Okay, so bear with us. You’ve probably just read ‘email marketing’ and you’re tempted to click away, but don’t.
We’re here to reassure you that email marketing isn’t slipping away, it’s a marketing tool that shouldn’t be ignored, and can work wonders for the property industry, it’s just a case of know exactly how to do that, and what is going to work best for you.
In this blog, we’re going to talk you through some of the amazing benefits of email marketing for estate agents, as well as what it’s good to be aware of.
You might (hopefully) have a very different outlook at the end of this blog, then you did at the start. But, we’ll see…
Why Should You Use It?
Contrary to popular belief, email is still one of the best forms of marketing, due to the low cost, the fact it’s extremely direct and it works because it’s based on permission; the people on your email list have given you the go-ahead to send them such emails.
However, I think email marketing has been slightly abused and underused by some estate agents. However, once you know what you’re doing it’s a straightforward marketing channel, with huge benefits.
Particularly for independent estate agents, there are a couple of reasons why email marketing can help your business…
Has someone unplugged the phone?: No, it’s just not ringing like it used to. How many calls are you getting a week from sellers with a house with potential, wanting got book a valuation? If your answer is less than three, this blog should help you out.
You just can’t afford the full whack of marketing: Once upon a time, the only bill you had to worry about was the paper advertising invoice. But, now, your marketing list is a little more extensive than that. With Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, software, social media, web development and content creation, it’s hard to know the best way to invest in order to get the best return.
The world is evolving: With more estate agents using digital marketing, more competition, of course, means higher costs to you and lower returns. This is why, instead of doing what they’re doing but better, stop being a sheep and just do things completely differently.
Email marketing is relatively cheap. While there is plenty of free email marketing service providers you can choose from, even the paid levels start at less than £20 a month. Unlike social media, email marketing is direct and gets straight to the recipient (provided spam folders are not there with their arms wide open).
Your email list also yours and only yours, and no one else can take that from you. Whereas, if you were to use Facebook then it’s there for anyone to take. Additionally, when you do send an email, the results tend to be pretty quick.
Email marketing is permission-based, so as long as you’ve correctly set up your database, your email recipients are happy to hear from you. The recipients are therefore going to recognise or know who you are, which is going to increase your open rates, and response quality and quantity.
Be Aware of the Easy Mistakes
Don’t get carried away, though. There are some mistakes that can easily be made once you get into email marketing, and you’re beginning to look for ways to do it all in once.
I’ve pulled out the main nine that I think could catch you out:
- Sending out newsletters
- No clear objective
- Going straight in for the sell
- Broadcasting all of your listings
- Spamming people
- No segmenting
- Including an overload of images
- Starting and stopping
- A lack of testing
If your estate agent company is emailing out newsletters each month, then you need to make sure you’re not all ‘me, me, me’. Your recipients are going to be interested in what’s in it for them.
Think about the volume of most of our email inboxes, I know before I dedicated a whole day to unsubscribing from almost everything, that I was receiving up to 100 emails every day, if not more.
Think about your own experiences (take your business hat off), what makes you click on an email and delete others. Is seeing the word ‘newsletter’ a complete red flag, or would you click on it just to be curious? It’s interesting, isn’t it?
What Are Ideal Emails to send as an Estate Agent?
As we can all confirm, our attention spans are getting well and truly shorter, and with only a few seconds to put in a little creative juice to make every email count!
I’ve mustered up a couple of email campaigns for you to try out:
- Listings, listings, listings: They need to be relevant and have the correct location of your recipients’ area of interest.
- Housing marketing updates: For buyer leads, include house prices, mortgage rates and property sales.
For the sellers you’re communicating with, focus more on the latest intel on homes sold recently in that area. - Resource lists:
– An ebook about buying/selling a home
– Newsletters with the latest market advice and tips
– Tips for sellers to persuade potential buyers
– Advice for homeowners like home maintenance, how to save water, keep energy costs low, and even decorating ideas. - Get the blogs going: Your blog is your voice and your reputation. Don’t make your leads work to get the latest news from you, send it to them. Share quotes and ideas from post posts through social media to create a buzz!
- Testimonials: There’s nothing more enticing than reading about someone else’s experiences. Case studies from happy clients are perfect for great email content.
Don’t Give up on It!
It’s probably the oldest form of digital communication but is still a fine marketing trick that can be applied for many industries including estate agents. Those who fully embrace and value their email subscribers are going to see the rewards down the line, as long as you manage to convince those individuals to want to move or invest.
