REALTOR® Newsletters 101: Engaging Your Sphere & Leads with Email
This post originally aired as a podcast!
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In today's market, do you see value in building relationships and positioning yourself as a trusted go-to real estate agent? Well, one of the best ways to stay top of mind and encourage business opportunities is through email marketing. Now, before you say that email is outdated or boring, think about how many times you've checked your email today, this week, this month, and this year alone! Email is a valuable form of communication, and the right conversation can lead to your next closing.
So in today's episode, I'm sharing why you should make email newsletters a priority, the content framework to follow, and the best practices that lead to more results.
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I'll be the first to admit that email marketing isn't a subject that gets a lot of people excited anymore. It's not as flashy as a video or website. It's not relatively new like Instagram Reels or TikTok. In fact, it's said that the first email was sent in the early 1970s, way before people were wasting time online or scrolling through social. Can you imagine at that time how incredible it was to send a message from one computer to the other? And today, we're still looking to get our message to the right person - that's marketing 101. Yet, staying in front of people and nurturing relationships that lead to more business is something that email marketing does incredibly well.
Why Email Marketing & Newsletters for Realtors?
Email marketing, specifically email newsletters, is an effective way to stay in touch with your sphere (the people you know and past customers) and to nurture any new customers or new leads through the sales funnel.
Emails Connect You to the Right People
Unlike social media posts, you know that the email you send is going to your desired list of people. Let's say you have 1,000 followers on social and you share a post - only a small portion might actually see your post.
Yet, if you sent that same message as an email to 1,000 people, depending on their spam and promotion settings, the vast majority of people are going to receive your email. This is a huge opportunity for connecting with more people!
Consistent Newsletters Build Trust & Grow Your Brand
Yet, for your email to be truly effective, it needs the right content. Interesting, local content with a real estate spin positions you as an approachable expert. You're providing value, and that value positions you in a favorable light that builds your brand as an agent. People start associating you more with local real estate, and over time as you consistently show up with value, you're also building trust. This leads to more people wanting to work with you!
Want email marketing that’s easy & effective?
Get a monthly newsletter with engaging content in a ready-to-send template:
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Staying in touch Encourages Repeat & Referral Business
I don't need to remind you how important it is that you work on building relationships with the people you already know and past customers. Referral business is the cornerstone of many top-producing, successful agents' businesses. So, you need to stay in touch with each person regularly. By sending a monthly newsletter, you're engaging with an important touch point that can be automated in your business.
Email Completes Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Whether you are working to nurture new leads or stay connected with those you know, email is part of the digital marketing puzzle along with social. When you combine the two, you have a winning combination that works to keep people engaged, grow your agent brand, and build your business. This is why when I created The Marketing Suite, I knew that providing a monthly email newsletter alongside social for the month was essential. When you have the right content and a ready-to-share template, you have a pathway to reaching more potential customers. So, click here to join The Marketing Suite to make email and social media marketing a breeze!
The Framework for A Monthly Email Newsletter
But what does a successful email entail? Your email content is key, and there's a framework I recommend you follow so that your emails are worth opening!
If you think of email as boring and ineffective, I can almost guarantee it's because you haven't nailed down the right content framework. We want people to get your email and be interested in what's inside. That's going to keep them engaged with you, continuing to open your emails, and be more likely to reach out to you with a real estate need. If you send them junk just for the sake of sending an email, you're going to get junk results.
To get more from your emails, I recommend your email framework is broken into five parts: an intro hook, your core content, local & community content, real estate content, and a closing call-to-action. Let's explore what each of these sections is.
What To Include In Your Email Newsletter:
Section 1: An Engaging Hook
Get people interested right away and give them a preview of what your email is about. This section doesn't need to be long. A mini-paragraph is all you need, and if you follow a monthly email newsletter cadence, introducing the "theme" for the month will guide what you say. As a tip, always consider "what's in it for your reader." We need to give people a reason to care about the content and entice them to keep reading.
Section 2: Your Core Content
This is the "meat and potatoes" of your email. I'd suggest you pick a theme or topic for the email and create your core content around it. For example, for June in The Marketing Suite, the monthly email newsletter topic was lifestyle based with "Embracing Warmer Weather from Home." But keep in mind, if you include home and lifestyle content, don't make it boring with "tips for cleaning your gutter" or "now's the time to roll back your clock." Include eye-catching imagery and inspirational content people can enjoy like we did for June's email, or make it informative and directly related to the people in your database.
Section 3: Local Spotlight
Including local content ties you into the market you serve and brands you in the area. It also is the type of content that does well to engage your sphere. If your database (or email list) includes past customers and people you know, they might not have an immediate real estate need. That doesn't mean that they might not in the future or know somebody who could use your services.
To keep them connected to you, local content keeps people interested. In The Marketing Suite's email template, this section includes an eye-catching graphic (to save you time and stand out) while providing you a prompt to customize this section to your market. In June, we were focused on "what to do around town this month" to make it easy to recommend local hotspots to visit or events to check out. As a bonus, if you stick to a regular monthly newsletter, people will look forward to this section from you - especially if you are highlighting your local knowledge with great recommendations!
Section 4: Real Estate
While we want to use your newsletter to stay top of mind and build relationships, we also don't want to leave out a real estate component. After all, you are the real estate expert here! By sharing informative, timely information, you're demonstrating that you're not just looking to "make a sale." You're their trusted real estate advisor.
