If you’re a real estate agent who isn’t harnessing the power of the email drip, you’re missing out on a simple and incredibly effective marketing strategy.
Gone are the days of the laborious email newsletter. Your clientele is continually changing, and you need to design emails that meet your clients’ specific needs. Email newsletters have their place and can still be used to convey news and information, but your newsletters aren’t likely to convert into sales. Business Insider Magazine reports that 50% of today’s consumers prefer to receive marketing news and offers via email rather than by mailers or another method. Email is a great way to connect with potential clients, and personalized drip campaigns are the most effective way to garner new business.
If you’re looking to give potential buyers and sellers a nudge in the right direction, it’s time to try an email drip campaign.
What is an email drip campaign?
Unlike newsletters or blanket emails that go out to your entire contacts list at the same time, email drip campaigns are messages designed to target an individual client at a specific time based on his or her online behaviors. When a client subscribes to your email list, for instance, they’ll receive a “welcome” email, followed up by the “here are listings in your area” email a few days later.
Drip campaigns continue to send emails based on a client’s interactions with the messages. If they’re not opening the emails you send, the system may automatically switch to a different set of emails, or maybe they’ll stop sending altogether, placing that client in a separate “reconnect at a later date” category.
Then again, if a subscriber opens an email about local listings, that may generate the email drip campaign to send similar articles at pre-determined intervals.
The best part? It’s all done automatically, freeing up your valuable time. You only need to type each email once into your chosen management system – and then let the software do its magic. You might remember our blog about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and top-notch CRM software systems. CRM programs play an integral role in any successful email marketing strategy. You’ll want to decide on a CRM program and email management software before starting your drip campaign.
How to start your email drip campaign.
Before beginning, think about your client’s needs. What information will be helpful? How often can you send emails before you become overbearing and end up in the junk folder? Once you understand how you can best serve your client, it’s time to determine your goal. What action are you hoping your client will take after reading these emails? Will they make the leap and buy or sell a home? Will they refer you to a friend or review your services online? Will they sign up for a course or service through your website? Determining your goal will guide the direction you’ll take with your email campaign.
Make them want to read your emails.
Now that you’ve established both your goals and the needs of your client, it’s time to create some high-quality emails. Make sure what you’re sending is well-written, free of errors, and gets straight to the point. Your clients receive dozens if not hundreds of emails every day – yours should be worth reading. If it’s not, your reader will banish it to the trash folder, along with all future emails.
Keep your messages short and to the point, including a call to action in each email. This way, your reader sees the purpose of the email and is more likely to take action. Client engagement leads to more emails, which eventually leads to more sales for you.
Evaluate and readjust.
Once your drip campaign is up and running, you’ll want to monitor your interactions closely via your chosen CRM platform. As with any marketing campaign, email drips might take some work to get right. If you do not see the interactions you want, maybe it’s time to change your calls to action, increase or decrease the frequency of emails, or change your tone. Keep adjusting your strategy until you see desired results.
Email marketing can be a useful and highly profitable approach. In today’s world of automatically generated emails, it’s never been easier for real estate agents to reach potential clients. Have you had success with drip campaigns? Drop us a line and let us know what worked (and didn’t work) for you!
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