Over my 10 years in the title industry helping real estate agents grow their business I have seen a lot of marketing tools come and GO. Postcards, flyers, billboards, pop bye’s, personal notes, real estate books, car magnets, bus and taxi ads, sports schedules, wrapped Hummers, branded pens and pads, park bench ads, shopping cart ads, door to door, cold calls, banner ads, and on and on and on. Real estate agents that want to build their real estate business are willing to give just about anything a shot. They are looking for the magic bullet. Find out what works and shed the rest. With all the focus on social media, many are overlooking one of the most basic tools to grow their business and it doesn’t even require signing up for the latest social network. What is this magic bullet? Email. List building. List Marketing.
If you have been in the real estate business for any significant amount of time you already have a list, only you likely call it a database. 100 or 1000 you have a list of consumers to target. I talk to many real estate agents that tell me email does not work, could it be they are marketing to their list in the wrong way, with the wrong messages, with the wrong value proposition? Let’s say you have a list of 100 people, most people know 100 people so this number should not be a stretch to imagine. Do you email them? If so, how often? What do you send to them? Is it of value? Recipes are not necessarily of value. The key to email marketing is to send targeted messages to consumers that would find a benefit in your message. Many real estate agents I know market everyone in their database with the same messages. This is a no – no. Your list should be segmented into different audiences that receive different messages that apply directly to them.
Email Marketing For Real Estate
The first thing you should do is divide or segment your database into lists. Not buyers, sellers and investors but buyers [city] sellers [city] investors [city]. Buyers [Property type] Investors [property type]. As you meet new clients you can build additional lists. You may have 10 or even 20 lists, isn’t that great!
What should you send real estate consumers?
What they asked for! Pretty easy huh. Not an email sports schedule or the latest article from Inman or NAR but exactly what they have expressed interest in. Guess what you should send to a buyer interested in Chandler Bank Owned Homes? Chandler Bank Owned Homes. Title your email with “your weekly list of Chandler Bank Owned Homes”. If you know their first name, use it. “Stephen, Here Is Your Weekly List Of Chandler Bank Owned Homes”.
How Often Should You Send Email?
Send email on the same day or days every week. Get your list to expect a communication from you on that day and don’t deviate from it. This is not like a monthly printed newsletter that arrives 3 times a year like the typical real estate agent, this is targeted and meant to condition your list to receive it. Make your messages of value to that part of your list. If you have a list of consumers interested in buying a short sale send them a weekly list of short sales in the area they have expressed interest in. If it’s Scottsdale, ONLY send a list of Scottsdale Short Sales For Sale. If it’s New Builds in San Diego, only send a list of New Builds In San Diego etc. This is what they want so give it to them. Stop sending them worthless junk that they didn’t ask for and start providing the value they have requested. You will find your response rates go up significantly when the information you are sending relates directly to that part of your list.
On a separate day of the week, you can send a list of your “best buys” in a given area. Name it after you - “Stephen’s Best Buys Mesa, Scottsdale, Atlanta, New York” etc. Compile a list of what you feel is a “best buy” in a given area and most importantly – WHY. This is where you draw upon your real estate experience to talk about what is going on in your LOCAL market, think hyper local. Not what is going on in Arizona, what is going on in Mesa or even a subdivision in Mesa. You can talk about previous sales prices, cost per sq. foot, recent solds, etc. What ever you do, make your list targeted to the people that have requested it.
Optional: On a 3rd day of the week, if you choose to, pick one home that you feel is the best deal and talk about it on video. Take your flip or Kodak Zi8 and go look for the best possible deal you can find. Film the home inside and out adding commentary about why this deal is so great. Don’t forget your call to action “for more information or to see 1234 E Main Street Today, fill out the form below, call me at [phone number] email me at [email address], this deal won’t last long.”
Email marketing For REALTORS: Words Of Wisdom
- An analysis of over 9 Billion, that’s NINE BILLION email messages sent through MailChimp revealed that over 80% of emails are read on a mobile device. Make sure your emails are readable or compatible on mobile devices. Stay away from FLASH as iPhones and iPads cannot read it. Try not to send HTML emails or Hypertext Markup Language. HTML Is the markup language for web pages that provides a way to create structured documents for text like headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links. Not everyone has a smart phone [hard to believe huh], messages sent in HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language do not look or function the same way on every mobile device. Given the choice, send your emails as text.
- Marketing messages should always be based upon VALUE. “Search The MLS!” is not of value. Many consumers have absolutely NO CLUE what MLS or Multiple Listing Service means. MLS is a soccer league to many. Giving your list the ability to search for homes online is a HUGE BENEFIT when you are one of the few that can offer it. What real estate agent cannot offer that? The real estate agent sitting next to you can provide the same info as you. The ability to search for homes is not necessarily of value, what is though is your EXPERT take on your local housing market and HOW it impacts (good or bad) your list.
- Try not to send email messages “just to “stay in touch”. Send the value that pertains to your list or don’t send it at all. Include a strong call to action. What do you want the consumer to do? That’s why you are sending it right-to get someone to DO something. The best way to do this is to include “links” in your emails to specific pages on your website. Mail Chimp discovered the more links in an email, the higher the Click Through Rate was. The more links in an email, the more chances you have to PERSUADE and ENGAGE. Email links should take your list to a specific page on your website that provides the information that was promised in the email. DO NOT HAVE THEM LAND ON THE FRONT OF YOUR WEBSITE! Most consumers will not search your website for the information you promised, they want it easily available.
- Send 2 to 3 emails per week. Unsubscribe rates are higher when you only send 1 email per month or even less. Why? Possibly because your list could have forgotten who you are. Top Of Mind Remember?
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