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Archive for Real Estate Email

5 Emails to Send to Every New Lead

5 Emails to Send to Leads

Email marketing is a vital part of your overall marketing mix, which should include print marketing, email, your website, and social media.

However, many Realtors® who get a lead’s contact information suddenly feel stuck. What do you say? How do you introduce yourself and get the lead interested in continuing to communicate with you?

If you’ve ever felt a little tongue-tied when it comes to email communication, this blog post is for you. Here are five emails you should send to every new lead.

The Welcome Email

The very first thing that you should send when you get a new potential client is a welcome email. This should be sent after the email that delivers the free download, if that’s how the lead signed up.

The welcome email should let new leads know that you’re happy they signed up and give them some background on the services you offer. You should also set expectations about how often they will hear from you, and what you like to talk about.

Most importantly, keep the welcome email – and all other communication – focused on the leads and their needs. You can share some of your accomplishments, but only as a way of showing how you can serve others!

An Education Series (3 Emails)

The next step is to keep the leads’ interest warm by nurturing them. You do this by educating them about real estate in a way that’s helpful. You can choose to do three emails about different topics, or have each message build on the previous one.

You can send out useful seasonal tips, talk about how to stage a house for sale, or discuss common life issues like how to make space in your home for a returning adult child or an elderly parent.

Of course, selling your home and buying a new one should be an option you mention, but it shouldn’t be the only solution. Share other genuinely helpful tips as well.

Space these out over time, but not too far. You don’t want someone to forget about you in between emails! Ideally, you told them what to expect in the welcome email and you can stick to that schedule.

An Invitation to Buy

As real estate agents, our “invitation to buy” isn’t as straightforward as someone selling a product. However, we do have a lot of ways to ask for a sale as a real estate agent.

If you’ve only sent 3 – 4 communications to someone, your first invitation to buy should be small. You’ve probably heard the analogy that marketing is like dating – you don’t want to ask someone to marry you on the first date!

Instead, think about what’s appropriate now that they know you a little better and have a feel for what you do. Can you invite them to join a webinar? Can you ask them to attend an in-person event at your office with other leads?

Think about what small step forward someone would be willing to take that would build the level of commitment they have toward you and move them toward accepting a listing presentation or other service.

Keep the Communication Going!

Congratulations! You’ve sent your first five emails. Now is not the time to stop, however! It takes a lot of “touches,” or communication from you, before someone knows, likes, and trusts you enough to engage in a major transaction.

If your lead didn’t respond to your invitation to buy, circle back and offer more educational pieces until they become comfortable. If they did respond, consider nurturing them with more information that’s focused on buying and selling homes, building up to asking for a meeting or presentation.

As with all marketing, consistency is key! Don’t feel tongue-tied when it comes to email. These simple tips will get the ball rolling, and then you can keep up your momentum from there.

 

Looking to follow-up your email campaign with farming postcards? We have a wide variety to choose from, including all-new designs. Check out our selection today!

Maximize Your Marketing List With Segmentation

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Marketing segmentation

Marketing is a multi-faceted job. You have to be clear about what you do, who it benefits, and who you’d love to work with. Then, you need to figure out how to reach those people.

You have a lot of options with outreach. You can use social media, print mail, email, and much more. At PrinterBees, we recommend that you use a mix of these marketing approaches.

However, your message can never be one-size-fits-all. Instead, you have to tailor your marketing to your audience. And the best way to do that is through segmentation.

What is List Segmentation?

List segmentation is simply a fancy way to say “put people in groups.”

You separate folks on your list into categories, based on what they need. Then, you personalize your marketing to that need when you reach out to them.

Here are some examples of segments:

You won’t have all of these segments in your list. The goal is to determine who you have, and then put them in groups so that you can effectively reach out. 

Segmenting a Buyers List

Many people start in real estate with buyers. Helping people find their dream home is the motivation that causes a lot of people to fall in love with this industry.

If you have a buyers list – either one that you purchased or one that you put together through list-building efforts – you’ll need to put it in categories before it’s useful.

