By Craig Rowe
Real estate agents incorrectly buy into the misconception that when it comes to email lists, there is money in numbers. However, email lists are one of the rare instances in marketing when less is usually more.
Managing an exhaustive email list becomes a much greater challenge than its supposed payoff implies. The more records you have to manage, the more often someone changes a job, maybe a spouse, and yes, an address, without you knowing. This is how effective content ends up unread in a folder next to reverse mortgage pleas and car warranty calls-to-action.
As more time passes and lists suffer from lack of upkeep, decay sets in. Emotional and technical. Clients lose connection, subject lines lack resonance, and ISP (internet service providers) raise red flags.
Database decay can be reversed by looking back at the fundamentals that helped you build it.
List Building Is Where Email Marketing Takes Root
Email lists can be the root of a real estate agent’s marketing, the healthy, hardpacked base from which your brand flourishes. This requires ensuring they start organically, with names of people who choose to hear from you, not those sold to you by a third-party vendor. Many great lists start with friends, family, preferred vendors, and previous industry colleagues.
Use shareable content and referral initiatives to grow lists. Thank people for reading and consider individual, positive callouts of clients with every transaction (get permission, of course.) Prove to your list that their attention and business matter.
Your list requires care and upkeep to prevent decay. Start right away and be proactive. After every send, spend time with the metrics. What links engaged with recipients? Can you spot trends in non-responsive accounts?
If so, have a second, personal email ready to go requesting confirmation of interest. This can be done with an automation once a list expands beyond a few hundred. However, whatever you can do personally, do. Always give recipients an easy way out because the longer an unresponsive message festers in an inbox, the sooner your email foundation begins to rot.
Segmentation Better Defines How Sends Provide Value
Segmenting an email list is one of the more strategic ways to ensure a list remains healthy, recipients read intentional content, and you end up with more defined leads. And in real estate, it’s easy.
A segment is a group within a list showing common interests or behaviors. Individuals reacting to townhome listings become part of that segment. The same goes for luxury buyers, apartment investors, or urban condo buyers.
Not every agent is widely diversified by category, so consider price ranges as a barrier. Use email collection forms to ask subscribers about budgets and prequalification.
You can monitor click-throughs on listing promotions within your newsletter, too. Stories or highlights about a new city restaurant can help you understand who lives nearby what neighborhoods. The same would go for updates about parks or community gatherings in distinct locations. Every reaction and—non-reaction—is data point that can better define list segments.
In Email Marketing, Content Is King
Lastly, care about your content. Don’t succumb to easy trends about home organization and maintenance tips. Instead, share your expertise about buying, selling, and market trends. Be honest. The more transparent you are in your communications, the more your audience will learn they can depend on you for fresh information and direct insight.
Newsletter don’t have to overly designed. Don’t spend hours on layout every week or rely on bland templates. Create a presentation that reflects you who you want your audience to see, and deliver on that promise every time.
