The original Mona Lisa is priceless, but you can buy a $10 version from any poster shop because mass produced items are always cheaper than their one-of-a-kind inspirations. The same value proposition holds true for your email marketing.

Do the emails you send to stay in touch with clients have unique value or are your competitors sending the same email or robo-blog post to your clients?

In today's real estate market, much of the "stay in touch" emails used to build relationships with clients and prospects follow a me-too formula.

It's usually a campaign of drip content set up via the broker's intranet and shipped out once a month by every agent in the office. If you share a prospect with the agent across the sales floor or across town, your clients may get the same email on the same day from another agent.

The client instantly realizes the content isn't special and isn't really from you.

Ask About Exclusivity

To position yourself as a trusted real estate advisor, your customers need to get engaging content only from you. In e-newsletter marketing, that benefit is called "exclusivity." When you're purchasing e-newsletters or other content, it's important to ask if you've got exclusivity and how long you can keep it. It's the only way to make sure your clients aren't getting the same content from anyone else.

Why Is This Important Today?

• The fight for consumer attention is fierce. If you can get, and stay in, the inbox you're a winner.
• Consumers quickly recognize and devalue generic marketing efforts.
• Ramp up your exclusive marketing materials by adding a personal point of view. Take two minutes to add two sentences about local homeownership.

People Want To Know What You See Going On

Write about something interesting that you saw happening in the market. What home improvements are people asking you about? What do the homes selling this month have in common?

Homeowners in your sphere of influence want to know what you've heard from home improvement contractors or home maintenance and repair pros about homes in the area. After a winter storm in a northern market, you can talk about ice dams and frozen pipes. In the south? Chat about space heater fires and generators disappearing from store shelves after the storm.

It's just like they told you in real estate school: To succeed, you have to differentiate your service level and stay away from me-too marketing.

If you're not sure about exclusivity, chances are you don't have it. When you subscribe to services that deliver e-newsletters for you, look for that exclusivity feature, if possible.

Today's consumer will pledge allegiance to the professional that delivers relevant content and in-demand data that is customized and consistent. The best content makes the reader stop and say "this Mona Lisa was painted just for me."

Albert Clark, president of HomeActions, is expert in combining homeowner advocacy, engaging content and real estate technology to actively engage homeowners. A frequent speakers at real estate industry events, Albert has managed advocacy campaigns and built industry coalitions with The National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association, The National Association of Homebuilders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.