Some ways to divide up your buyers include:

  • Home purchase status – first, second, third, etc.
  • Families vs. no families
  • Pets vs. no pets
  • Age of kids – baby, elementary, middle school, high school, empty nest
  • Income range

You can do so much with your marketing when you segment. For instance, let’s say you decide to divide up your list based on the age of the kids in the home. This allows you to have very specific marketing messages.

For instance, you can send out helpful tips about first-day-of-school photos to elementary parents. You can discuss college prep with high school parents. You can talk about helping kids adjust to peer pressure when you email middle school families.

This helpful information – targeted to their exact situation – will help you be the most relevant thing in their mailbox. It will give them respect for you, and help them decide to keep reading what you send. And eventually, when they want to buy a home, they’ll be likely to call you!

How to Segment a Sellers List

What about sellers? Are there different categories within your selling list?

Absolutely! In fact, many of the same categories we discussed for buyers will work for sellers as well. You can decide if you want buyers and sellers together or separate. For instance, do you want to talk to middle school families as a group, both buying and selling? Or do you want to send individual tips to each category?

A big segment of sellers that you may want to focus on are empty nesters. Many of these will be looking to sell their home and downsize into something smaller, now that kids are away. Consider sending specific messages to these folks to build your connection with them.

What About Previous Clients and Partners?

I strongly recommend that previous clients have their own category. Because they’ve worked with you before, you want to mention that regularly and build upon it.

Those marketing messages don’t make sense to prospects who haven’t yet bought or sold with you!

In the same vein, it’s a good idea to have a specific category for partners. Even if there aren’t a lot of folks in that group, they deserve attention and love as well. Those relationships can be very profitable when it comes to referrals.

So. Much. Time!

Does all of this seem overwhelming? I get it. I really do. However, it’s really just a matter of putting a little thought into how you can focus your marketing list.

If you want to automate your email marketing and follow-up, it can save you an enormous amount of time and energy. I personally improved my marketing ROI 4000% (not a typo!) simply by using email marketing automation.

I love and use Infusionsoft. It’s great if your company has grown and your list is large. If you’re still growing, many people recommend ConvertKit instead.

Either way, get a system that works for you! You DO have time to send personalized marketing, when you have the right tools available.

How do you segment your marketing list? Share in the comments!

Email Marketing That Sells

Email marketing that sells

So far we’ve walked through what it takes to get an email opened, and then to get someone to actually read it.

Great! But there’s one final step – getting the person to do what you want them to do. Pick up the phone and call you, reply to your email, or set up a consultation.

Once someone is reading your email, how do you get them to actually buy? The secret is the Ladder of Persuasion.

What’s Persuasive in Email Marketing?

To get someone to do something they didn’t plan on doing this morning, you have to redirect them. You have to engage them and persuade them to do something new.

The good news is that it’s not hard to be persuasive. With some basic psychology, you can make a difference in someone’s day, get them to pick up the phone, and make the sale.

There are four steps on the Ladder of Persuasion, from bottom to top. The bottom is least persuasive, and the top is most compelling.

Bottom Rung: Features

The base level of persuasion is features. This is the nuts and bolts of what someone gets when they work with you. If you say, “I’ll list your home on the MLS, hold two open houses, and network with my contacts to find a buyer for your home,” those are features.

In describing a home to a buyer, “3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 2500 square feet,” are features.

It’s important for a prospect to know what you plan to do, and for buyers to know what they’re looking at. But this type of email marketing doesn’t set you apart from other Realtors® or listings, so it’s not very likely to create action by itself.

Third Rung: Benefits

Benefits are what many people focus on in marketing. The benefits are what the client can expect to enjoy as a result of the features. For instance, “Your home on the MLS will reach thousands of others, two open houses will bring in buyers and buyer’s agents, and my network can connect you with hundreds of additional possible purchasers.”

For a buyer, “This home is close to where you work, in a great school district, and has plenty of space for your growing family,” are benefits.

OK. You’re starting to make a dent. In fact, this is as far as most email marketing ever goes. It’s somewhat effective. But you can do better.

Second Rung: Outcomes

What will happen to the buyer or seller if they take the offer you’re making? This is where you start to become really persuasive. Folks love outcomes. It’s the ultimate “What’s in it for me?”

As a listing agent, outcomes include, “You’ll sell your home quickly and for top dollar. You’ll be able to make the investment/retirement/move you’ve dreamed of within the next few months.”

