Despite not hearing back from them,  you just keep on emailing.  Be careful with your emailing lists and re-examine your email list metrics routinely.  Your email needs to be relevant to the recipient in order for them to open it.  It needs to have a targeted message and call to action.  You need to ensure that the person is still interested in purchasing or selling a home in your area.

A recent study by Return Path analyzed 40 emails sent by businesses to former customers.  Despite the previous customer not opening, clicking or buying from the business for over a year and a half, these businesses continued to send email, averaging 9 to 11 messages per month.  Additionally, these continual emails revealed the following:

• Only 12.5% of the businesses tried to win back these customers with a special offer or message aimed at getting them to reactivate their buyer status.
• Only 1 business sent an email asking if it was okay to continue sending email, despite the inactivity.
• None of the businesses offered specifically to change the frequency of emailings or content.
• None of the “reactivate” email messages were customized based on the customer’s previous purchase.

How can you battle email inactivity?

• Ask your recipients questions within the messages to get them engaged.
• Regularly offer a short survey or poll to gather useful market information and gauge their interest.  F
• Frequently re-ask your subscribers if the email frequency is suitable for them.
• Ask them if the content if relevant or if they’d like different contact from you — perhaps they’ve already sold their home or purchased a new one and have a different need for your services.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.  Perhaps their housing needs are set, but they may know someone who needs your services to buy or sell a home.
• Customize your messages for different segments in your email list.  “One size fits all” won’t work for prospects at different points in the decision to buy or sell a home process.
• Send invitations to special events, seminars, open houses, etc. that you or your firm offers.

Let us know how you ensure your email marketing list is a vibrant and active group of people who are still interested in buying or selling a home.

Additionally, connect rates with leads who received an email beforehand showed that the leads were much likelier to be reached by phone.  Conversion rates were much higher as well with the group who received an email before a phone call.

As pointed out in the study, email opens up the door for a conversation, provides a great reference point after the call is complete and is a great follow-up tool for voice mail messages.

Let us know how you use email before and after connecting with home buyers and sellers on the phone.

If you need more inspiration for your blog, be sure to review our blog archive too.  Happy blog posting!

Buyers topic for your blog:

Before buyers start looking for a home, encourage them to get preapproved for a mortgage.  This way, they — and you — know exactly how much home they can afford.  Suggest local lenders as well as directing blog readers to online calculators to help them predict how much they can afford.  With interest rates at historical lows, buyers may even be surprised at how much house they can afford in today’s market!

Sellers topic for your blog:

Sometimes sellers might overlook one area of their home in preparation to sell it.  The garage, shed, basement, cellar or other prime storage areas are often left to the last minute and it shows.  Encourage sellers to spend a little time addressing these spaces before they list their home for sale.  Since these spaces provide storage for so much — cars, tools, toys, gardening equipment, patio furniture, etc. — buyers are inspecting these spaces to make sure that they’ll work for them too.  If they’re too cluttered or dirty, they may dismiss a home as unworkable for them.  Encourage sellers to declutter storage spaces and even sweep and power wash cement floors to make that area really shine.

How long have you been blogging?  Share your blogging experiences with us!

You might have heard of this group as they’re over 100 million strong in the U. S. today. Generally speaking, they are the children of the Baby Boomers and the largest generation.

Generally speaking, most group this generation born between the mid-1980s and late 1990s. Some, obviously, are too young to be in the housing market on their own, but as they come of age, they are a force to be reckoned with. They have grown up comfortable — and expecting — electronics at every turn. Digital gadgets and electronic communication is a given for this group.

Their buying power is huge and as they age, they will be in the market for housing. Beware though that some of this group returns home to their parents’ household in order to save money…and delay finding a home of their own. But, when they are ready, will they be able to find you on the often “electronic-only radar” they use?

What has been your experience working with Gen Y?

And, one of the other trends that is popping up regularly is the increased use of coupons by consumers. Buyers are hunting for bargains where ever they go, taking along money-saving coupons to not only take cents off groceries, but halve the price of a restaurant dinner, a few dollars off an oil change, buy one get one free for entertainment venues, etc.

It’s not like a real estate professional can send out a handy-dandy coupon booklet with offers like $1,000 off your next home purchase and all of them expire on 11/1/10.

Or can you?

There is value in the services your provide before a home is listed or before a home is even decided to be purchased. Home buyers and sellers may not be thinking of the value of these services as their eye is on the goal — the home they are selling or buying.

Consider offering CMAs in coupon form in the local coupon books and packs that get blanketed around neighborhoods. The CMA can also offer a home seller or relocation guide for the homeowner when the coupon is mentioned. Offer a no-obligation buyer consultation coupon with a limited-time offer for a free home buyers guide or guide to the local area. Coupons can work for your business too — if you are creative.

How had your advertising adapted to consumers’ trend toward thriftiness?

However, the gist of these numbers is that a huge majority of real estate professionals NEVER contact home sellers or buyers after the home is sold or purchased. NEVER!

This group of home sellers and buyers is a prime group for you to ask for referrals, to get repeat business, to network with, to get testimonials from.  Why would you work so hard to get a client and then drop them with no further contact?  It seems so obvious, but yet a good number of real estate pros are just leaving additional business on the table.

