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9 Tips for Building Real Estate Emails that Get Results
Email — it's an important part of any real estate marketing strategy. Step one is knowing what type of email you want to send to your sphere. Last week, we highlighted three essential marketing emails that agents can leverage. Next comes step two: building that email and figuring out what to include — and what to avoid. Fortunately, this (and much more) was covered in a recent webinar with Constant Contact. We've distilled the email-building wisdom shared in that event below. Read on for nine tips on building real estate marketing emails that get clicks! Be mindful of short attention spans It may come as no surprise to you that in our modern era of social media and online distractions, the average attention span is now only nine seconds long. That means that real estate marketers have a very short window to grab the attention of their audience and compel them to take action. What does this mean in practical terms? Well, Constant Contact analyzed 2.1 million emails and found the messages that had the highest success had only about 25 lines of text overall — about a paragraph and a half. Consumers aren't taking the time to read long, complex emails. Instead, they're scanning and skimming those messages and looking for what's relevant to them. So keep your emails short and to-the-point and avoid long walls of text. Don't be afraid to use bullet points to highlight your key points — they're great for readers who are quickly scanning your emails. Use buttons Want your email recipients to click on a link? Use buttons rather than a plain old link. Constant Contact notes that the most successful emails use buttons. Or, as webinar panelist Matthew Montoya puts it, "Buttons are advantageous because if you give people buttons to push, they're going to push your buttons." Use three images or less Here's another important way to cater to today's short attention spans: keep the number of images in your email to three or less (not including your logo). That leads us to our next item… NEVER use an image as your whole email If you know that you should limit your images, you may be thinking, "Why don't I just make the entire email one big image instead?" Seems like a clever workaround, right? Wrong! You should never, ever have an email be 100% image. Why? Because that's a favorite tactic of spammers. Today's spam filters have been trained to send all-image messages straight to the spam folder. "You don't want to do what spammers do," says Montoya. Always link your images Speaking of images, Constant Contact recommends that you link each image to wherever you want to send recipients to, whether that be a listing details page or a "Contact me" page. By linking your images, you make it even easier for consumers to click through to where you want them to go. This best practice is great for your email success rates, too: messages with clickable images see a 650% increase in click-throughs. Don't forget to link your logo to your website, as well. "People have been taught to click on logos and images to make something happen, and so you want to make sure you're linking any image you use in your email," says Montoya. Use classic email marketing structure When creating your email message, keep this classic, tried-and-true structure in mind: Headline: What are you offering? This is what your headline communicates — and it's also how you hook readers, e.g. You do not want to miss this amazing open house! Body copy: Remember that paragraph and a half we talked about earlier? Here it is. Keep your message succinct and scannable. Need help creating this part? Constant Contact's built-in AI can write it for you. Learn more here. Call-to-action: This is the part of the email that gets results. What do you want your readers to do? Learn more about a property? Schedule a showing? Contact you for more information? Whatever it is, be explicit about what you want email recipients to do (and put it on the aforementioned button). Create compelling subject lines A great email subject line compels readers to open your message. A poor line, on the other hand, results in ignored emails or worse — emails sent to the dreaded spam folder. Here are some ideas for creating strong subject lines: Try emojis. "Emojis are very visual, and if people are in their inbox really briefly, it captures their attention," says Montoya. Employ questions. "Questions are really powerful because the only way the question can be answered is by opening the email," Montoya says. Induce FOMO. That is, a fear of missing out. Make your audience worry that they're going to miss out on your great listing or open house. Use lists. Readers love lists. They're easy to understand and highly scannable. Offer your audience three ways, five ideas, seven things, etc. "That's really beneficial because, one, everybody's in a rush, so you're basically saying, 'Here's a little bit of digestible information for you,'" says Montoya. "If you're doing an email where you're saying 'Seven curb appeal ideas,' only offer them three in the email. Make them click to read the rest." Aim for alliteration. Alliteration is when you use words that start with the same sound. "The reason alliteration is powerful is it's kind of sing-songy, but it's also a pattern, and because it's a pattern, people in their busy lives looking at their inbox are going to notice that pattern before they notice all the other subject lines," says Montoya. Be funny. Humor, especially puns and puns tied to pop culture, is very effective. People are busy and that pop culture reference or funny subject line is going to slow people down and make them notice your email. What you don't say in a subject line is just as important as what you do say. Here's what to avoid in your email subject lines: Spammy words. Words like "free," "weight loss" and "guarantee" earn you a trip to the spam folder. Unfortunately, "mortgage" and "property" do, too, but you can use those words in the body of your email. Just avoid them in the subject line. ALL CAPS. Not only are all caps considered shouting in internet-speak (and just rude, honestly), but spammers use all caps, so make sure you capitalize words normally. Too! Much! Punctuation! Didn't know this one? Neither did we until we watched the webinar. Limit yourself to no more than three pieces of punctuation in your subject line — and two is even better. Why? Because spammers routinely replace letters with symbols. Target your emails Ever heard of the "spray and pray" method of email marketing? It's where you send messages out to everyone in your database indiscriminately. In real estate, this may be sending property listings to those who aren't currently looking — or worse, to someone who just closed a transaction and who is definitely not going to buy again anytime soon. Instead, take time to segment your contact database. The messages you send to those who want to buy or sell within the next few months should be different from those sent to contacts who are inactive on the market. "Fifty-two percent of an audience will just abandon an email if it's not targeted," says Montoya. "That is something that hurts our top of