For a buyer, think about, “With this lovely home you’ll have everything you need. Your family will be able to gather for breakfast in this big kitchen. You and your spouse will be able to spend more time together with a shorter commute. Your kids will have great friends and a huge advantage in education from the top-rated school.”

Outcomes are where you paint a picture for the client. Help them understand why the features and benefits really matter to them.

The Top Level of Persuasion: Transformation

I’ll be honest with you, most real estate agents never even think about this level of persuasion. That’s why it will be so incredibly powerful when you seize it for your own email marketing.

Transformation is all about who the prospect can become when they work with you. Does that sound too heady? Too extreme of a claim? Remember, you’re not making direct claims. You’re painting a picture of what life can be like.

For a seller, “You’ll be the envy of everyone you know when your house sells so quickly for such a great price. Your life will be less stressful because the money for your next adventure will be readily available. You’ll be able to move forward with confidence into the next stage of your life.”

For a buyer, “You’ll be able to be the parents you’ve always wanted to be for your kids. You’ll be home at a great time each night because of the short commute. Your kids will be eager to tell you who they met at school and what they learned. You’ll have peace because there’s enough space for everyone. Your family life will be smooth and enjoyable.”

Do you see the difference? All of a sudden there’s a smile on the prospect’s face as they fill in the details of their ideal life. They want that life. They’ve been working hard for it for a long time. And if working with you will get it for them, they are ready to go!

What’s Your Persuasion Level?

Where are you on this ladder with your email marketing? What about your other marketing materials? This process works just as well with farming postcards, handwritten notes, and other forms of outreach.

If you’re going to invest time in marketing, it should be effective. What are you waiting for? Bump your marketing up the ladder today!

Real Estate Email Marketing: Get Them Read

Real estate email marketing

Once you have folks opening your real estate email marketing, you’re home free, right? You’re getting your message across?

Unfortunately not. Once folks open an email, you need them to read it. 

The current attention span is 8 seconds, famously less than a goldfish. This means that if you want to connect with a prospect or make a sale, you need to hook the reader’s attention and keep it.

Here are some strategies that make a difference.

Real Estate Email Marketing Should Entertain

With so short of an attention span, it’s vital to hook into a reader’s emotions more than their mind. In other words, marketing emails should entertain more than they teach. 

Want to share how to prepare a home for listing? Start off by telling a humorous story of how it can all go wrong. Draw out a few teachable points, and wrap it up.

Voila!

Email doesn’t have to be long – and unless you already have a deep relationship with your readers, they probably shouldn’t be.

Make it fun, drop a small lesson at the end that adds value, and wrap it up. That’s all!

Provide Value to Your Target Audience

If you’re writing to an audience of renters, you don’t want to talk about how renovations add value to a home. Renters can’t renovate, so you’re completely missing the mark.

At the same time, you shouldn’t talk to folks who may be looking to upgrade into a larger home about how to downsize in time for retirement. They aren’t at that stage, so they won’t be interested. 

It’s essential that the message you’re sharing be relevant and valuable to your audience. That’s why segmenting your email list can be so vital. You want to make sure that the real estate email marketing you send is well-targeted!

As you entertain and teach in order to build rapport and trust, make sure the topics are valuable and relevant to your readers!

Include a Call to Action

This is the mistake that we see most often in all forms of marketing. Whether it’s a real estate email marketing or a farming postcard, you need to let the prospect know what to do next.

It doesn’t have to be “Call me for a consultation,” although it can be. Other great calls to action (CTAs) include:

  • Visit my website to see current listings
  • Visit my social media page and leave a comment about this topic
  • If you found this valuable, please forward it to three of your friends and family!
  • We love referrals – please let us know if you have a coworker or friend who’s planning a move
  • Enter the drawing today by visiting our website

As you can see, there are a lot of “next actions” that are not a direct sale. Of course, you should include direct sales too! But not every time. It’s good to mix it up.

Ready to Create an Effective Email?

Writing an effective email campaign can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, you can repurpose your engaging information from postcard marketing, flyers, and more. Repetition is a good thing in marketing, and it saves you a lot of work!

