Are Email Campaigns Still Effective? [Dear Ginny, WTH?]

“Dear Ginny, WTH?” which is like a “Dear Abby” column for real estate objections. If you have a tough client or a marketing problem, “Dear Ginny, WTH?” is for you. Questions can be funny, they can be serious, it doesn’t matter, just ask!

Dear Ginny,

What are your thoughts on email blasts and email campaigns?  I delete just about everyone I get, but I’ve been using the internet since Al Gore invented it, so I’m a bit jaded.  Do people really want listings advertised to them?  Do they care if you send them the newest info on the market?  Are we just creating a new kind of waste (all the electricity used to send and receive emails instead of all the dead trees)?  What’s effective and what’s a waste of time?

The irony is not lost on me that I just emailed this to you.

Matt Stigliano, The Real Estate Rock Star

Dear Matt,

I understand that emails can get monotonous, not unlike the great inventor of the internet himself, but they do still serve as an effective way to communicate. Yes, you may get dozens and dozens of emails per day, most of which you’ve probably opted into that you delete before opening. But what do you see before you delete it? You see the sender and you see the subject line, and sometimes even a preview of the message depending on your email viewer.

With email messages and marketing campaigns there are layers of engagement and multiple opportunities for brand impressions. You should put strategy and thought into each layer and opportunity.

First is your email address and the subject line. Hopefully your email address represents you as a brand, that is to say it has your broker web site extension, your name or your branded name attached to it. Just say no to the Hotmail, AOL, Comcast, Yahoo, Gmail, and all the rest for your professional life.

Second, what are you putting in the subject line? If it’s a listing alert does it say the number of new listings? Does it show some sort of real time status in the subject, like price reduced or new pictures added? You’ll get a better open rate with that type of provocative copy. It also makes the communication more relevant to the recipient. The higher the relevancy the deeper the engagement.

If it’s a newsletter or some other opt-in drip campaign, the subject line should be relevant to the subject matter, obviously, but you don’t have to get overly clever. A newsletter can have a subject line that says “Ginny’s 3/09 Real Estate Update”. As the recipient, this type of consistency breeds confidence. Subject lines are very important and can be the difference in an open or not open.

What are your open rates? Do you monitor them? Do you try different subject lines or content to see if it swings your open rate? Do you measure click throughs? What are your success metrics? You do want recipients to open your emails, but at what rate? And, do you want them to click to a web page, download your latest, greatest to-do list for preparing your home for sale or call you for a checklist of hidden defects to look for when buying a home?  What’s in it for the recipient to open your email? Content matters.
 
And know that successful open rates will differ for listing alerts and monthly emails.

I guess I would say that you should have a plan (target audience, content and frequency) and then set the metrics of success for each email campaign, measure and test the heck out of them and adjust accordingly.

Yes, Algore-ithm invented of the internet which has put us on our computers 24/7 which has created more global warming. Oops.

Algore tribute: https://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/politics/video/play.shtml?mea=229115

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