Here’s a recent graph from the marketing research firm Marketing Sherpa that shows the top reasons why people unsubscribe from business emails.

A whopping 58% of people unsubscribe because the emails they get are not relevant to them, and 44% unsubscribe because they receive too many emails from the sender.  Notice that those top two issues are completely under the control of you, the sender.

The Big Points

1. Real estate email marketing needs to be primarily about the reader.

When we write content for the ready-to-send email newsletter service we provide for real estate agents, we structure the entire newsletter around fulfilling needs in the life of the reader, not the agent.  If you’re writing your own newsletters, so should you.

(Ultimately, this also fulfills a need in your life by developing trust and positioning you as the expert.)

2.  People are even more protective of their time when it comes to email than they are with direct mail.

It can  be very tempting to overdo it when you use a marketing medium like email.  But opening an email to find an article that reads like it was written on the fly, or that contains just superficial information, feels like a betrayal of trust.

(Worse, how often will people keep opening your emails if they get an email blast every time you put a new listing on the market, or you feel like reminding them that it’s time to move?)

Bottom line?  Email is an ‘abuse it and lose it’ marketing medium.  Unlike direct mail, which you know people are at least going to have in their hands at some point, with email people can completely tune you out.

Whatever you do, don’t send ‘fluffy’ emails to your clients!  This will get easier and easier to do as more companies try to adapt to online marketing, and it’s potentially disastrous.  Things like cute postcards that work for direct mail eventually make people blow a gasket when they receive it in their inbox.

Remember, always focus on your readers’ needs in your emails, and make sure they’re immediately better off because they clicked ‘Open’. 

Better yet, leave it to us!  I value my own time so highly (and have unsubscribed from so many email lists just recently myself) that it’s our personal mission to not waste your clients’ time, and to always make them feel like you provided value with the newsletter we sent to them for you.

The proof is that agents love our email newsletter service, and they get great feedback from their readers.  Click here to find out how you can get started with our done-for-you email newsletter service completely risk-free.

Thinking about sending out a monthly email newsletter to your real estate clients?

The first question to ask yourself is, “What information am I going to be sending?”  Or, more specifically, “Why should someone open this email?”

 This is HUGE.  Let’s face it, can you think of any one of your clients who’s not already bombarded with marketing?  People are so pressed for time these days, and every one of us has to sort through an email inbox that’s cluttered with unwanted correspondence.

How many times can you expect your clients to continue opening emails telling them that you once again sold or listed a home?

On the flip side (and partly because people are so busy) there’s plenty of useful information that homeowners need and are not getting.  Things that you know that can help them increase the value, safety or enjoyment they get from their current or future home.

Let me say that again, because it’s really important:

People need information that helps them increase the value, safety and enjoyment they get from their real estate.

This is how we structure the main content of all our done-for-you real estate e-newsletters at Tools For Real Estate.  After all, can you think of any current or future homeowner who would say “No” if you asked if they’d like to increase the value, safety or enjoyment they got from their home?

No one would say that.  That means it’s a good basis for the content you put in your email newsletter.

If you’re writing your own client e-newsletter check back in to this blog for more tips.  And if you’d like to save yourself some time and stress, please check out our done-for-your email newsletters at  www.ToolsForRealEstate.com.