What’s the most effective email you’ve gotten? Share in the comments!

Four Ways to Get Your Marketing Emails Opened

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Get marketing emails opened

The email inbox is more cluttered than ever, which means that competition for attention is fierce. It’s vital that email marketing be part of an overall marketing mix that includes direct mail, in-person marketing, social media, and email.

But as you consider how to make your email marketing effective, you probably wonder what it takes to get noticed. How do you get your email opened, read, and responded to?

Let’s start with step one: four strategies that will help your marketing emails opened.

Who Are Marketing Emails From?

Studies show again and again that people open emails from people they know. Not companies they know. Not organizations they’ve heard of. But PEOPLE they know.

As a result, you need to make sure you personalize your marketing. As you set up your email service provider (ESP), be sure the “from” email is your name. Something like “name@company.com” is the most professional and recognizable.

Of course, if you don’t have an email service provider, you should get one right away. Using a general email, like Gmail, for marketing is a good way to get your account shut down. You can start with anything from ConvertKit if your list is small to Infusionsoft for more targeted and robust options.

Email Marketing Must Be Consistent

How often should you send marketing emails?

The good news is it doesn’t matter – as long as you are consistent!

If you tell your recipients to expect email once a month, you should email once a month. Or, set the expectation of once a week, and then follow through.

You will get more unsubscribes if you are inconsistent than if you meet expectations. Frequency isn’t the problem. You simply need to be there when folks expect you – no more, no less.

Use a Compelling Headline

You want the headline to create interest and give a taste of what’s inside. There are a variety of ways to create engaging headlines, and they are similar to what you’d use in blog writing.

Consider asking a question, or making a compelling statement. You can also make a comparison, especially one that makes folks scratch their heads. All of these types of headlines will help your marketing emails get opened.

Many email service providers, including Infusionsoft, allow you to use a subheader in addition to the subject line. Use this to give a taste of what’s inside and continue to pique your readers’ interest.

Segment Your List for Higher Relevance

As a Realtor®, you have different types of people on your email list. You have current clients, former clients, prospects, and professional partners.

They definitely don’t all need the same email content.

Instead, divide your list into groups. Current and former clients can receive helpful information and be invited to leave reviews and give referrals. Prospects are invited to work with you. And your partners can be emailed occasionally with information about new services you offer, or to thank them for their help.

When you segment your list, emails are far more likely to be opened because they are more relevant. When you send emails your readers want to see, you’ll get a lot more engagement and better results as well!

How is Your Email Marketing Doing?

So how are you doing with email marketing? Are you following these four tips? If not, what can you change today?

As we mentioned earlier, competition in the email box is fierce. Many times it’s easier to stand out via the postal mailbox instead. Don’t forget to stock up on farming postcards, flyers, and other real estate marketing materials!

Getting Started in Real Estate Marketing: Email Marketing

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Real Estate Email Marketing

Email marketing is another great weapon in your real estate marketing toolkit. It’s a crowded space, but with the right approach, you can stand out.

When your emails are consistently opened and read, it can do wonders for your business! Read on to discover how to maximize the impact of email in your marketing.

You Need a CRM

A CRM is email software that allows you to send bulk emails and manage your email campaigns. Yes, you can send an email to multiple folks from your regular email account. But most email providers have rules against sending marketing email from a normal email account.

Breaking the rules can get your entire account shut down, which can be devastating for your business.

Instead, choose an email service provider like ConvertKit to get started. Once you have a larger list and need more sophisticated email marketing, you can move up to a service like Infusionsoft.

By using the right software, you get better marketing capabilities and stay within the rules of email providers.

Build Your List

Just like cold calling, you can buy a list of email addresses and send them marketing information. However, that’s not likely to give you the best results.

Instead, build your list by attracting folks who are interested in what you’re doing and what you have to say. Here are some ideas:

  • Create a valuable freebie that you give away when folks sign up, like a list of family-friendly activities for each season.
  • Collect emails as part of a contest or raffle at a local event or fundraiser
  • Invite people to sign up for your email list as you build your social media following
  • Provide a high-quality monthly email newsletter filled with information about your town, target neighborhood, real estate market, and more
  • Include your email address on postcards, business cards, and other marketing materials

Implement Your Strategy

As with all marketing, consistency, and predictability is key. You may be concerned that people will unsubscribe if you email too often. The truth is, if you set up an expectation and stick to it, you’ll do well no matter how often you email.

