Best Practices for Realtor® Marketing

Email as a core to a multi-channel marketing strategy

There are many channels in which Realtors® market themselves today: online advertising, print advertising, web sites, seminars, print mailings, and email.

We all know that marketing is a game of leading people to what you have to offer. Each of the above strategies can gain you important points with your target market. The savvy marketer quickly learns to develop a multi-channel approach to generate the greatest return on their investment. Let's face it, there is no magic bullet. There is no one right answer. The miracle of effective marketing comes from those who learn the value of blending all their efforts toward one strategic goal: Top Of Mind awareness (TOMA).

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Will Microsoft's Outlook 2007 ruin our email designs?

Some of you may have heard about the new Windows operating system called Vista. One program you get when you upgrade to Vista is the new email application Outlook 2007. This program will render HTML-based emails very differently from the old Outlook. Herein lies our concern.

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Why do You Have a Web Site?

This week we'll talk about the role your web site plays in your email marketing efforts.

I remember back in 1995 (the equivalent of decades ago in web-years) trying to sell my then nascent web development abilities at trade shows. Back then I remember telling everybody, "One day every company in this auditorium will have their own web site!" And I remember how they laughed at me.

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Online vs. Offline Campaigns

Most Realtors practice some degree of offline marketing. Often this consists of postcard campaigns, print newsletters, flyers, etc. This issue we'll look at online and offline marketing campaigns. We'll look at some similarities, some differences, and some common pitfalls that are well worth avoiding.

What's In Common - Online & Offline:

1) Both strategies are about relationship-building. For the large majority of your intended recipients, you won't know whether they're in the home-buying market or not. And on any given day, it's a good bet that only a small percentage of them will be...

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Email Strategies Compared

The Pros and Cons for Various Email Strategies

There's been a lot of buzz lately about various types of email campaigns for Realtors®. But not all campaigns are created equally. In this issue of our "BP" we'll outline the positives and negatives of each of the various types of email campaigns available to Realtors®.

We'll cover:

• Drip Campaigns
• Email Postcards
• Email Stationery
• The Email Newsletter / Monthly Campaign

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The Power of Landing Pages

If your email campaign is the shiny wrapper, then the landing page is the candy bar.

In your email marketing efforts, you clearly want to have all the elements in place for your reader to experience immediately upon opening your email: The Brand, The Message, and The Creative. You have that 2-second window of opportunity to WOW your reader, as we discussed in the Dec. 28 Issue. But it's what happens after the initial 2-seconds that really helps measure the success of a campaign.

Your email campaign will have several articles or stories - let's call them content elements - in each issue. Each of these will be clickable, transporting your reader to a landing page with further information and further interactive opportunities... and the chance to convert.

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The Importance of Design in Email Marketing - Part III

The Human Interest Angle

This is the final installment of three on the subject of design in email marketing. So far we've covered simplicity and clarity, and the call to action. Now we'll wrap it up with the human interest angle.

There is a reason that Time Inc's People magazine is the most profitable magazine in the world. Well, they sell a lot of ads, but vendors buy that ad space because people READ People. A lot of people. And they read this magazine because People has got us figured out. They know that we can't help but be intrigued by the lives of the rich and gorgeous, the extraordinary, dazzling, sexy people. They understand that we all spend a portion of our time imagining ourselves as celebrities. We've all stood in front of the bathroom mirror, singing into a hairbrush. It's only human.

So we borrow a page from People when we publish our email campaigns. Not literally, of course - that would be plagiarism - but we try to find a way to work a human interest angle into the mix. Granted, an article on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may not be appropriate in all instances, but if we can massage a story to be relevant to the topic at hand and still pique human interest, we've got ourselves a sticky message.

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The Importance of Design in Email Marketing - Part II

This is the second installment of three on the subject of design in email marketing. Last time we focused on how simplicity and clarity add impact to the message. This week we're going to talk about another important design issue - illuminating the call to action.

Given their druthers, every email marketer - whether a Realtor, a department store, or a software company - would have every recipient open and read every email campaign. However, operating from the premise that this is a virtual impossibility, we must make the most of the opportunity we are given when someone does open the email. It's called the 2-Second Rule.

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The Importance of Design

Over the next few issues of this newsletter I'm going to address the visual aspects of an email campaign that can help make it successful. Today we'll discuss the general approach to design. In following issues, we'll discuss calls to action and incorporating a human interest angle.

