On the 338th edition of the Mail Right Show, Jonathan Denwood and Robert Newman discuss common email marketing mistakes that realtors must avoid. Robert Newman, the CEO of Inbound REM, an inbound marketing firm, has spent the last decade in the real estate SEO business. On the other hand, Jonathan Denwood is the founder and CEO of Mail Right, a platform that combines a variety of digital tools into a streamlined, user-friendly package. Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to everyone, and this episode explains how real estate agents can properly utilize email as a marketing tool.
Subject Line
One of the most critical strategies to attract people to open your email is to include an appealing subject line. Make sure your subject line is engaging but not click-bait. If you promise something or if your subject line has nothing to do with your content, the person may feel misled or overpromised, and they may unsubscribe from your list.
Does your email offer any real value?
Value is a very complicated and subjective measure. When people talk about value, they tend to think of the length of the content, as the more information on an email, the more value it provides. Furthermore, there are many variables when it comes to email offering value. When sending the email, do you send the correct email to the right prospects at the right time? Also, it’s not only about sending emails. Some prefer a story-based email, a long-form value-based email, and others prefer to skim-read or read something in depth; thus, they prefer if it is broken up into sections so they can choose a section with value for them. Remember that the people you send your email to have various reading preferences.
Over-reliance on email marketing automation
The relevance of marketing automation is like any other optimization technique that a real estate company can use to reach out to customers regularly. Overuse of email automation devalues the value of real-world conversations, which is what marketing is all about. Marketing aims to be in front of the right person at the right moment with something of value to offer. It’s also tied to segmentation, breaking up a list of people so you can reach out to them.
Make emails mobile-friendly
Email is being dominated by people on cellphones. Thus, your email must be “mobile-friendly.” Almost 80% of people will view their email on their smartphones. If you’re writing your content, say a market report with extra attachments on a browser-based system, consider viewing the email on your mobile phone before sending it out.
Send the correct email at the right time
Timing and sending the correct type of email at the right time is essential. Delivering the email when the person is in their inbox is becoming necessary to get a click regardless of how good your email is and the subject line. Understand your list as well. You could have a cold list, a warm list, and a hot list where you send a monthly email, and either the user will click on emails they want to interact with or give you a high-level engagement.
Email Segmentation
You can use services and send certain email content to various lists if you divide your list by engagement. Brokers who distribute monthly newsletters can analyze and categorize their lists. For instance, you can have a hot list or high-personal touch, which are people that read your newsletter and go to your website and load something- it’s an indication that they’re looking at the market, buying or selling, and you can send them a video or call them. Or have a mid-level touch list if they open the monthly newsletter over 2–3 months. You can also have different email content for buyers, sellers, prospects, and customers.
Email segmentation may sound complicated, but the strategy that you reach out to them isn’t. One or two messages you’ve personally written to your customers yearly are more than enough as a real estate agent. Even if you’re doing it annually, one email or handcrafted note to people who have done business with you lets them know you’re thinking about them and have something to say.