This type of content helps somebody who actively has a real estate need (such as a lead or current customer) and your sphere by providing them info on the local market. In The Marketing Suite, we had a "How's the Market" section for June that included not only market stats but what they truly mean and the implications. You're the expert here! So, don't assume people can interpret data as you can. Take time to explain it like we do in The Marketing Suite through easy-to-edit prompts. This takes what you're sharing to the next level, is hyper-local, and more relevant to your readers.
Section 5: A Closing Call-to-Action
Finally, wrap up your email with a closing "Call-to-Action" or CTA. You might be familiar with "calls-to-action" in lead generation. For example, a CTA might be "schedule a showing" or "request a CMA." However, I like to think of them as "logical next steps." If the goal is to spark conversations with your email marketing, then you could use this area to ask a question related to your content for the month. This gets people talking with you and creates new opportunities for your business.
Likewise, you could include a nice closing statement (so your email doesn't just leave people hanging) and include a more sales-directed approach like we did in June's newsletter. We all know that people have a lot of questions about the market right now. You can't head online without seeing headlines about real estate. So, we included an approachable CTA in The Marketing Suite's June newsletter to encourage candid conversations about the market and buying or selling right now.
If you follow this 5 section approach, you're ensuring that you're addressing all of the goals of your real estate newsletter. You're showing up with engaging content, building your brand in your local market, positioning yourself as a trusted real estate advisor, and encouraging people to work with you!
Which is exactly why I designed The Marketing Suite's email newsletters to follow this approach. They already include everything you need, including a ready-to-send template, so you can customize the local prompts and get that newsletter into the inboxes of the people that matter! Click here to join The Marketing Suite and easily send email newsletters. You'll get the content for the month and an engaging template with eye-catching images that makes it easy for consistent email marketing.
{Click here to learn more & become a member of The Marketing Suite}
Tips for Successful Email Newsletters for Realtors
While email marketing works for Realtors, you'll be even more likely to see results if you follow these tips and best practices:
Send Your Newsletter Consistently
Consistency, like with most marketing, is key for email newsletters! While your first email might be a hit, it usually takes months of emailing to start seeing results from your efforts. That's why it's so important not to give up and stick with it! I'd even say give it a try for a year and then see the results from there. Keep in mind when, you're working on engaging your sphere on social, direct communication and email all combine to increase your likelihood of receiving repeat and referral business. So, it's part of a complete strategy!
Pick a "Newsletter Day"
This is one of my favorite tips for success! Choose a day each month that your Realtor newsletter will be sent out. This could be the first Tuesday of the Month or the Second Saturday. Whichever day you pick, stick with it! This creates a deadline for you which adds a layer of accountability and ensures you'll actually send it out. It also creates anticipation and expectation for your readers and database. They can rely on hearing from you every month at the same time with content they care about. If you take anything away from this episode, this simple tip tops my list!
Choose the Right Real Estate CRM or Email Platform
To effectively send your email newsletters, you'll need to use a CRM or email platform. I have used many platforms over the years and have actually sat on the Advisory Councils of two of the largest real estate CRMs, and here's what I'll tell you: choose a platform that you'll actually use. You want it to meet your needs and not stress you out by using it.
MailChimp
After working with many agents for many years with email marketing, I made sure to include options inside The Marketing Suite. If members already have a CRM, they can simply copy the content over. However, that requires more work! So, we've created all of the templates using MailChimp which you can sign up for for free (use my code here)! This makes it super easy for our ready-to-share templates to be shared directly into our member's MailChimp accounts and even easier for them to customize and send.
Maintain Your Database
You need people to actually send your Realtor newsletter to! So, maintaining a healthy database is a step you cannot miss. For starters, you need to get everyone into your email list. So, if you haven't already, sit down, open up excel, and get everyone you know into your list. From there, I'd recommend you update your email list monthly.
Prior to "Newsletter Day," set aside a few minutes to import new contacts into your list. You don't want to miss anyone, whether it's people who've opted into receiving communication from you at an Open House, new customers you're working with, vendors you want to stay friendly with, or new leads you're nurturing.
Getting Results with Your Email Marketing
Email marketing can be a welcome addition to your marketing strategy. In one action, you can reach hundreds and thousands of people while building your agent brand and forming connections.
So, to recap what we learned today:
Give a monthly email newsletter a try!
Use my 5 Section Framework for Success
An intro hook, your core content, local & community content, real estate content, and a closing call-to-action.
Follow my best practices for email marketing
Consistency, "Newsletter Day," choosing the right platform, and maintaining your database
And it all comes down to having valuable content inside your monthly newsletter. If you look at an email and think, "I wouldn't be interested in that," then your readers (ahem, potential customers!) won't be either.
But if you don't want to or don't have the time to come up with new content every month, create a visually appealing newsletter template, or apply all of my best practices, then let me do the work for you! Join The Marketing Suite for a new email newsletter every month that's designed for success.
Whether you create your own or leverage my ready-to-send resources, I know that if you focus on showing up with consistent, quality content that people will look forward to, you'll be surprised at how one monthly email can lead to results!
{Click here to learn more & become a member of The Marketing Suite}
Looking for more? Don't miss these top related episodes:
The 10 Most Costly Email Marketing Mistakes for Realtors (Part 1)
The 10 Most Costly Email Marketing Mistakes for Realtors (Part 2)
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UP NEXT:
It's time for seasonal marketing! Fall-themed real estate content and marketing on social media is not only trending, it also works in your Instagram Reels, posts, carousels, and more. The secret is to customize this content with photos and videos of you. So, in today's episode, let's plan an easy fall content shoot for you as a REALTOR to use in your marketing strategies this season!