.
Do Plays cost extra?
Plays themselves are part of how PropertyRadar helps you use the platform effectively.
You still pay for:
Your subscription plan and any included/excess usage (exports, imports, unlocks, etc.).
Direct mail, email, phone, texting, and online ad spend as described in those feature docs and your pricing plan.
Check the PropertyRadar pricing page and feature articles for current specifics.
How do Plays work with Automations?
Most Plays work best as monitored lists with Automations:
Monitor for new matches (e.g., new tax delinquents, new foreclosures, new high-equity owners).
Automatically trigger Email Marketing or Direct Mail when new properties enter the list.
That way, the Play continues working for you even when you’re busy with deals.
Are Plays only for real estate investors?
No.
While running a play directly from PropertyRadar.com currently only exists for Investors, and although the Real Estate Investors Playbook highlights many investor-oriented Plays, there are parallel Play libraries for:
Residential agents (Likely to Sell, Expired Listings, Divorce, Strategic Geofarm, Bankruptcy).
Commercial agents, mortgage pros, and home & property services, each with Plays tuned to their business model.
The underlying structure of having.a defined audience + message + outreach, works across industries, only the strategy details change.
Use Plays as the “front door” into these tools: start with a strategy, then connect the right channels and automations to turn that strategy into a repeatable system.