It’s not a surprise that when you hear email templates, you automatically assume it must have to do with bulk emails or mass newsletter emails.

And you’re not wrong, but in this case, it’s more important to think about email templates as one of the easiest ways to personalize your emails to larger groups of people in your network while still saving yourself big chunks of time.

If we all know anything here in the real estate community, it’s that personalization in all of our forms of contact with our clients is the key to increasing open rates or opening up new channels of communication.

But at scale, this can often feel like a near-impossible task and leave you with nightmares of hand addressing newsletters and mailers.

Dedicating the time to the upfront work of actually writing your email templates and determining the circumstances in which you will most likely need them throughout your day-to-day, will drastically save you time as you start to communicating with your network.

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A few common email templates I use to save myself time are:

Special events and open houses Outreach to active leads on the market Asking for a testimonial on Zillow, Google, Facebook, etc. General outreach to personal connections for coffee/lunch, etc. Tips and updates for soon-to-be buyers or sellers Asking past clients for a referral Attempting to engage with a cold lead Checking in on recent buyers on their new home

But don’t be limited by my favorite templates!

Take the time to outline emails you find yourself sending time and time again or information you often send out in bulk via a newsletter.

These are your opportunities for email templates. There’s probably more duplicate emails in your outbox than you realize, which makes your email template setup all the easier.

Plus, the simpler you make your outreach efforts, the more likely you are to actually do it, and your business (and your time) will reap the benefits.

The key is having the templates pre-written to include all the information needed, such as the link to your Zillow review page, but also leaving room for some quick personalization.

I’ve gotten 76 percent open rate on simple email templates with invitations to meet for coffee or a happy hour. Usually I’m able to set up four or five personal meetings for the following week from one quick blast to 50 individuals. It’s efficient, and it works!

I use Contactually as a means for organizing my contacts, storing my email templates and sending them out at scale via its ScaleMail feature. Contacutally also boasts an extensive template library that you can pick and choose from to boost your own ideas.

It’s also the best way to ensure I’m not sending the same person the same email template, sure to cause some awkwardness or confusion. Segmenting your contacts is another easy way to make sure your email templates will be successful, simply because you know exactly what message a whole group of your “active leads” (or whoever) are going to get — and with a few clicks, you’ve got it sent out.

That being said, your templates don’t necessarily have to apply to emails sent en masse; they can also be used as an easy means to send a quick note to a contact one-on-one.

Before you start relying on email templates for everything, I can’t stress enough the importance of the personalization aspect.

Although it’s certainly tempting to start blasting your whole network with templates, be thoughtful and intentional with those you send out, and don’t overwhelm yourself.

Keep in mind your core goals and what you’re looking to achieve by implementing and using email templates on a more regular basis.

Brandon Doyle is a Realtor at Doyle Real Estate Team — Re/Max Results in Minneapolis and co-author of  Mindset, Methods & Metrics – Winning as a Modern Real Estate Agent. You can follow him on Twitter.

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