Making the Most of Email Marketing as a Real Estate Professional

by Victor Green
3 mins read

Saying that it pays to have a strong connection with your clients as a real estate agent is like saying that the sun can get a little bright from time to time if you look directly at it. Understatements and analogies aside, the reality of the situation is clear – without a way to stay in touch your clientele keeping your business on track becomes near impossible.The only problem with all of this is that dated practices, like neighborhood fliers and phonebook listings, simply don’t cut it anymore. If you want to be at the forefront of the real estate discussion in your region, it’s time to get your email marketing operations into high gear and off the ground in a hurry. With this in mind, let’s spend a few minutes covering some key tactics that are sure to set your agency’s campaign apart in the inbox.

Understand the Impact of Email Operations

Perhaps the best place to kick off the discussion is with a quick overview of the importance of being active via email marketing. This way, you won’t face any lingering questions regarding the necessity of the email approach. As the National Association of Realtors explains in its field guide review, an astounding 92 percent of home buyers currently look to digital sources as part of the purchasing process. Additionally, 76 percent end up acquiring a home after learning about it online, with 43 percent using this method of learning about homes as the gateway to their first purchase. To put it bluntly, if you were on the fence about reaching out with a strong digital presence, you’re letting countless sales slip through the cracks by sitting on the sidelines.

Quality Comes First

Now that we’ve established how vital being active online is, let’s talk about what goes into maximizing your position within the inbox and capturing even more leads. According to Kathryn Royster of Inman, succeeding on this front starts with quality content. While taking the easy way out and spamming your contact list with a bunch of messages that are low on quality and high on filler might seem fine at first, the truth of the matter is that the inbox is a highly competitive place, so this substandard approach won’t get you very far. A good rule of thumb that can keep you on track with this ideal is for each message to contain at least 80 percent useful content, such as information regarding homes and purchasing best practices, and no more than 20 percent promotional material regarding your brand or agency.

Being Visual Goes a Long Way

Additionally, Royster also suggests getting visual with your emails. Listing off housing information alone in the body of a message can come off dry or boring, so why not incorporate a few images or other striking visuals as a means of enhancing your content? If possible, keep your centerpiece image or video “above the fold” – the area of the message that shows up in the preview pane of Outlook, Gmail, etc. Doing this ensures that your high impact visual content doesn’t get lost in the fray and stands out as viewers browse through their new and saved messages.

Avoid the “Get Rich Quick” Approach

On the subject of accelerating the growth of your mailing list, Vinny La Barbera of the Real Estate Marketing Blog recommends forgoing the “get rich quick” options. As enticing as it may be to purchase a premade list of addresses or other similar product, the odds of these accounts being both active and relevant are rather marginal. That’s not to say that no such product exists or wouldn’t be able to offer up some sort of value to your agency, just that you’re much better off building your reach and influence in the inbox via organic, proven methods, like the ones listed above.

Play by the Rules

Of course, none of these tips regarding how you connect with customers matter if you’re caught breaking the stringent rules and regulations that govern the world of email marketing. Naturally, what constitutes an offense can vary from region to region, but digging into the CASL here in Canada or any other relevant laws and legislation, can go a long way toward protecting your organization. Considering that massive fines, penalties, and the ill-will of your prospective audience is at stake, taking the time to become well-versed on these matters – or working with someone who knows how to navigate these rulings – could mean the difference between succeeding in the inbox or watching your brand’s dreams go up in smoke.

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