Most New Year’s resolutions fall to the wayside within a few weeks. We may start with the best of intentions, then life gets in the way. If one of your resolutions was to keep connected to past clients, I’m going to help you keep it! When it comes to something important like marketing, a little planning can help you stay in touch with your clients on a regular basis for the entire year.
As a real estate agent, there are 101 things to stay on top of, with top priority going to your clients. To keep those buyers and sellers coming, you need to keep the pipeline filled – it’s the one thing you must never neglect.
The best way to do this is to plan out your marketing for the year. It makes sense to do this for email because it’s predictable. You can send out a monthly newsletter; easy to schedule. Maybe you want to throw in a half-dozen holiday messages (anything from Family Day to Halloween). You can automate birthday and home purchase anniversary emails as well. The best way to stay on top of this is to put it in a calendar so you must pay attention it.
If you’re not already using an email marketing system, find a system that works for you. You may already be using a CRM with email capabilities built-in (make sure the emails are mobile friendly and provide analytics). Many CRMs do a great job of contact management but don’t really offer what you need to make your emails effective.
Next, customize a template with your branding (some email providers will do this for you) and collect your contacts. You’ll be able to use this template every month, saving you hours of time.
You’ll need to find new content every month. Bookmark some websites that are creating great content, whether it’s a local tourism site, a national newspaper, or a site like Houzz.com, which is constantly adding articles. Here are some tips to save you some time.
An email with articles you’ve handpicked will generate more engagement than a templated newsletter that dozens of other agents may be sending. And with a goal of starting conversations, you’re better off investing a little more in a custom product that outperforms the competition, than a few dollars on something that gets deleted.
Doing a little legwork up front will speed up the process, making your monthly newsletter a breeze.
Mark Brodsky has been working with Realtors since 2008, producing monthly newsletters and social media management. Send him an email or visit his website.