Referrals won’t come your way if you never touch base with previous clients.  They just gave you a commission and you don’t even say thank you or check in with them?  Why would they be inclined to send their friends and family to you?

Who gives you testimonials if you abandon your previous clients?  Your previous clients are the only ones who have worked with you and know why your service is — or was — the best.

Do you expect that when a previous client decides to sell their home or buy another that they’ll just automatically contact you?  The lack of communication from you doesn’t leave them with anything to remember you by when the time comes for another real estate transaction.

Don’t forget the clients that got you to where you are.  They deserve to be thanked and if you expect a source of additional business coming from them — continued contact is also necessary.

How do you keep up with previous clients?

Buyers could be encouraged to buy homes if….

• 47% said if they could save enough money for a down payment
• 27% said if they got a new job
• 27% said if interest rates stay low/get lower
• 24% said if they decide it makes more sense to buy than to continue to rent
• 23% said if they got a promotion or raise
• 9% said if the local real estate market stabilized

You can work magic to change these renters’ minds now that you know what is holding them back from buying a home.  No, you cannot find these renters new jobs or help them get a promotion or raise.  You alone cannot stabilize the local real estate market.

But you can educate renters.

• How much down payment do renters-turned-home-buyers need in your area for an entry-level property?  Point this in your listing descriptions, your blog, all your marketing.
• What sources for down payment funds can these new buyers tap into?  Outline federal, state and local programs that help with down payment assistance or offer 100% financing.
• Interest rates are at all-time lows.  They aren’t going to stay there forever, but now is the time buyers can get the most for their money.  Explain this in your marketing every chance you can.
• Look at the costs of rentals in your area and compare them to typical home payments.  Add appropriate calculators to your website and blog that show renters the advantages to buying a home today.

When you educate exactly to each point where the renters have issues with buying, you’ll win over new home buyers.

Let us know how you market to renters.

40% of every successful direct mail campaign relies on a solid mailing list.  Your list should:

• Be clean – eliminate duplicates, ensure complete addresses, double check for correct names and/or titles to individuals
• Be targeted – blindly mailing to anyone and everyone is risky; you need to know who in your list is most likely to be in the real estate market to buy or sell a home
• Be timely – examine when your mailing will drop in the mail and on what dates it’s expected to be delivered; be aware of holidays, traditions, school events, etc. that can change people’s schedules and have your mail piece get lost in the shuffle

40% of every successful direct mail campaign relies on the correct message of the mailing piece.  Your message should:

• Be short and sweet – don’t beat around the bush, what is your point of sending this mail piece?
• Have a call to action – what do you want recipients to do when they receive your mail?
• Encourage immediate action – what is the timeline of your offer?

Finally, 20% of every successful direct mail campaign relies on the actual mail pieces format and design.  Your mailing piece design should:

• Grab the recipient’s attention – when sifting through the stack of mail, your mail piece should entice them to open up/read your piece immediately
• Complement your message – the style of your mailing should match your message; consider if your vehicle and message clash
• Stand out – consider if you mail something in an envelope to have the envelope have an visible outside tag line, be a different color or an odd size to stand out.

Meeting all these different criteria is a tall order.  But, it’s good to review each direct mail piece (and electronic marketing pieces too) to see if they measure up to the 40/40/20 rule.

Do you examine your marketing to see if it measures up to the 40/40/20 rule?

• We regularly get direct mail from these neighborhood experts. Many time’s it’s a “just sold” or “just listed” postcard, but sometimes it varies and includes a list of all the listings in our immediate area or mentioning a local event of note to us — concert in the park, etc.
• These real estate experts advertise religiously in our neighborhood newsletter. Not an issue goes by without seeing (now expecting!) an advertisement about their listings and services.
• They are involved in our neighborhood. Go to social events in our subdivision and you see these real estate experts there too. You recognize them not only by name and face from their ads, but you know them because you talk to them frequently — and not always about real estate matters.
• One of the experts has an open house each winter at their home. They invite the neighborhood to stop by, have a bite to eat, chat and drop off a toy for a local toy drive. This good will brings not only more joy to children at the designated charity, but another chance to connect — in person — with not only neighbors and friends, but previous clients — and future clients!

In this day and age of social marketing, it’s great to see examples of real estate professionals who really connect with their community on more than an electronic level.

How are you involved in the communities where you are the real estate expert?

Each and every Sunday we provide one buyers topic and one sellers topic to help you craft a new blog post — or a series — for your blog. When you need more blog topic ideas, go through our blog archive which has a huge number of topics to choose from to help you erase writer’s block.

Buyers topic for your blog:

Buyers today are looking for the best price on the best house.  Showcase your listings.  Link to local service providers to make sure buyers have everything in one stop — lenders, inspectors, etc.  Make it easy for a buyer to have everything necessary to purchase a home in one location when they work with you.

Sellers topic for your blog:

Pricing a home in today’s market is complicated.  Give your would-be home sellers data on what home prices are doing in their neighborhood.  Share examples of homes that sold quickly and what the final sales price was.  Provide them links to listings in their area.  Invite them to all the open houses you have scheduled.  An educated seller is your best client!

We’d love to see how your blog is attracting readers and comments.  Leave a comment and share your blog!