These days, you have to be everything: the real estate marketer, the closer, the home seller, the buyer. Your clients expect you to have take the time to learn the ins and outs of digital media, and when they click on the link to your professional page, get ready to wow them. The whole thing can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of just being told what to do, not why to do it, we’re here to give you a hand and a little insight to answer that “why”. You shouldn’t have to guess what you should include in your emails, and that’s not an effective strategy anyway. Think of your campaigns as cycles. Each will have a beginning, middle and end: from introduction to providing an incentive to work with you, from making various touch points throughout your relationship to delivering on promos and following up, we’ve simplified your email marketing plan. In addition, we’ll share with you the elements each of your emails absolutely needs to contain.
The campaign cycle
Many different email vendors already have a tool for planning; a couple of our favorites are MailChimp and iContact.Very easy to use and a built-in strategy to apply nearly instantly. The double-opt-in method is the best to employ because it guarantees that your client is definitely on-board selecting your business, and hasn’t been accidentally added to your mailing list–which is very off-putting! Here’s a good initial cycle to adapt:
- Confirmation email with a link to an incentive (an additional click might take them to a list of tips for selling/buying a home, secret tips for staging, etc.)
- Incentive email and thank you
- Depending on how many times you plan on sending out your emails, this next email–the first email– truly begins your cycle (mailed one day, or one week after your client’s initial sign-up–that’s up to you!)
- Second email in the cycle: are you inviting your client to an open house, for an in-office chat. Whatever you do…provide value.
- And so on…
The nuts and bolts of content
- A great (smiling) head shot
- Contact information, including a link to your website
- Your social links–and make sure they’re clickable so your clients can head to your awesome social media sites
- The option to share the email with their network
- A value-added link, housed on your website, and that when clicked, takes them to your site. Example: “Check out my new real estate blog!”
- The option to opt out of your list at any time, and if they leave you, a “Sorry to see you go” email and the question asked “Are you sure you want to go? ”
