E-Mail Marketing: A Guide For New Real Estate Agents

The modern real estate market necessitates finding new ways to get more done with less effort. While many think social media is the best way to stay connected to your target audience, it relies on constantly changing algorithms and the whims of software engineers. It’s true that social media has a place in your strategy; however, email marketing consistently has one of the best returns for converting your audience. Here’s what every new real estate agent needs to know about email marketing.

What is Email Marketing

Email marketing is simply the act of sending emails to an audience that has requested information from you or your company. The goal, much like social media marketing, is to keep your brand top of mind for people with whom you’ve already connected.

The difference is the exposure and response rates. With social media, you may get exposure to somewhere between 6% and about 30% of your audience. If you’re using a personal profile, you might get to about the 30% mark. However, if you’re using a business page, you’ll be less than 10% exposure. With a well-executed email marketing program, the average open rate is about 22%, far above what most people get on social media. In addition, social media posts typically only get about a 0.07% click-through rate. Email marketing, on the other hand, has a click-through of about 2.5%.

Is Email Marketing Still Effective?

You might hear some people suggest that email marketing is dead, so don’t waste your time on it. However, as of 2020, email marketing has an average return of $42 for every $1 spent for the real estate industry.

Choosing Your Right Platform

To get started with email marketing, you’ll need to select a platform. Do not attempt to send mass emails through your normal email account if you want to get your emails delivered and opened.

When first getting started, you want to select a platform that has an easy-to-use interface and that makes it easy for people to sign up and unsubscribe. This saves you from getting bogged down with mindless data entry.

Some of the best options for new agents include:

• MailChimp
• Aweber
• Constant Contact
• Flowdesk
• Mad Mimi
• MailerLite

Developing Your List

Next, you have to develop your email list with people who have asked to receive your emails. You can easily get people to sign-up at networking events or open houses. However, you can more rapidly build your email list by offering something of value to your audience in exchange for their email address. For instance, if your target market is real estate investors, offer a free guide for getting started or going further in real estate investing.

Sending the Right Messages

While you’re building your list, be sure to develop the right segments. For instance, you might have a list of people who just want to know the trends of the local real estate market as they look to either buy or sell a personal residence. You might have a separate list of people who are interested in owning multiple properties for investing.

Once you have those groups, send messages specific to the desires of those groups. Those messages can be in any number of forms, including regular newsletters, market updates, or tips for capitalizing on their investment. The more specific you can get to the needs of your ideal market, the more valuable they will find your emails, and the higher your open rate will become.

Don’t subscribe to the notion that email marketing is a waste of time. Plan to use it, like the best real estate brokerages do, to continue expanding your business. Join eXp Realty and become part of the Most Referred Experts team.