You’ll want to create a schedule so that you can mix informational emails with sales outreaches. Here’s one idea:

  • Week 1: Helpful seasonal tip for homeowners, invitation to contact me
  • Week 2: Customer testimonial, invitation to contact me
  • Week 3: Inspirational content, invitation to refer friends/family to me
  • Week 4: Highlight a current listing (pure sales), invitation to contact me for showing

You’re sending an email every week, but only one of them is entirely sales. The rest have engaging content with a simple call-to-action inviting the reader to do more.

When you create a list of people who are excited about what you have to say, and email them consistently with high-quality information, you’ll get great returns from your email marketing.

When you mix email marketing with direct mail, social media, and more, you’ll be unstoppable!

What questions do you have about email marketing? Ask us in the comments!

Is Your Email Address Selling You Short?

Email Addresses for Realtors®

Do you know that your email address can help you – or hurt you? We have so many choices regarding how and where to create email accounts, but when you are in business you have to follow some key strategies. Here are some ways to make sure your email address is an asset, and not a liability.

Don’t Use the Wrong @ Ending

Is your email address still based on your email provider? If you are using an @hotmail.com, @msn.com, @aol.com (yes, there are some), @yahoo.com, @comcast.net, or anything along that line, change it today!

As a professional, you want your email address to be @yourcompany.com. That’s it. Anything else makes you look like an amateur, and that’s definitely not the image you want when helping people with the biggest purchase of their lives!

In addition, if you use @gmail.com or @yahoo.com, changes made to the law in 2016 mean that few of your emails will be delivered to customers. You need a proper email service provider for marketing.

Do Use an Email Service Provider

Most personal email accounts, including those you get from your internet provider, include anti-marketing provisions in the fine print. In plain English, this means that you cannot use a personal account to send bulk email.

If you don’t already have an email service provider like MailChimp, Aweber, Infusionsoft, or a similar system, it’s essential to set that up right away. We use Infusionsoft and love it – we highly recommend it to anyone who needs highly customizable email marketing!

Do Use a Professional Email Name

Fortunately, most people know that using some form of their real name is the best way to create a business email address. However, there are those who are still using silly nicknames, childhood jokes, misspellings, or other inappropriate email addresses.

It’s also important not to use spammy sounding email addresses, like AwesomeRealtor@company.com or WeSellHomes@company.net. Keep it simple and make it easy for your recipients to know who they are receiving an email from. Use your name as the first portion of your email address.

Finally, don’t include anyone else in your email address. RonandSally@provider.com should be avoided, even for personal use. Since Realtors® market to their circle of influence regularly, even personal email accounts should be professional.

The Right Email Address Helps Boost Your Marketing

Your email address can make the difference between someone working with you and not. If you seem sloppy, amateur, or lazy due to your email address, you’ll lose business and struggle to communicate professionally.

However, the right email address can build your brand. If people see your company’s name each time they interact with you, you are creating awareness and name recognition. When it comes time to choose a real estate agent or give a referral, they won’t have to struggle to remember your real name or the agency you work for. It will be right there, in your email address!

Does your email address or overall marketing need a refresh? Whether you need new business cards or other print marketing, we are here for you. Contact Printerbees today!

Real Estate Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email marketing is an effective way to reach out to busy prospects, especially when you combine email marketing with farming, print marketing, and social media outreach.

However, like all marketing approaches, there are good ways to go about email marketing and terrible ways to go about it.

Here are some best practices to follow to make sure that your list welcomes your email marketing and it’s effective for your business.

Get Permission to Add Someone to Your List

Certain rules should be followed when you use email marketing. Using an email service provider (ESP) instead of your personal email address is one. Getting permission to send emails to your prospects is another.

Recently I had someone add me to their email list without asking permission. They found my email address, probably through Printerbees, and decided that was all they needed.

That’s far from the case. You need to make sure that people specifically opt-in and give you permission to contact them. You can gain this approval by offering a free report, a contest, and more. However you do it, it’s important to make sure people choose to receive information from you.

