Once you have an online lead generation strategy, you need a way to turn those leads into paying clients. Fortunately, email marketing is one of the easiest ways to keep leads engaged and nurture relationships with new and existing prospects. As of 2019, more than 59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI.
Email marketing can seem intimidating if you don’t consider yourself a tech person, but the availability of easy-to-use customer relationship management systems (CRMs) has made email marketing more tolerable for everyday users.
Instead of creating and replying to individual emails, systematizing your email marketing strategy allows you to craft emails ahead of time that automatically get sent out to leads based on things like where they are in the buying cycle and how they found you. Taking advantage of email marketing means that you stay top of mind with leads even if you’re out in the field setting appointments and dealing with closes.
Let’s take a look at a few ways that you can get the most out of email marketing:
Create a lead magnet that’s worth the information exchange
A simple “Subscribe to My Newsletter” box on your website isn’t going to cut it if you want to seriously grow your email subscriber list in 2019. Most people get more emails in a day than they care to read all week, and as a result, people have become much more selective with whom they’re sharing their email addresses.
That’s why having a lead magnet that creates a sense of urgency for a prospect to truly want to give you their personal information is necessary if your list seems stagnant or you don’t know where to start.
Great real estate lead magnets include things like free data reports on your area, a list of local resources like where to find the best movers or home renovators, or cheat sheets for buying or selling in your area. Another commonly-used lead magnet is the free home valuation tool that some IDX integrations offer as a widget.
If you consistently blog on your website, you can also use your analytics to tell you what prospects are looking for. Which posts get a lot of traffic? You can flesh out your most popular blog post into a quick PDF guide or even share just half of the post and require an email address to unlock the rest of the content.
Choose a CRM
Sifting through the deluge of CRM options available can make you wish that real estate agents were still handing out tri-fold flyers and door knocking to promote themselves like they did back in the day, but the truth is that when you find the right CRM you end up eliminating a lot of the legwork it takes to nurture leads.
Like the name suggests, CRMs help you manage your customer relationships, and some help you do everything from sending your list valuable content to keeping track of your scheduled appointments and contracts. Systematizing this part of your business will keep you from feeling spread too thin and having to memorize who needs what and when. These days, there’s a CRM that fits almost any budget and any set of unique requirements.
Take advantage of autoresponders to quickly respond to third-party leads
Your leads coming from third-party platforms like Zillow or Realtor.com tend to have a shorter buying cycle than your leads coming from your IDX registrations. Third-party leads tend to be more ready to take action than your self-generated leads and they’re likely going to move forward with the first agent who contacts them. Naturally, that agent should be you.
Having an email that automatically gets sent out to leads who sign up through these third parties can improve your chances of getting to them first. You still need to make your welcome email sound personalized, and you can do that by keeping it conversational and speaking directly to the needs your leads have by having a few different autoresponders that get sent to them based on the action they took on the third-party site to end up in your lead bank.
Shorten your sales cycle with list segmentation and custom drip campaigns
Within your CRM, you should be able to organize leads based on where they are in the buying cycle and send them need-specific emails when the time is right. There’s no bigger turn off than getting an email that sounds like it was sent out to hundreds of other people.
When it comes to real estate email marketing, your email communication is one of the ways that people get to know you before they decide to work with you. They want to know that you’ll make them a priority, and nothing says you’re just a number to me like a generic email.
Segmentation
Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. List segmentation means identifying the different categories of leads you have so that you can send emails based on a lead’s specific interests or demographics.
For example, you might have a segment of your list that falls into the category of “affluent millennials”, or “seniors looking for a second home”. When you send your emails accordingly, you’re able to speak directly to the needs of each type of buyer or seller, which means you’ll likely increase your chances of striking a real connection with them and transforming those leads into paying clients.
Custom drip campaigns
When you’ve identified your segments, you can create a series of emails that go out to each type of lead when the time is right based on the actions they’re taking (or not taking) on your website or in response to your initial emails.
An example might be a series of 5-7 follow-up emails that get sent to a lead who used your free home valuation tool but didn’t schedule an appointment with you, or someone who you spoke to on the phone but can’t get a hold of anymore. These email campaigns only get “dripped” out when they’re triggered by certain actions.
Keep leads and past clients engaged with valuable information
The urge to simply use your email list to blast your “Just Listed” properties might be strong, but email communication is truly about building and nurturing relationships and not just about having a captive audience for your sales pitch.
Just like you would on your blog, send your list emails with valuable information about the buying and selling processes and fun community news. Realistically, a lot of people will be on your email list for a while before they make a decision to move forward.
To make sure you’re not overdoing self-promotion, stick to the 80/20 rule: 80% of your email content should be informative, and only 20% should be about selling your listings and services.
If you’re the agent whose emails are always helpful or always fun to read, you’re going to be top of mind when it’s time to buy or sell.
To get more help managing your leads, contact us to set up a consultation with our website and lead management experts.