mind visibility." But when you segment your audience, research shows that you'll see an 11% increase in open rates and a 27% increase in clicks. Monitor your click-throughs and follow up Clicks are the biggest determiner of an email's success. They prove your email was delivered, opened and read. Most email marketing platforms, including Constant Contact, will tell you what people clicked on. They will show you who read what and who looked at which property. "How valuable is it to know somebody clicked on this one particular property instead of the others? Now you know something about them — they're interested in this property, they have this kind of price point in their head," says Montoya. "Savvy marketers take that information and do targeted follow-up." Montoya notes that when email recipients take repeated actions like clicking on a specific property or look at a particular article, they are showing high interest. "You definitely want to reach out to somebody that does that," he says. For more great email marketing tips, watch the full webinar here. Then see for yourself how easy building emails can be with the help of AI: try Constant Contact FREE for 60 days, no credit card

Real Estate Pros Share 11 Actionable Marketing Tips
This is a short and sweet post with 11 marketing ideas from fellow real estate professionals that you can implement right away. Get into action! Invest in your community to generate top of the mind referral. - Anneamarie du LeBohn, Community Engagement Strategist, TNG Real Estate Consider selling the furniture as a turn key package. - Stephanie Badillo, Principal, Badillo Development Group Make your house memorable with one stand-out item that buyers can't forget. - Heather W. Leikin, Realtor, The House Agents/Partners Trust Add a rider to your real estate sign that says "Google This Address." - Bill Gassett, RE/MAX Executive Realty Use social media to target your key demographic with your current product inventory. - Shannon Gaskamp, Marketing Specialist, Princeton Classic Homes Start building your email list now, don't wait. - Liz Froment, Copywriter and Marketing Consultant, The Property Copy Co. Handwritten notes can distinguish you from your competition. - Danielle Procopio, CSC | Real Estate Broker, Certified Home Staging Consultant If they can't come to the open house, bring the open house to them. - Reba Miller, Founder, RP Miller Realty Group Grow your network with regular get togethers. - Nicholas Lee, Licensed Real Estate Agent, Sierra Residential Invest in professional photographs of your properties. - Troy Balakhan, Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate, Keller Williams Jupiter Craft a personalized message for your buyers. - Chris Haddon, Founder, REI 360 To view the original article, visit the Zurple blog. Related reading 10 Video Marketing Ideas for Real Estate Agents Email Experts' Top 4 Real Estate Email Marketing Tips 5 Marketing Tips for Your Real Estate Business That You Probably Haven't Tried

3 Essential Marketing Emails that Real Estate Agents Can Send Today
Real estate's busy season is here — when's the last time you reached out to your database? While it's a best practice to stay in touch year-round, it's extra crucial to contact those in your sphere during the spring and summer selling season. Not sure what to say? Stephanie Alfonso and Matthew Montoya of Constant Contact have your back. In a recent webinar, they shared a wealth of outreach tips, including three specific examples of emails you can send to your database. In this article, we'll take a closer look at each of these emails. We'll also offer examples of the components that your message should consider, including subject line, call-to-action, desired business result, and send frequency. Ready? Let's dive in… 1. Homeowner Tips Homeowners spend an average of 10 years in their home, according to the 2024 NAR Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report. That means that they're only ready to receive sales-focused messages once every decade. So what should you send those contacts who are not ready to transact in the near future? Enter the Homeowner Tips email. These friendly messages aim to offer homeowners something of value — in this case, advice on maintaining what's likely their biggest financial asset. You can write these yourself, hire a writer or service to create these, or tap into ChatGPT or a similar AI to help you get started. Subject line: This is an easy one — you can use the title of whatever your tip-focused article is about for the subject line. That could be anything from "3 Tips to Get Your Yard Ready for Spring" to "Appliance Care 101: How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Household Appliances," for example. Call-to-action: This email can be a great way to drive traffic to your website. Post the full article to your blog and include an excerpt in your email with a call-to-action like, "Read more tips here," or "Learn more about maintaining your home." Business result: What do you want this email to accomplish for your business? Here are three results to keep in mind while crafting your message: Staying connected to clients, driving traffic to your website, reaching new clients when your email is shared or forwarded. Send frequency: Once a quarter. 2. Share Your Listings Have a new listing? Share it with your sphere. Here's the break down: Subject line: New properties now available! Call-to-action: See more details / Take a video tour / Schedule a viewing now / Share this listing with family and friends Business result: Increase sales or interest in a property. Get new prospects via email sharing. Send frequency: As needed as determined by your market. 3. Request Referrals Let's close out with some good news: 90% of recent buyers and 87% of recent sellers would recommend their real estate agents, according to NAR. Despite these encouraging numbers, many agents feel uncomfortable asking for a referral. You shouldn't let discomfort get in the way, however, because consumers are already primed to give reviews and referrals. "Anytime we get out of an Uber, what's the first thing that we're asked to do? Give that five star rating. Give that review. We're used to it," says Alfonso. She recommends keeping a template that asks for referrals or testimonials ready to go in your email system. "Being able to shoot that out, automate that out, just makes it so easy. The power of referrals powers our business." Here's what to keep in mind when drafting this email: Subject line: We'd appreciate your referral! Call-to-action: Refer a friend, family member, or colleague / Leave a rating or review on [platform of choice] Business result: Acquire quality leads. Connect with other agents. Boost revenue. Send frequency: Once a quarter to your general database. Immediately after closing to specific clients. Building a Better Email The above is just a fraction of the great advice we received in our webinar. Watch the full recording for more tips on everything from building an effective email to leveraging AI to help write your message. Want an easy way to build and send these emails to your database? RE Technology readers can try Constant Contact FREE for 60 days, no credit card