It’s important for every real estate professional to have a large email list, but it’s more important that your email list is active and effective. If your email recipients are not opening your emails, you are losing business and wasting time and money.
Here are eight tips to help you make the most of your email marketing by getting past that first obstacle: getting your emails opened.
1. Become familiar
The first emails that get opened in most inboxes are those that come from family, friends and people the reader personally knows. In most cases, if your readers don’t know who you are, they probably won’t open your emails.
The first step is making sure that you stay connected with your contacts through consistent marketing and emails.
More importantly, build relationships with your readers beyond just email marketing. Put time and effort into your business relationships as well as both online and in-person interactions. If your readers feel like they know you and can trust you, they will be more inclined to open your emails.
If your readers feel like they know and trust you, they’re more likely to open your emails.2. Personalize the emails
When you gather email data, make sure you get correct names and information. Including names in the subject line will generally get you a higher open rate.
However, this can also be risky if you input incorrect data. If you spell a name wrong or use a wrong name, if your data is entered incorrectly or if your email is poorly formatted, it will look like spam. That’s a quick way to turn customers off to your company.
3. Keep the subject line short
Don’t convey your entire message in the subject line. Be direct. Being too wordy in the subject line is the quickest way to lose your reader’s attention and get an email immediately deleted.
Over 50 percent of emails are opened on a mobile device. A mobile screen can only fit four to seven words of a subject, so if you don’t want your subject line cut off, then keep it brief. According to Contact Monkey, if your subject line is more than three words, the chances of your email getting opened drops by over 60 percent.
The chances of your email being opened drops 60% if your subject line is 3+ words.4. Don’t get caught by the spam filter
Avoid any and all of these 118 words or phrases in your email to ensure it is not sent to your readers’ spam folder. There are free spam checkers online, such as Email Spam Test; you can run your email through to check for trigger words. Also, never use all caps in a subject line. That’s a one-way ticket to the spam folder.
5. Answer the ‘what’s in it for me’ question
This is what your readers will be asking themselves when they see an email from you. Don’t write an email telling your readers how wonderful you are or why they should choose you.
What they want to know is whether opening and reading your email will be worth their time. Make it more about what you can do for them rather than what they can do for your business.
If your subject or first line tells the reader what’s in it for them if they follow through on a call to action, they will be more likely to open the email.
Rather than simply stating in the subject line what the content of the email is about, let them know how the content of the email will be of value to them. For example, instead of titling the email, “10 Home Buying Tips,” title it, “Find Your Dream Home.”
6. Don’t make your email a sales pitch
Your readers are smart. Don’t insult them by trying to throw a transparent sales pitch at them. They don’t want to be viewed as an opportunity for your wallet. They don’t want to feel like you are trying to get something out of them.
You can market more subtly through emails by providing your readers with quality content that is not a sales pitch.
7. Make good use of the preheader text
The preheader is the short summary of text that follows the subject line when an email is viewed in the inbox. It’s also a valuable tool you need to use to your advantage.
Use the preheader to expand on the subject line, and further your readers’ interest. The number of characters that are visible varies based on email providers and the device the reader is using, but a good rule of thumb is to stay under 40 characters.
Use the preheader to expand and further your readers’ interest — you have 40 characters.8. Write consistently useful, quality content
If your readers know that the content they receive from you is useful, they will be more likely to open future emails you send.
Spend time on your content. Make sure it is well-written and professional. Do your research so you can provide your clients with useful information.
If you present yourself as an expert in your industry, your clients are more likely to view you that way and trust the emails you send.
If you have had problems with your emails being ineffective in the past, it is likely that you have missed at least one of these important aspects of getting your emails opened.
Although email marketing is not an exact science, following these eight steps will make the time and money you put into your email marketing much more worthwhile.
Jarad Hull is the CEO at Blueroof360.
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