If you add people to your list without their permission, you can receive complaints and your email provider may block you from sending and receiving emails. More than that, it doesn’t do you any good to send information to someone who doesn’t want to hear from you! It certainly won’t make them more likely to do business with you.

Email Frequency is Less Important Than Consistency

When Realtors® start working with email marketing, many are concerned about how often they should email their prospects. You want to be front-of-mind, but you don’t want to be annoying.

What you may be surprised to know is that how often you email is far less important than setting an expectation and sticking to it. Consistent daily emails will get fewer complaints and unsubscribes than inconsistent weekly emails.

Of course, each email needs to provide high-quality, useful, engaging information. If you don’t have enough to say every day, focus on providing weekly or twice-monthly emails loaded with value.

Mix Helpful Real Estate News with Sales

When you produce marketing emails, it’s vital to strike a balance between sales and providing useful information.

If you only provide valuable information but never tell prospects to contact you, you won’t gain clients from your efforts. On the other hand, if you’re nothing but a self-promoter, people won’t be interested in reading your emails for very long.

You might consider setting up a schedule that varies your content while also letting you know what you’re going to send. This way you don’t have to come up with ideas from scratch each time. Here is a sample for once-a-week email marketing:

  • Week 1: Helpful seasonal tip for homeowners, invitation to contact me
  • Week 2: Customer testimonial, invitation to contact me
  • Week 3: Inspirational content, invitation to refer friends/family to me
  • Week 4: Highlight a current listing (pure sales), invitation to contact me for showing

As you can see, every email includes an invitation to be in touch with you if they are looking to buy or sell a home. However, only one of the four is purely a sales email. This gives you a good mix of value and promotion.

Email marketing is an important part of your overall marketing mix. When you use email in addition to farming postcards, just listed and just sold postcards, door knocking, and more, you’ll increase your chances to reach prospects.

Just be sure to do your email marketing correctly, so your readers welcome it!

What to Send: Real Estate Email Marketing

Real Estate Email Marketing - What to Send

You’ve probably heard that you need to have an email list to effectively market your real estate business. However, if you’re like many Realtors®, you have very little idea what to actually send out.

Fortunately, we can help. There are three kinds of emails that can help create engagement with your email list, building your relationship with each lead and helping them be receptive to your offers.

Consider putting at least one of these email types out to your list on a regular basis, and see how much your open rates and engagement improve!

Newsletters

Newsletters can get a bad rap because sometimes they’re thrown together and don’t have much in the way of quality content. Make sure your newsletter breaks the stereotype.

Consider sharing the following valuable information in your e-newsletter:

  • Latest posts from your blog
  • A valuable informative paragraph or article if you don’t have a blog
  • Information about new events, businesses, or developments in your target neighborhood
  • One or two useful or informative articles from another website, linked
  • Information about new listings or recent sales you’ve achieved
  • Customer testimonials
  • Pictures from your target neighborhood, or pictures of beautiful homes in the area
  • Something just for fun – a puzzle or comic

One great resource for finding information about your target neighborhood is a locally-focused website, for instance, one maintained by the city or a local association. They often announce the opening of new businesses or local events.

Digests

A digest is less comprehensive than a newsletter and requires less original content. Usually, a digest is full of quick-hit, easy-to-digest information. You might consider:

  • Links to a local neighborhood association’s announcement or news
  • Link to updated neighborhood assessment information
  • Links to your own blog posts
  • Links to your listings
  • NAR news reports or updates

Promotional Emails

You want to communicate relevant information, but you also want to promote what you do. You can do this in a way that doesn’t come across as salesy or pushy. Here are some ideas for promotional emails:

  • Regular market updates and recent listings
  • Offering a report about the market conditions in your target neighborhood, with an invitation to call you for a free assessment of their home
  • Running contests that create awareness about your business, create referrals, and drive traffic to social media and your website

Of course, when doing promotions be sure that you’re following the rules of your brokerage and the state real estate association.

What Will You Do?

These three types of emails will give you a good start on how to reach out to your list via email. As with all marketing, being consistent is vital. So what will you do? Share in the comments – I’d love to know!

If you’re ready to update your print marketing to complement your email outreach, we’re here to help. Check out our marketing postcards, business cards, and more!

