Many real estate professionals are turning to email marketing to reach customers and prospects during the holiday season. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 11% of respondents use email marketing for marketing and communication purposes, with 14% planning to use the platform in the next six months.
Email marketing is a great way to reach busy customers and prospects during the holiday season, and real estate professionals are harnessing the power of the platform to improve customer engagement and build credibility.
Why the Holidays?
The holidays are a great time to connect with customers and prospects. According to HubSpot Blogs survey data, 24% of respondents said they are more likely to buy a product or service during the holiday season, compared to 17% who are more likely to make a purchase in the summer and 10% who are more likely to buy during the winter.
However, as busy individuals and families gear up for the holiday season, it can be hard to find the time to conduct business throughout the whole year. That’s why the holidays are a great opportunity to connect with customers and prospects when they are most likely to buy.
The Benefits of Email Marketing for Real Estate
Email marketing can be an effective way to reach customers and prospects. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 24% of respondents said they are more likely to buy a product or service after reading an email promoting it. Only 10% are more likely to make a purchase after viewing a web page.
Emails can be personalized, and marketers can take advantage of the data they have on customers to target the right messages to improve conversions.
Personalized Emails
One of the main reasons why customers and prospects are more likely to click through to websites or buy a product after reading an email is because they find the information in the email to be more personalized. As a real estate marketer, you can take advantage of this by customizing emails to contain important information about a specific property or region.
Real estate marketers and agents can use tools like HubSpot to organize and automate the process of sending personalized emails to customers and prospects. These emails can contain important information such as:
- Regularly-schedule emails about special deals or promotions
- Detailed FAQs about the products or services you promote
- News about the housing market (e.g., mortgage rates, home prices, etc.)
- Updates about the real estate professional’s services (e.g., team, license, etc.)
- And more…
Empowering Agents And Realtors To Be More Effective
One of the main goals of any real estate agency or marketing campaign is to get consumers to contact the agency or vendor for more information. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 15% of respondents said they are more likely to call a company or agent after reading an email, compared to only 8% who are more likely to visit a website.
By giving agents and realtors the power to be more effective with email marketing, you can engage with customers when and where you want, and provide the right information at the right time. For example, you can send targeted emails to existing and potential customers based on their interests and behaviors.
You can also set up automated emails or send out periodic emails when certain actions occur (e.g., a customer opts-in to receive regular emails).
In addition to getting customers to contact you for more information, you can use email marketing to collect consumer data like product preferences, interest, and behavior. This data can be used for marketing purposes, and you can integrate your email program with other marketing platforms like Facebook and Google.
Improved Customer Engagement
Through email marketing, you can engage with customers more frequently and more effectively. According to HubSpot Blogs’ research, respondents who used email marketing said the platform improves customer engagement by 15% compared to traditional marketing methods (e.g., billboards, flyers, etc.). In addition, 16% of respondents said an email blast leads to more interactions and engagement compared to 11% who said the same about a web banner or social media push.
Customers are more engaged with content that is relevant to their interests. You can take advantage of this by sending them content that is relevant to what they are reading and researching.
Credibility
By establishing yourself as an expert in your industry, you can gain credibility with customers and prospects. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 17% of respondents said they are more likely to believe an email from an established brand, compared to only 7% who are more likely to believe an email from a smaller company.
Established brands in your industry will have the advantage of being heard and seen by more people. This can help you gain credibility with customers and prospects, and eventually, lead to more business.
Customer Segmentation
You can also use email marketing to segment customers based on their interests. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 24% of respondents use email marketing to target specific groups of consumers (e.g., real estate agents vs. first-time homebuyers).
You can use various tools like HubSpot to identify the main interests of your customers. Once you have their interests, you can target specific groups of individuals and send them relevant content.
In addition, marketers can also take advantage of the segmentation tools to move customers through different stages of an interest cycle (e.g., educate, entertain, or engage). This might involve sending customers content that is relevant to their stage in the interest cycle, or content that further develops their understanding of a particular topic.
For example, if you’re educating customers about the benefits of renting a vacation property instead of owning one, you might send them an email with case studies or articles that further develop their understanding of the topic. Or, if you’re entertaining them with stories about other people who own vacation homes, you might send them a humorous email that educates them about the benefits of renting a vacation property.
Choosing the right email marketing platform
There are various considerations to make when choosing the right platform for your real estate email marketing efforts.
First, look at how you want to utilize the platform. Do you just want to create a list of subscribers and then send out a steady stream of emails? Or do you want to create a community where customers can engage with other individuals?
Also, consider the look and feel of your emails. Do you want your emails to be plain text, or would you like to utilize images and color? When it comes to text-based emails, go for quality over quantity.
In addition, you’ll want to make sure that the platform you choose is going to be able to integrate with your other marketing platforms. Do you already use a CRM like Salesforce, or do you plan on using a standalone platform? If you use a CRM, make sure that it can integrate with your email marketing platform of choice
When choosing a real estate email marketing platform, make sure to look at what is available in terms of functionality. It’s a good idea to try out a few different platforms before making a decision.
Choose A List Of Subscribers
When developing your email marketing campaign, you’ll want to choose an email list of subscribers. This is the group of people who have signed up to receive emails from you, the real estate professional or agency. You can create a list of all your subscribers in your CRM, or you can choose to subscribe individuals to a list using a tool like Mailchimp.
You can also choose to go the extra mile and build a list of subscribers who have opted-in to receive emails from you. To do this, you’ll need to enter their email address into a form on one of your webpages and then send them an email. Most importantly, when choosing a list of subscribers, make sure that the demographics and interests of the people on the list match your target audience.
Set Up Autoresponders
One of the main reasons why people opened up to receive emails from you was because they found the information to be useful. To prove that you are indeed an expert in your industry, you can use email marketing to set up automated emails where information is pulled in from either your CRM or website.