4 Proven Email Marketing Templates

Email is still one of the most effective and personalized ways for businesses to communicate with their audience

Alex Cattoni always has great tips for people looking to upgrade their marketing performance and she does exactly that on email marketing

6 Real Estate Email Marketing Strategies That Are Crushing It In 2020

In the 90s property was THE huge industry to be in (it's still a good one).

These days online marketing is huge.

So what happens when one supports the other? Over to Greg N Reed to give an insight into email marketing for real estate:

Email marketing is alive and well in 2020. With 260 billion emails opened every day, it's not disappearing soon.

But in a world where attention is king, many real estate agents have opted out of email marketing for the more trendy social media marketing.

BIG MISTAKE.

The biggest mistake is with ownership. You don't own the lists on your favourite social media platform and that is costly. Get shut down by Facebook and your '25,768 followers' are gone.

But email is totally different. You own your lists!

The other big mistake agents make with email is that they are boring and don't know how to engage with prospects. With lousy open rates and pathetic engagement it's no wonder why real estate agents have moved away from email marketing.

But they shouldn't. So let's fix that.

According to Emma here's how we should start:

1. Real estate email marketing strategies - start with an actionable welcome

Let's start with the first, and most important, email-the welcome email.

A welcome email is a great way to introduce both cold and warm leads to your services. Your customer may have opted in at an open house or your website, or they may be someone you've gotten through a referral.

You could also send a welcome email after your first contact with your prospects. This could be after the first day of house-hunting or following an initial consultation about selling their home.

At any rate, a welcome email will thank subscribers for opting-in and give them two critical pieces of information:

• What kinds of emails to expect from you in the future
• Why you're the best agent to help them buy or sell their home.

Competition is fierce among realtors, so this is your way of getting the jump on the competition and positioning your brand for success.

No matter how you design your welcome email, make sure it's clear and actionable.

That means there should be a prominent call-to-action (CTA) to schedule a phone call or meeting, connect on social media, or even a request to be "white-listed" so that your emails don't end up in the spam folder.

And our friends at Stepps agree:

Strong Email Subject Lines
Strong subject lines are the secret sauce of email marketing. It's the first thing people see when they open their inbox-a first impression of your content.

A recent Sendpulse survey revealed that roughly 62% of subscribers read emails when the subject line is interesting. If your content is compelling enough, consumers won't care too much about how often you send them emails.

That said, anything too vague will immediately get sent to spam or be deleted by the email user. Same goes for anything too direct (like an obvious sales pitch) or something that implies that the mailing is part of a big email blast.

A strong subject line can capture the reader's attention immediately, but not give anything away in the process.

Sacha Ferrandi of Source Capital Funding gives a good example of this:

• Bad - "Learn About an Amazing Property (Address) In the Centennial Park Area"
• Good - "Updated Information Regarding Your Neighborhood Property Values"

Notice how the second option entices the audience to read more? The "Bad" option gives everything away immediately and users don't need to look any further to know what this is about.

Best Practices for Email Subject Lines

• Short and Sweet: Campaign Monitor found that email subject lines containing just 65 characters have hit the email sweet spot and that most email subject lines have 41-50 characters (which is about 5-9 average-length words).
• Personalize it: Experian Marketing Services found that personalized subject lines-think names, neighbourhoods, listings-result in a 26% higher open rate.
• Take note of the pre-header text-also known as the first 40 characters of the email. Make use of this section to expand on the email subject, and ensure you've strung together the characters that drive clicks.
• Do A/B Testing: Test out different lengths, different sentence structures, lines that use numbers or statistics versus ones that don't. Don't forget to test how the subject line length reads across different devices, too. Most email service providers offer a function that allows you to preview how your email will read on iPhone, laptops, etc.

GetResponse has a feature that shows you the effectiveness of your subject line and it also has an A/B testing feature. If you haven't yet picked an email service provider (ESP) to use for your real estate email marketing, it's a great option for beginners.

Interesting content keeps readers... interested according to Emma

2. Add value with a newsletter full of relevant, interesting content.

Your prospects want to know that you're an expert in the local market. There's no better way to convey your expertise than in an email newsletter packed full of relevant, helpful information.

Not only do newsletters feature your own realty services, but they also keep you at the forefront of the prospects' minds while they're deciding how to proceed.

Newsletters can also keep you connected with former clients-especially the ones that might refer you to their friends.

Provide interesting, relevant content like the articles and tips found in newsletters, can be incredibly effective for your real estate business. Your newsletters should be short, skimmable documents with content that's engaging and shareable.