Real Estate Emails That Make an Impact!

Real Estate Emails That Have an Impact

The other day I got an email from someone who has a very professional website. Their business is all about constructing a professional brand image online. I love their website!

There was one problem. The email was dismal.

It was full of grammatical errors. It was too short. It lacked a point. It gave a sloppy call-to-action that directed me to a blog post that wasn’t even connected to the company.

It did NOT make me want to work with that company.

Is that the impact that your emails have? Do they match up to your professionalism, or do they fall short?

You can create real estate emails that make a real impact and build your business. For every $1 in marketing, email marketing can return $44.25! If you’re not seeing that, consider making these changes.

Use the Right “From” Address

One of the most important aspects of an email is often overlooked – what “from” address shows when you email your list?

If it’s not a personal email that seems to be coming directly from you, you have a major problem. In fact, the “from” address of an email matters more than the subject line. And the subject line is vital!

People aren’t interested in irrelevant email, and an email that comes from a company (info@company.com, for instance) screams advertising. And an unknown Gmail address seems like spam. Instead, make sure that your name is involved. That way, your recipient knows exactly who is contacting them.

An effective “from” address has these characteristics:

  • Comes from someone the contact knows and trusts (you, not your company)
  • Helps readers find your messages if they get misrouted or put in the junk folder
  • Stands out in a sea of other email addresses

Be Personal and Engaging

Using your customer’s name – without overusing it, of course – is essential to making a connection with your reader. The subject line might say, “-Name-, thought you might enjoy this article” or something equally personal.

In addition, an email should always begin with the prospect’s name. That way, everyone feels like they are hearing directly from you even if the email is automated.

Once you have the personalization, be engaging! Don’t send boring, shop-talk style emails. No one wants to read that. Instead, focus on the following types of email:

  • Q&A: Answer common questions that your prospects have
  • Story-Based: Tell a story about something you encountered and then draw a short applicable lesson from it. The story should be fun – and don’t underestimate how much people want to know the real you!
  • Testimonial: Use a review or testimonial to share a great experience that a client had with you. It helps others want to work with you as well. Be sure to end with “This is why I love what I do”, along with a gentle call-to-action. No need to be too salesy.
  • Drive to a Blog Post. If you have a blog, consider having one email a month that directs people to the blog. That will get readers to your site so they can see your listings and other materials.
  • Having local events can be a great way to share information and get leads. Use your email list to promote any local appreciation or workshop events that you hold.

Be Entertaining

One mistake many Realtors® – and other professionals – make with email marketing is that they think their subscribers want to learn more information.

The truth is, everyone has far too much information. No one wants to learn more! Instead, you need to be as entertaining as you can be. Try to be 80% entertaining and 20% educating. That way, you are getting a point across, but you’re doing it in a really fun way.

Don’t feel like you have to be a professional comedian to entertain. All of us have silly, funny, or even embarrassing things happen in our daily lives that we can share. Those things are often great stories! By sharing a story about yourself, your family, or your business, you can be authentic while also selling your business.

Be Consistent

Are you worried about how often you email? Do you wonder if you email too much? Let me tell you a secret – there’s no magic number. The trick is to be consistent.

If you email once a month – sometimes – but are inconsistent, you’ll get complaints and unsubscribes every time you send an email.

On the other hand, if you set the expectation that you’ll email every week or once a month, and you actually do, you’ll get more engagement, fewer complaints, and fewer drop-offs. It’s not about how often you email. It’s about setting an expectation and being consistent.

Consider varying your emails to make them easier to craft and more predictable for readers. For instance, you could email weekly using a cycle like this:

  • Week 1: Just for Fun
  • Week 2: Testimonial and Ask for Referrals
  • Week 3: Story and Ask for Business
  • Week 4: Drive to a Blog Post

This way, you never wonder what to say next. Your readers will also know what to expect. The consistency will work wonders.

Email marketing is very effective. It just has to be done correctly. It’s also best done in conjunction with regular postcard and mailing campaigns. If you’re ready for your next batch of Just Listed or Just Sold postcards, let us help! We have tons of templates to choose from.

How do you use email marketing? Share in the comments!