There are many technology solutions, aka “shiny objects“, real estate agents can use today that provide real estate marketing automation. Automation is great, but if you want it to work for you you MUST personalize it. The point of this post is to help you avoid OVERAUTOMATING your AUTOMATION.
What?
People ultimately do business with agents they know, like, and trust, right? Do you know, like, and trust bots or people?
When your “automation” is not personalized it feels robotic and loses it’s authenticity. This loses the very “connection” needed to engage in conversations and convert potential clients to appointments.
Real estate marketing automation will help you do more with less work, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by not personalizing it. Automation needs to appear natural, not robotic.
It’s more important to humanize your brand than it is to tell about how long you been in the business.
Let’s first talk about real estate marketing automation through traditional database marketing strategies.
Traditional Template Email Marketing “Turn Back The Clock”
How do you think people really feel about your turn back the clock emails? Let’s face it, it’s spam. Have you ever received an email from a financial planner talking about something as interesting as turning back your clocks?
Did it annoy you?
Did you delete it?
The entire goal of sending out an email to your database is to reconnect with them. The goal should be to nurture your relationship and stay on top of mind for their future referral and repeat business(nearly 70% of agent business is from referral and repeat clients).
If your email has a better chance of annoying someone than making them laugh, it is NOT a good marketing activity. Don’t fall into the Realtor trap of sending boring templated emails just to check the box and because some guru told you to. If you are going to send emails to your database then make them count.
What Can You Do Instead?
I highly suggest using video emails to your database instead. If you use the right subject lines and correct strategy you will get more of your emails opened and will connect much deeper with your audience. Let’s look at this recent Fathers Day Video I did to my database.
Subject Line: So grateful
Email copy:
Fathers Day is very special to me, but does anyone really know how and why we celebrate it? I find history pretty interesting and thought that maybe this would serve as some good conversation while you are out and about with the “fathers” in your life.
This tradition is 107 years old!
I am very thankful for the “Fathers” in my life, but I am also vey thankful for you. It’s because of my network who trusts me with their referrals that I am able to strive in my real estate business.
So to this fathers day I also cheers to you. It means more to me than I can ever express.
Watch the video now to see how Fathers Day came about!
Enjoy,
I use the Hallmark greeting strategy as the excuse to stay in front of my network. The reason I use this is because it’s an easy excuse to send the email in the first place. I use creative subject lines and entertaining Holiday trivia to make it somewhat entertaining.
People don’t want to talk about real estate unless they are in the market.
Therefore don’t always talk about real estate. Do you talk about real estate all the time with your friends? Then you shouldn’t with your database as well.
There is a major difference between marketing and advertising. One of the problems I see many agents facing is they confuse the two.
For some reason real estate agents are led to believe that “marketing their brand” must always involve the buying or selling process. I say screw that because everyone lives somewhere don’t they? It’s not a matter of if they move, it’s a matter of when they move. I want to market my brand in a sell without selling type of way. The goal of marketing your database should be to establish name brand recognition. You want everyone you know to instantly think of your brand when they think of real estate. That’s how you run a full attraction based business.
What email do you think will connect better with your database? Which one is more memorable?
The same is true for social media. I see agents all the time looking for some type of real estate marketing automation service for social media, but the truth is that you cannot outsource authenticity.
For example: the people you are “friends” with on Facebook are connecting to you as an individual. Therefore using a social media real estate marketing automation service comes off as non-authentic. Nobody can be you, but you. Let me show you what I mean.
Which post do you think has a longer last effect?
Automation Service
Personal Post
This agent ended up having over 30 reactions, 9 comments, and a few shares. He’s not trying to chase leads, he’s nurturing relationships because he understands how referral and repeat business works and where it comes from. He creates short entertaining videos to “remind” his network what he does.
Real Estate Marketing Automation To Cold Leads
Let’s switch gears and talk about using real estate marketing automation to cold lead generating sources like paid internet leads or website opt ins.
Are you using drip email campaigns for your online leads you are getting? Are you seeing results?
There’s a reason why so many drip email campaigns are not generating the results they used to. People want to do business with people, not robots.
Think about it. You need to put yourself in the consumers shoes. They are bouncing around Zillow and Trulia inquiring on several properties. They input their info looking to get information on a specific property. They have no idea who the hell you are and certainly won’t 7 days into your “drip” campaign either. The key to following up on Zillow leads is NOT through drip email, it’s through following up immediately, personalization, and humanization.
The agents who are absolutely killing it on Zillow right now all have one thing in common. They are expert conversationalists. I asked one agent what his secret was for Zillow. I wanted to know why he was converting at such a high rate.
His answer: “Mike, I talk about their fucking dog for 15 minutes before I start talking about real estate”.
He forms a relationship first through personalizing and humanizing his brand and then asks for an appointment.
You can’t script for Authenticity either.
Want to know what kind of real estate marketing automation services are way outperforming the old school “drip” email campaigns?
One that incorporate video email or text messaging autoresponders.
The reason why these work so well is because the channel of communication is personable and our “leads” are more likely to connect with a human than an autoresponder.
The goal of your leads is not to convert them, it’s to form a relationship with them and start a conversation. The sooner you can have a conversation on the phone, the sooner you can beginning building rapport and trust.
Lets use some examples:
This is a service we highly recommend called Call Action.
This is a short conversation from a Zillow lead. Using text message to automate your follow up to leads is genius because who the hell doesn’t check or respond to texts.
The goals should be to create engagement because that creates conversation, which creates trust, which creates CONVERSION.
Here is a “Drip” real estate marketing automation email.
Which one do you think has a better chance to start a conversation?
This is a video I made for an expired or cancelled campaign. This would be my first response to an opt in from my website targeting hard to sell properties. I use a service called BombBomb.
I’ll ask you the same question. Which do you think will convert better?
Real estate marketing automation is awesome, but if you want it to work for you make sure you personalize and humanize it so it connects with people. People want sincerity and honesty. Don’t send your leads to a robot, send them to something more personal.
Quit being so professional and start being more personable on everything you do and you will begin ATTRACTING business instead of chasing it!