The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Real Estate Investors

TresArca residence, USA - project & image courtesy of assemblageSTUDIO.

Countless blogs, podcasts, and industry experts preach the benefits of email marketing for real estate investors, but not every professional in the real estate industry achieves the same success. After over 40 years of testing various email templates and drip campaigns, certain patterns for performance are emerging. At Proven Partners, we’ve analysed the trends and developed a strong idea of what real estate email marketing content can produce the top results.

If you are a real estate investor, developer, hotel owner, are looking to find real estate investors, or are simply interested in getting involved in the real estate market, this article will be your guide to breaking down the benefits and procedures of a well-thought-out email marketing campaign. Additionally, we’ll share with you some key tips and mistakes to avoid when crafting your real estate emails.

Why Email Marketing Is a Good Idea

Crafting successful real estate email marketing content requires a bit of work, some trial and error, and a percentage (albeit small) of your marketing resources. Therefore, it’s important to understand that these efforts, if approached correctly, will deliver a very nice return.

So, before we get into the tips to follow and mistakes to avoid, let’s take a look at the many benefits you stand to gain when email marketing for real estate investors, buyers, and sellers. 

Benefit 1 - It’s Easy

There are so many email marketing tools available, anyone can manage the entire emailing process––even professionals with limited marketing experience. The big benefit here is the low barrier of entry compared to the great results you can achieve, like increased sales, brand recognition, and positive impressions from customers.

Benefit 2 - It’s Personalised

Your email list, and the leads associated with it, allow you to craft the type of real estate emails that are best suited for each recipient. Instead of casting a wide net, email marketing allows you to send targeted, personalised messages.

For example, you can filter your email list by what homes they’ve shown interest in, how recently they joined your list, or how they learned about your real estate business, so you can send specialised emails that hit home for certain demographics.

Benefit 3 - It Can Be Automated

You can free up your time and energy while conducting an effective marketing campaign: that may sound too good to be true, but it’s entirely possible. Today’s email marketing tools enable you to automate a significant amount of the work. Most email platforms allow users to draft and schedule emails in advance so they send while you sleep. More advanced tools even generate the subject lines for you!

You should know “automated email” doesn’t mean “impersonal email.” You can create an automated email marketing campaign that is flexible, targeted, and personalised.

Benefit 4 - It’s Convenient for Your Targeted Investors

In contrast to pop-up ads or social media ads, there is almost no intrusion associated with an email. The investors – or buyers and sellers – can read the email in their own time from the device of their choosing. Plus, they can unsubscribe at any time.

Benefit 5 - It’s Professional

A large portion of professional correspondence is conducted by email. So, when an investor opens your email, they are more likely to read it while in a professional mindset. This attitude encourages readers to take professional actions, like replying respectfully for an inquiry.

Benefit 6 - It Establishes Trust

A consistent series of emails – as in drip campaigns or email newsletters – shows that you are active and reliable. Sending out informative updates in bite-size chunks helps to establish your credibility and places you in the mind of the targeted investor as a reliable source of knowledge on the market.

Benefit 7 - It’s Highly-Accessible Technology

A significant percentage of real estate leads are over the age of 50. Generally speaking, these leads are not always comfortable with the latest advances in technology, like new social media platforms and other types of gadget-dependent apps.

However, emails have been around since the early 1970s and in widespread use since the early 1980s. And nearly everyone is, by now, perfectly comfortable with this form of communication – even people above the age of 60.

Benefit 8 - It’s Easy to Engage With

There are no apps to download or complicated steps to follow for your recipient to respond. Depending on your call to action, the recipient need only reply to your email or simply click on a link to your landing page.

Benefit 9 - It’s Safe

Today’s email service providers scan each and every email for potential viruses. They go out of their way to make it easy for their clients to unsubscribe from unwanted emails and protect the data associated with email addresses. There is very little, if any, risk for you or your target investors, buyers, and sellers when you communicate by email.

Benefit 10 - It’s Inexpensive

Technically speaking, you could launch an email campaign for real estate investors at absolutely no cost. Many email platforms are 100% free to use or include a limited-access free version. However, if you want to take your email marketing campaign for real estate investors to the next level, you might consider making a relatively modest financial investment.

On the high-end, email platform memberships with all the bells and whistles tend to cost a few hundred pounds per month, whereas other marketing campaigns like print ads can cost tens of thousands. The money allocated to your email marketing campaign will ultimately prove to be a drop in the bucket by comparison. And if you follow the tips discussed in this article, it won’t be long before you see a considerable return on your investment.

Nettleton 198, South Africa - project & image courtesy of Saota.

Tips for a Successful Email Marketing Campaign for Real Estate Investors

To start your email marketing campaigns on the right foot, have a look at our tried-and-tested tips.

Tip 1 - Make It Easy to Say Yes

Successful real estate email marketing content prompts the recipient to take action. The action your campaign elicits should be easy to carry out.

For example: send out an informative email that invites the recipient to fill out a lead-generating form on your website. Make the form enticing and, above all, simple to complete and submit.