Here's a sample of one that also includes a video and visual graphics for those that want to skim for important information.

Be careful with your newsletters, though. Don't ever send one without the permission or expectation of your prospect.

Sending newsletters to a brand-new lead can impact your chance of conversion. Here are some of the things you can include in your newsletter to educate and entertain:

• Recent or upcoming events
• Focus on local restaurants or businesses
• New homes listed or sold
• Open houses
• Mortgage news/advice

Here's an example of a variety of newsletter topics sent out by an agent:

Finally, your email newsletter is a marketing device, so it's okay to softly sell your services through those homes bought/sold announcements or through invites to open houses.

Just don't make it the focus of your newsletter.

Real estate email marketing strategies must be engaging.

Brandon Stewart backs up Emma's strategy.

By consistently sharing engaging newsletters, Brandon has built a growing, loyal community.
What started as a list of about 300 people has grown to over 3,000 subscribers. And with open rates reaching double the industry average, it's clear Brandon is offering his subscribers something of value, while also allowing them to get to know, like, and trust him.

"Through my newsletters I'm able to bring something completely different to the real estate market," he explains. "Most realtors only focus on sales numbers and how prices have decreased on increased throughout the year. I'm able to bring content with significance beyond just the numbers."

3.A Clear and Concise Call to Action

Most agents send emails to convince the reader to take some sort of action. The agent is responsible for making sure the reader knows what they are supposed to do, so tell recipients what action to take on a given email and be specific about how they should use the information.

For example, ask them to request a comparative market analysis NOW or just to visit, like, or comment on your social media sites. When creating your calls to action, or CTAs, use action verbs. For example, "download your free e-book now" is more compelling than a button that just says "e-book."

Make sure it is obvious as to what you want them to do: capture their attention with bold links, brightly coloured buttons, or even arrows to help direct their eyes to your CTA.

Be honest. There's enough clickbait circulating the web as it is. If your CTA is just clickbait, it may appear disingenuous and turn them off. It pays to be honest. (thanks Stepps team)

4. Captivate interested sellers with emails.

Sellers want to know what their home is worth and whether or not you're the right person to trust with its sale.

Answering both questions is important, so keep in touch with them via email to prompt them to action.

Your end goal is to meet your client in person to discuss their needs in-depth, so all emails should prompt a CTA to a meeting, or at least a phone call.

This is critical since 70% of home sellers interview just one agent before signing a contract, and only 4% of them get in touch with that agent through a website. Here's a simple email that can get the job done:

Standing out from the crowd and forming that relationship is predicated on a face-to-face meeting, so offer a comparative market analysis of their home after an in-home assessment.

One of the best real estate marketing ideas is what this agent has done at the bottom of the email, including a CTA that offers a free guide that helps clients get more money for their homes.

The added caution here is not to overdo the listing email strategy too much UNLESS the reader is an active buyer or seller (Emma)

5. Bringing Back The Dead - Special care for former clients to promote lead generation

Referrals are the mainstay of a real estate agent's business. The NAR states that 40% of buyers and 38% of home sellers choose realtors that have been referred to them by a neighbor, friend, or relative.

You need to plan carefully when marketing to former customers. They probably know all they need to know about the current real estate market, so include newsletters that focus on home and garden tips or local events instead.

Another approach is to forego newsletters and send personalized emails that are less frequent.

You can use the anniversary of their move to touch base with them or send holiday greetings to keep your name in the forefront of their minds. Personal greetings also let them know you value your relationship with them.

Here's an email invite to a holiday party-a great way to get up close and personal with former clients:

If you're an independent agent, don't worry-you don't have to throw a party to maintain relationships. Sending a card is just fine. The goal is to stay in touch and build trust.

Bringing back the dead is a difficult task but one that should be part of real estate agent email marketing strategies.

6. Maintain the connection using automation

You should put an automated email system in place to send transactional emails that are triggered by customer behavior.

If a prospect opts-in to your email newsletter, requests information online, or takes some other action on your website, send them an email.

Make it personal, because personalization is the key to more conversions and can increase the ROI of your email marketing campaign.

Conclusion

We've looked at a number of real estate marketing ideas that will boost your profile among your competitors and help you stand out in a crowded industry.

Supplying your customers with unique, relevant content and staying in touch with them every step of their buying or selling journey is critical for converting leads into clients.

And in real estate, keeping former clients connected and feeling valued is essential for earning the high volumes of referrals that are necessary for real estate success.

Email is definitely not dead and should be a major part of any real estate agents approach of keeping in contact with prospective buyers and sellers. Industry experts Emma and Stepps agree.

