Real Estate Sales: Lead Nurturing Through Email Campaigns

Ever wonder what lead nurturing through email campaigns can do for your real estate business? In any given day, you probably have contact with at least one or two people who have the potential to be future clients. Friends of friends, the chef at your favorite restaurant, and even the mailman have probably made small talk with you about real estate, even though they aren’t ready to buy or sell just yet. What are you doing with these contacts? Letting them go? Not following through on these interactions could cost you a lot of sales, which is why you should create a real estate lead nurturing program. The ROI of this simple investment can be exponential!

How Does Lead Nurturing Work for Real Estate?

Lead nurturing is a term used to describe the process of making sales when the customer is not quite ready to buy. In terms of real estate, your “lead” might be someone with whom you had a spontaneous, casual conversation about selling his or her house. Because the conversation was casual, you can assume that he or she isn’t serious about doing business yet – but the interest suggests that in the future, they could be a potential client.

Nurturing this new lead can be done in a number of ways by a real estate agent: phone calls, meetings and brochures are all common parts of a lead nurturing plan. If you really want results, however, you should seriously consider incorporating email marketing into your nurturing plan. Why? It’s simple and effective.

How Do I Use Email Marketing to Nurture Leads?

Email is one of the most effective ways to market to any type of sales lead. Working on a one-on-one basis, or through an elective real estate newsletter, you can reach your potential clients and help them work towards a point where they are ready to either buy or sell a home, simply by sharing information with them.

Use bullet points in your messages; people love reading lists that are formatted this way. Even the most interested readers have a short attention span, so capitalize on the fact that you have their attention by drawing their eye right to your important points. Establish yourself as a contributing expert in the industry.

Optimize your email content for mobile devices as well as email clients like Google and Outlook. If the message isn’t formatted properly, chances are it isn’t going to be read. You should also put the most important information in the first paragraph of your email. Why? It has to do with that short attention span again. Get the important stuff out of the way and follow it up with the less necessary points.

What Not to Do

Avoid sharing statistics and hard facts in a dry, non-interesting way. According to brand architect Robert D. Smith, author of “Battle Tested Branding,” people want to feel your email was sent by a real person, so show personality and communicate that you care. That’s why good lead nurturing campaigns talk about much more than houses–they share ideas, tips and stories that help prospects lead better lives at home and in their community. Provide useful content–show your readers how to remodel a bathroom, or give them tips for moving into a smaller space after their children grow up and move out. Check out these great marketing ideas for real estate agents in 2014 for more inspiration.

This approach is more engaging than only talking about the current housing market. Stay top of mind by involving them like you would a neighbor or friend. Calls to action flow naturally from this useful, helpful, and friendly content. Leads may be considering a sale or purchase for many months, so give them several options. Maybe they want to refer a friend to you, search the newest listings, or get a thorough report on their current home. Wherever they are in the marketing funnel, suggest an easy “next step.”

The Bottom Line

Real estate leads who are well-nurtured through an email marketing plan are not only highly likely to use you as their representative, but they are also likely to recommend you to their friends and family. Simply put, email-based lead nurturing is conducive to more clients and more sales!