How to Create Great Real Estate Newsletters

You’ve heard that real estate agents/companies should have their own newsletter to remind their clients that they are around, appear like an industry leader or a local expert, and to get referrals. At the end of the day, it’s all about getting leads, and your competition is already doing it. We are not here to convince you to send out newsletters. We’re here to help you decide what to put in them, and how.  Creating a real estate newsletter doesn’t have to be difficult. Here’s what to do:

1. Appearance: capture their attention

Templates are becoming so much better that you don’t need to be a designer to put a very nice looking newsletter together. I would particularly recommend that residential agents send regular email blasts to their database. There are many attractive real estate newsletter templates already created, and various email marketing services offering ready-made newsletter themes, so don’t let fear or laziness stop you. You don’t have to be an artist to put together something nice. The platform I prefer is Mail Chimp because I find it very easy to use for non-tech savvy individuals.

2. Content: bring value to their life

Well, well, well. It’s not just about the look, or it would be too easy. With your newsletters, the whole point of you sending them is to stay at the front of yourclients’ minds. But don’t be “that person” that sends new home listing emails to individuals who have just bought a home, that just doesn’t make any sense. It’s a bit different for investment properties, but most commercial brokers have their company send out their email blast. In any case, good content marketing is meant to help, not sell, and engage your reader through interesting topics.

•    40% Tips for your target audience: whether you are sending information about how to stage a property, what type of insurance your buyers should get, or a blog post about condos versus co-ops, make sure this is the most important part of your e-blast. Free and relevant advice.

•    20% Real Estate News/Trends: What’s going on in your market right now?

•    20% Promotional: your new listings

3. Strong subject lines

If no one is even opening your newsletter, what’s the point?  Make sure to put a very attractive or witty subject line. You have very little time to convince your audience to open your email. So make it count. If you’re not much of a writer, hire someone to do it for you. Again, I am not saying everyone should manage their newsletters or any marketing platforms by themselves. I’m just suggesting that real estate brokers and agents should focus on what they do best: closing deals - and leave the marketing to the marketers.

4. Frequency: stay consistent

The frequency will depend on your goals and your current situation. Your goal matters! Focus is key when running your real estate newsletter. If you are a broker with a lot of new listings, you will probably want to send a weekly email blast. If you are a new agent, a bi-weekly or monthly should be enough. Make sure always to send it within the same period of time. Consistency is crucial in your marketing effort.

5. Test and Track!

Make changes based on what has worked in the past. Make sure to track results, otherwise, what’s the point, and how will you determine your ROI? It’s all about response: email replies, telephone response, website traffic, opening rate, clicks, etc. Again, I wouldn’t expect you to do it all by yourself, but these are important metrics to track so you can see if your email campaigns have been efficient or need improvement. Don’t look at ineffective emails as failures, though, as the information that no one clicked through, (or opened or read), can also offer you important feedback.  A particular email message means you can turn your attention to other subject matters to integrate into your campaigns. Remember that testing is a part of marketing, and over time, if you test enough, you’ll find the magic email mix for your campaigns.

Developing appealing real estate newsletters that produce high email open rates takes time and effort. You can either buckle up and go for it or hire a team of professionals to help you. Make sure to relay your marketing goals, set deadlines and have a reporting system in place. It’s all about the results!

5 Real Estate Marketing Ideas The Pros Use

5 Real Estate Marketing Ideas The Pros Use

There is no “one size fits all” in marketing. Marketing depends on your goals. Whether you are a commercial broker selling office buildings or a residential agent renting luxury penthouses, the way you want to be perceived by your clientele will vary. Your tone, your style, and your content need to be relevant to your target audience. Below are the essential marketing tools we believe a real estate agent/broker should have.

1. Real Estate Website: Brand yourself as a marketing machine

Brand yourself. Let clients find you online. Not only will it help you look professional, but it also shows your marketing capabilities. If you know how to brand yourself, it means you know how to market your listings as well. You can also showcase your recent closings and show your personality. Your website is your online resume. It is easy to put in place and is one of the first things I would do as a real estate professional.

2. LinkedIn Account: Rank on the first page of Google

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful SEO tool and a great professional social media platform. Translation: You will pop up first on Google search via LinkedIn and look like a pro. It is a free resource that I find is often underutilized by agents. If you’re not much of a writer, hire someone to do it for you. A nice biography with all your credentials can only make you look more legit.

3. Email Newsletter: Stay in their minds; get referrals

Again, you don’t have to do it yourself. Newsletters are time-consuming, and you want to send relevant content to your audience. Hire someone to do it for you: Pick some topics, the frequency, and a design-and-feel for your email blasts, and that’s it. To do an excellent newsletter, you need to know your clients well. What do they want to read about? Newsletters are great for staying at the top of their minds. Consistency is king. It’s better to pick a lower frequency with quality content than to annoy with weekly emails having “meh” content.

4. Blog: Brand yourself as an authority

Whether you are in residential or commercial, you will want to appear as an authority in your field. Not only can your blog help you with search optimization, but it will also brand you as an expert. And we know that real estate is all about trust (and referrals!). Once again, you don’t have to do it yourself; hire someone to manage your blog for you.

5. Headshot: Professional photograph

Yes, it should be common sense, but it still looks as though it is not. I am amazed to see what the brokers I am working with are using: outdated headshots taken in the 90s or selfies taken with their iPhones. I think the worst is old photos: When you meet your real estate agent and discover that he/she is ten years older than the picture he/she has online, it’s just plain deceiving. Be genuine, and show your true colors!

Overall, if you’re not going to keep up with your marketing platforms and just keep a ghost blog, for instance, or send inconsistent newsletters once in a while, don’t do it. Marketing is all about frequency and consistency. Sometimes, less is better. Also, remember that you don’t have to do it yourself; you have plenty of resources to assist you with your marketing. Focus on closing deals, and let professional marketers handle your brand.