Side-by-Side Comparison
Imagine looking at two email campaigns side by side. Email #1 has a clean layout with photography that is relevant to each of the stories, and a clearly branded message telling you who the email is from. Email #2 is a mishmash of multi-colored text, blinking words, and different font sizes all competing for your attention. Even if both emails had exactly the same wording, you would still instantly be able to determine which one you'd rather spend time looking at.

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Understanding Open Rates

In the email marketing world, the sun rises and sets on measurable statistics. By measuring how many people are opening your email monthly campaign, and monitoring which links are being clicked most often, one can make informed decisions on how to continually improve those numbers.

A common misconception among those who are new to the practice of email marketing is the expectation of high open rates. It's best to maintain realistic expectations in this matter, and work to improve. So what's a realistic open rate? Let's be blunt. It isn't going to be 90%. Not even close. If you were giving away free money you wouldn't score that high.

It sounds bad, but it gets better. Continue Reading.

The Crisis of Relevance in Email Marketing

In previous issues of this newsletter I've discussed the all-important triumverate of email marketing savvy: Anticipated, Personal, and Relevant. Any email campaign you send should be all three of these things to your target audience. While the first two are clearly important, it is the third, Relevance, that is the most difficult to deliver in a sustained campaign.

To recap, anticipated means that your recipient is expecting to receive the email, i.e. they remember signing up for it and they will not be surprised when your message arrives. Next, if you've done your due diligence, you've made some effort to make the email personal - at the very least you've included a salutation in the email that says something like, "Dear Bob," instead of, "Dear Client." Now all you have to do is have something relevant to say. And it better be good.

The Answer to the Big Question
Much of the email we receive from companies today fails the third test: Relevance. The reason is because many marketers are stuck in old methods of marketing. The content they provide sounds like marketing-ese. I don't care how great a product or offer is, it doesn't make me want to settle in to read marketing copy. When you're vying for your reader's precious attention, you've got to know the answer to the all-important question. It's the question that every reader of every marketing email is asking. The answer to the question reveals whether or not you've achieved relevance in your campaign. The question is: "What's in it for me?"

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Anticipated, Personal, Relevant

If you forget everything else about email marketing, remember these three words: Anticipated, Personal, and Relevant. These concepts are the hallmark of any successful permission-based email marketing campaign.

• Anticipated - People look forward to hearing from you.
• Personal - Your messages are directed to the individual.
• Relevant - Your content is something your reader is interested in.

Before you consider any type of email campaign, ask yourself if the campaign satisfies these three requirements. If one is missing, find a way improve it. Because unless it passes all three, you'll more than likely find that your subscribers no longer wish to be subscribed.

Start gathering email addresses now

If you haven't already started gathering email addresses from your prospects and past clients, it's time to start doing so. Now! With 75% of home buyers doing some or all of their research online, it's more important than ever that Realtors® utilize the Internet in their marketing efforts. And no single e-marketing strategy can deliver sustained results the way email marketing can. It's great if you already have a web site. Your email marketing strategy can be the method by which you ensure that people will get to your site and, moreover, return to it when they're ready to buy or sell a home.

Also remember that stiff penalties await those who do not obey the law. The only way to practice effective email marketing is to get permission from your intended recipients. So get started now. There are many opportunities throughhout your day to gather new subscribers.

• Have a "subscribe" form added to your web site.
• Provide a "subscribe" field on your guestbook at open house events.
• When talking to a potential prospect, just ask them if they'd like to receive your newsletter

Check back to this blog for more tips on growing your list of subscribers. Also check out our House & Home Digest product tour to see how you can start implementing an email marketing strategy quickly and affordably.

Permission has a short shelf-life

Once you start gathering email addresses, it's important to have something to send right away. In most situations, the experience of opting-in takes only seconds and is less than memorable. If you don't send a relevant message to new subscribers soon, chances are they'll forget they ever subscribed in the first place. Chances are, you will have squandered that permission, and their opt-in is now worthless.

This is why it's important to have a campaign in place even before you amass a wealth of opted-in email addresses. Furthermore, you need to have a sustained campaign in order to keep all your subscribers active. If they don't hear from you for awhile, you're likely to lose a significant percentage of your subscribers the next time you send a campaign. A sustained campaign is a successful campaign.