REALTORS® have long known that email marketing works � but how do you turn leads into listings using email marketing? This guide explains.

Email Marketing Basics: How to Turn Real Estate Leads Into Clients

If you're like many agents, you're inundated with requests from marketing firms promising to get you more leads. Your mileage may vary with those firms; some are far more talented and deliver better results than others do. But when it comes to email marketing, you need to know that you can set up and run your own email marketing campaigns and turn leads into listings. First, the basics. Here's what you need to know:

• A drip campaign is an email marketing strategy that involves a series of automated emails sent to people who opt-in.
• You choose the rate at which subscribers receive emails from you.
• You decide what type of content you deliver to your subscribers, and you may deliver different content to different subscribers.
• There are several tools available to create successful drip campaigns; when you use the right tool, you preprogram all your content and let it run itself.
• If you want your email marketing to be successful, you have to find a way to cut through the noise in peoples' inboxes.

Related: The 7 easiest ways to get new clients this year

Drip Campaigns in Real Estate

Before you start creating content, you need to experience a few consumer journeys. You most likely have people:

• Contacting you about specific listings
• Asking for free home valuations
• Downloading your e-books or other assets, such as worksheets, checklists and spreadsheets
• Who reached out to you once but never responded to your follow-ups

Each of these prospective clients is going through a different journey, so it makes sense to approach them all differently. You wouldn't send a series of emails about home staging to a buyer or a series about brushing up your credit score to a seller. Think about topics that would interest your target audience � and use the table below to serve as a springboard for your own ideas.

	Buyers	Sellers	Downloaders	Quiet Leads
Email 1	�Thanks for looking at [address]. You may also be interested in...�	�Thanks for requesting a home valuation. These are the properties for sale near you right now.�	�Thanks for downloading our e-book. You may also be interested in our blog...�	�It's been a while! Here are properties you may be interested in� or �It's been a while! Here are properties for sale near you.�
Email 2	How to Save for a Down Payment	How Long Does it Take to Sell a Home?	Send E-mail 2 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded	Send E-mail 2 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded
Email 3	10 Tips for Boosting Your Credit Score	10 Tips for Staging Your Home for a Quick Sale	Send E-mail 3 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded	Send E-mail 3 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded
Email 4	All About Mortgages	How Much Does Curb Appeal Matter?	Send E-mail 4 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded	Send E-mail 4 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded
Email 5	7 Tips for an Effective Home Search	10 Things You Can Do to Help Your REALTOR Sell Your Home Faster	Send E-mail 4 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded	Send E-mail 4 for buyers or sellers (listed in the columns to the left), depending on the type of asset the client downloaded

You can send as many � or as few � emails as you'd like in your own drip campaign. Generally, the longer you can provide useful content, the better. You may consider sending one email every few days, or one a week; it depends on your market's conditions and how aggressive you want to be with your email marketing efforts. Related: 5 great podcasts for real estate agents

How to Turn Emailed Prospects Into Clients

First things first: These people are already interested in working with you because they �opted-in� to your emails. They viewed a listing, asked you for a home valuation, or downloaded some of your materials. With that said, every successful real estate drip campaign has the following elements in common:

• Catchy, snappy subjects that readers know are from you
• Personalization, such as the person's first name
• A conversational tone so buyers can feel like they're getting to know you through the messages you send
• Useful content, including free information they can use to help them in their journey
• An easy way to contact you

Here's a closer look at each.

Catchy, Snappy Headlines

Don't send emails with boring subject lines � or worse, subject lines that make it all about you. The buyer or seller you're trying to reach wants it to be about them, so think about titles like:

• 7 Sizzling Summer Staging Tips You Can't Afford to Ignore
• Need a Mortgage? Boost Your Credit Score in 3 Easy Steps
• 9 HUGE Mistakes Most Homebuyers Make (But You Can Avoid)

Personalization

Never, ever send an email that isn't personalized to the recipient. All good email marketing software gives you the opportunity to personalize an email with at least a recipient's first name. Failure to personalize an email shows your prospective client that you've put them on autopilot � and though they'll most likely realize that your emails are automated when they're personalized, it shows that you aren't just spamming everyone and seeing what sticks. Related: 9 simple ways to reach real estate clients through video marketing

Conversational Tone

Write like you speak! Think about how you'd tell your favorite client about the topic you're covering, and write it that way. These marketing emails are a way for prospective buyers and sellers to get to know you, your personality, and how you communicate, so make good use of them.

Useful Content

If your emails don't contain anything useful, they'll go straight to the recycle bin. In fact, if your readers find one or two emails that are �thin� in the usefulness department, they're going to send all your future emails straight to their spam folder. Mak sure every email you send has a purpose, and that it's tailored to your audience. You want them to be able to use the information you're taking the time to give them. Related: 5 brilliant branding tips for real estate agents

An Easy Way to Contact You

How awful would it be if someone read your entire email and decided you're the expert they need... but then couldn't figure out how to get in touch with you? It would be terrible � and a waste of your time and money. Never send an email without:

• Your phone number
• A link to your website (even if it's simply to a blog post they may enjoy)
• Your email address

A Word on Frequency for Real Estate Drip Campaigns

A good rule of thumb is to send one or two emails a week. You shouldn't send more than two; if you do, you risk looking like a spammer or being tripped up in an email filtering program.

The Biggest Factor in Turning Leads Into Clients

Regardless of how amazing your graphics are, how much time you spent crafting them, or how useful your content is to prospective clients, there's one thing that stands far above the rest: Your ability to get in touch with people who reach out to you. If a lead contacts you, you need to respond within minutes. Not hours... minutes. That's because when a person is scouring the internet and wants to get in touch with someone, they want someone right now. If you're slow to respond, they'll move on to the next agent they feel comfortable reaching out to; at that point, it's a game of who gets in touch first. Related: 7 social media marketing tips that can supercharge your real estate business

Ready to Explore Your Career With Benchmark Realty, LLC?

If you're an agent who's ready to explore your options with a brokerage that has your back, discover Benchmark. Take a few moments to learn about our company and what we offer � including:

• Three simple broker plans, all with 100 percent commission
• Cutting-edge marketing tools and consistent training, all free to you
• 24/7 access to any Benchmark office
• No franchise fees, no desk fees and no technology fees

When you're ready, apply to join the Benchmark family. With offices all over Middle Tennessee, including Nashville, Clarksville, Cool Springs, Murfreesboro and Hendersonville, there's a place for you to be better... Be Benchmark. [gravityform id="12" title="true" description="true"]