Tip 2 - Provide Value

A successful email marketing campaign isn’t necessarily a sales pitch or an explicit call to action. If you focus on providing value, such as sending out actionable information on the real estate market, the result will be placing yourself as a trusted authority on the real estate market. This will entice the recipient to want to learn more about you, or at the very least, trust what you have to say.

For example: target real estate investors and give them useful information or tips of the trade, like informing them on how the pros create real estate market analysis reports. When they open your email, they should expect to be given value. Be sure to satisfy this expectation to keep your email recipients engaged.

Tip 3 - Create a Email Newsletter

A bulletin or email newsletter is an excellent way to provide value, demonstrate authority, and stay present with your audience. The newsletter keeps your readership informed with the latest news from your field. To be on the top of your email marketing game, send specific updates from both your real estate business and the market as a whole.

For example: Invite potential investors or buyers to subscribe to your email newsletter. (Make it easy for them to sign up, or add your business contacts manually.) Send out a newsletter that is regular, short, and informative. End your newsletter with a link to your landing page or a similar call to action. (However, don’t make that the focus of your newsletter.)

Tip 4 - Develop a Blog

An informative blog is an excellent, non-invasive way to establish authority and invite investors to take further action, such as subscribing to your email list or filling out a lead-generation form. Every article on your blog can be used to attract web traffic and convert viewers into email marketing subscribers. Plus, every article you publish to your blog gives you an opportunity to send out an email and let your audience know there is fresh content available to read.

For example: Write about what you know. Share your experience and insights with the real estate market. Invite other professionals to contribute to your blog, and include testimonials and interviews. (These types of blog posts tend to be shared with professionals in the market and are, thus, more likely to go viral.) At the bottom of your posts, invite readers to stay in the loop by subscribing to your email list.

Tip 5 - Convey Momentum

Certain phrases such as “certain unit types almost sold out” or “upcoming rise in prices” will convey immediacy and keep the recipients in the know whenever there is a critical time to act. These are key moments in any project, and email allows you to leverage them to maximum effect.

For example: Use words and phrases that convey momentum in the subject of your real estate emails. Avoid using exclamation marks as they are often perceived as superficial and overly “salesy.” Some phrases worth considering include:

• Offer ending soon

• Limited availability

• For the next few days

• Upcoming

• Set to (prices set to rise; properties set to go on the market, etc.)

Tip 6 - Adopt a Regular, Consistent Rhythm

Sending out emails on a consistent basis gives the impression you are organised and reliable. Your audience will feel they can count on you for future professional interactions.

For example: if you commit to sending out a monthly newsletter, make sure you are able to keep to that schedule. Use an email platform to schedule out a few months of content in advance so you’re less likely to fall behind.

Tip 7 - Take Advantage of A/B Testing

Today’s email marketing tools allow you to accumulate data on a variety of important metrics: number of people who opened your email, click-through rate, calls to action heeded, and more. You should constantly analyse your metrics and refine your email campaign accordingly. A/B testing is the optimum way to accomplish this. It sends different emails to randomly-selected groups of people (like Group A and Group B) so you can see which email performed better. You can use these tests to uncover efficacy insights for all types of emails.

For example: Send out the same email content with two different subject lines. See which subject line led to a higher open rate, Then, for your next campaign, use a subject line similar to the one that yielded higher open rates in the test. 

Razor Bluff, USA - concept creation & image courtesy of Wallace Cunningham.

Mistakes to Avoid in Email Marketing 

Millions of marketing professionals have made mistakes while perfecting their email marketing campaigns. Lucky for us, we can learn from those mistakes and know what tactics to avoid.

Mistake 1 - Avoid Overly Informal Language

There is a fine line between conversational and overly informal. Use exclamation marks sparingly (if at all), and avoid slang expressions or words such as “hey,” “dude,” and “totally.”

Informal language tends to work well with teenagers but is unlikely to go over well with real estate investors who tend to be well past that age.

Mistake 2 - Don’t Try to Do Too Much With One Email

Attracting investors or closing a sale involves a process. Your email campaign should represent one step in that process. Asking the recipient to do too much or take many steps at once is unlikely to yield results. Instead, get them to take a step (one single step), and make it easy for them to do so.

Mistake 3 - Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Timing

There is no hard and fast rule as to what day or time is best for sending out emails. This is why A/B testing is so important. The “what” and “how” part of the equation should be integral to your A/B testing and so should the “when.”

One timing tip to always pay attention to is rapid reporting. Whenever there is a big shift in your real estate market, such as a change in local real estate legislature, be sure to inform your audience immediately so they know you’re on the ball with recent events that can affect your clientele.

Las Terrazas, Mexico - concept & image courtesy of Wallace Cunningham.

We Can Help You With Real Estate Email Marketing 

Real estate email marketing content is an excellent way to generate leads, secure trust and authority, and prompt potential investors to take action.

The best way to conduct a real estate email marketing campaign may seem overwhelming at first glance. But not to worry - we’re here to help. Visit the Proven Partners Email Marketing page for more information, or contact us today to start reaping the benefits of a well-thought-out campaign.