Email is practically the go-to communication nowadays. It’s an easy way to share info.
But that also means people get a lot of emails. In the thick of the Inbox, with address blockers and other such settings, real estate email drip campaigns can get routed to the Junk box, marked as spam or, worst case, get deleted – sometimes accidentally.
So, how can you make sure your contacts actually get the email you send? Are you making your drip campaign work for you?
For instance, say a lead visits your landing page and fills in the contact form or otherwise subscribes to one of your lists. Their subscription triggers an automatic email welcoming them to your newsletter, updates, property listings – you can really create a drip campaign for just about anything.
What are Real Estate Email Drip Campaigns?
Marketing and the endless quest for prospects has evolved – so has the email drip campaign. These marketing strategies are the perfect way to send information out to a specific group without having to manually send emails individually. The group or segment of your list that gets each specific email depends on the lead’s action, or trigger. You can create real estate email drip campaigns that are five emails long or longer.
For example, let’s say the first trigger is subscribing to your contact list. Maybe you have an eBook for first time homebuyers and you’re offering it freely to those who sign up. Once signed up, the person receives the first “drip” in the email waterfall. Each subsequent action the individual takes – or doesn’t take – triggers the next email, and so on.
Another example is illustrated when an individual signs up at your site so they can view a certain property’s details. Their signup triggers a “Thank You” or “Welcome” email that offers a few more properties or overall neighborhoods you think they might be interested in – when they click on a certain neighborhood or property, they are segmented once again, adding the prospect to the appropriate email drip campaign providing information related to the neighborhood or property.
The magic of real estate email drip campaigns is that building a relationship is automatic, allowing you to focus on the leads that show the most promise.
6 Real Estate Email Drip Campaign Best Practices
As simple as drip campaigns sound, there is a right way and a wrong way to implement them. These best practices can help you get more out of your marketing.
1) Be clear about your goals
When you approach any campaign, it’s crucial to have clear goals. What do you hope to accomplish with each campaign? More traffic? Highlight a particular neighborhood?
When you know where you want your campaign to lead, creating the map is that much easier.
2) Obtain permission
Perhaps the most important aspect of any drip campaign is that you have permission from the recipient to send the emails. It’s pretty simple, actually. People are more apt to open and interact with an email containing information they’ve requested as opposed to those from organizations sending random info.
The best ways to obtain this permission are contact forms, landing pages, or SMS text-to-join. If you have contacts in your personal business email, consider sending them a short email to point them to your sign-up page. Interaction and engagement will have better results because the recipient wants your information.
3) Craft the perfect message
Several sites offer templates for real estate email drip campaigns. Real estate customer relationship management programs also often offer templates for setting up your messages. The best open rates are achieved when the message is personalized to the recipient. Don’t like something in the template? Maybe it doesn’t quite reflect your business image. Thankfully, most templates are editable.
4) Simplify the design
With template usage, however, sometimes the design can detract from your message. Lots of bold colors and fancy fonts are perfect if you’re sending out a newsletter or highlighting a property – but building relationships begs for simplicity. Your email should look as if it’s been written on agency letterhead, your real estate logo at the top, and your personal signature. Including your photo also adds a personal touch.
5) Choose your frequency
How often do you want to send your message? This answer is different depending on which email you’re sending in a series. For instance, if a prospect just signed up on your landing page, they should receive their first email from you immediately thanking them for signing up. If they download a listings brochure, send a follow-up “thank you” note. When a lead replies to your email, depending on the email contents, consider responding personally.
That said, if they’ve signed up for a weekly newsletter, be sure there aren’t additional emails sent to the prospect unless they specifically request more information.
Set aside time to analyze the results of your campaigns to see if timing and other aspects are producing the desired response rates. You can always tweak your drip campaign if necessary.
6) Evaluate your mailing lists occasionally
While a prospect may begin the cycle in one segment, such as “buyer”, people and their circumstances often change. Their desire to buy, or sell in some cases, changes with those circumstances. It’s important to evaluate your lists from time to time to see if they need updating. You may need to switch up the campaigns that certain recipients are sent. Thankfully, ProspectNow updates properties every day, prioritizing those that most likely will sell soon. This can help you craft the perfect message and set the perfect time to send it.
Wrap Up
Communicating with your leads is the best way to turn them into clients. Striking the right balance between valuable information and timely arrival is paramount. ProspectNow has been helping real estate agents just like you since 2008. Need help crafting the right message or targeting the right audience? Reach out and one of our professionals can help.