About the author: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Greg_N_Reed/245120

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10351678 

Best Video Marketing Tips You Should Know About

Video marketing is very much our theme these last few days

Showcasing your product or service is key

Keeping things simple is a good tip

Keeping things interesting is a better tip

... and stay consistent to your overall strategy

I'll let Cameron Nvack explain in the article that follows

If you're responsible for marketing a business, you need to get involved with making videos for your company. No two ways about it; video marketing is an effective and evolving tool for marketing that nearly every marketing manager can benefit from. Check out the tips in the following article to get started on your video marketing campaign today.

Don't be afraid of complex video marketing strategies. It is simple to make a good video with basic equipment. You can show customers your workplace, manufacturing centre or just discuss your expertise.

Videos can easily be used to explain your products or services to potential customers. Seeing how a product works will help your customers understand how to use your product and why buying from you is preferable to other sellers. So, learning to make videos to explain what you are selling will easily help build your customer base.

After you have published your video, include your web address in the video description. You will also want to include several keywords that describe your video in the description. This will help users find your information and search engines effectively rank your video. Your web address can also be included in your video.

When shooting a video it is okay to keep things simple with your equipment. In most cases, it's not the technical brilliance of the clip that achieves the desired results. Some of the most basic video marketing has been done by large corporations like Dell or Apple.

Remember how important a catchy title is to the success of your video. More viewers will be interested in your videos if the titles make sense and attract their attention. This is what makes them more interested in the topic you're discussing. Take some time to brainstorm titles that are creative if you want your video marketing to be successful.

If you are thinking of using video marketing to increase your sales and website traffic, then look to your competition for some clues. See what is working for them and try to capitalize off of this information. You do not have to copy them, but see what is working for them and try to make it work for you.

Don't only rely on videos in your marketing campaign. They are great marketing tools, however, they should not replace your other marketing tactics. Videos should not replace content creation like article writing or blogging. Videos should simply be used to enhance the content in your marketing campaign and to build up your link portfolio.

The content you use needs to be interesting. Make your video really pack a punch. Popular video hosting sites such as YouTube can expose you to many potential customers, but there is no way to attract them with boring videos. A lot of people want to watch videos that are relevant. Interesting videos ultimately increase traffic.

Maybe you aren't going to be the star of your show, but you do need to find a good spokesperson or mascot to help market your videos. Try to find somebody that is natural when speaking and generally makes people around them feel comfortable. People want to watch somebody they feel that they can trust.

If you have a product that is quite difficult to use, you should create a video that will give step-by-step directions to users. They will appreciate the time you took to explain your products to them. This will make it more likely they will come to you when looking for additional products.

Keep in mind that some people surf the Internet using large screen televisions for their monitors. YouTube accepts large video files now. So, do not turn your nose up at high-definition content. Someone looking at your content on a fifty-inch plasma will not buy from you if they just see pixels.

Make sure each video contains a clear call to action. Inform your viewers of where your products and services are located and insist that they act immediately. Make it easy for your visitors to follow through by making your instructions simple and clear. Specific, bold calls to action are smart ways to conclude your videos.

Perfection is not your goal! You do not need professional equipment to create quality videos. A webcam or a basic camera will be enough. Also, if you have a cell phone with a video camera on it, you can utilize it for your work. So long as you have solid information and remain professional, people are going to watch your videos.

Try to let your unique personality come through in your videos. Your audience is predominantly interested in seeing exactly what you have to offer. The more viewers feel that they know you, the more likely they are to develop a relationship with your brand and not with your competitors! Many customers appreciate the chance to link a friendly face to a company and its products and services.

Don't think in terms of a single video. Think of an entire series of videos, which can become a marketing campaign. If you create a show which appears every week on a specific topic, for example, people will come back to see what's new, and you'll grow a loyal viewer base.

Once you begin with video marketing, you'll probably find it impossible to stop. It's effective, easy, cost-effective and really fast to produce! It can also put your business on the Internet map, boosting your customer base right along with the bottom line. Get started soon and realize your potential in video marketing.

Cameron Nyack is an Accountant and Business Consultant currently involved in the TeleMedicine field, a fast-growing part of the healthcare system and is looking for Independent Brokers. Learn more about Cameron at his website, http://cameronnyack.com

About the author: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cameron_Nyack/2629136

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10072351

How to Build an Email List Fast and for Free — 5 List Building Tips

This week my blog has been featuring content on mailing lists and autoresponders.

I feel this great video from Think Media really underlines the reasons why your online business needs to concentrate on creating and servicing a mailing list.

It also gives 5 fantastic tips on how to go about it.