Building Relationships through Email Marketing

 May 1, 2007

Email marketing can be an inexpensive and quick way of reaching a very large audience. While for many big companies, SPAM filters and email overload has made it increasingly harder to promote a business using email, the same does not necessarily hold true for Real Estate professionals. Given the nature of the relationships created in Real Estate, most Real Estate email marketing is inherently permission-based marketing. Permission-based marketing means that your contacts have provided you with their contact details directly in some way, usually as a request for some information, and will likely expect to hear from you at some point.

Potential Targets for Email Marketing Communication

  • Past and current clients
  • Prospective clients
  • Potential buyers
  • Title company contacts, inspectors, other vendors
  • Fellow agents
  • Local press contacts

Even with permission-based marketing, just emailing general advertisements may be ignored by the recipient unless you strive to provide engaging, useful content. Short bits of information, such as main tips when buying/selling a house and local market trends are ways to keep your audience reading your emails.

Key Components of the Email Message

  • A catchy headline
  • A recognizable company name in the “from” box so they’ll know it’s from you
  • Engaging content
  • A simple one-click link to get to your website
  • Your contact information

Engaging Real Estate Email Content

  • New Listings with Open House information
  • What to Know When Buying / Selling your Home Guide
  • Information about Your Services, including Testimonials
  • New Staff or New Service Announcements
  • Local Market Condition Updates
  • Information about Recent Sales in the Neighborhood
  • Interest Rate & Mortgage Trends
  • Holiday Greetings / Annual Newsletter

The main steps to email marketing are very similar to direct mail marketing, but without errands to the printer or the post office. Essentially you have to define what you want to say, identify who you you want to say it to, and create and actually send the information.

Email Marketing Steps

  • Collect Names and Email Addresses into one Centralized Contact Manager
    • Gather email addresses at open houses
    • Encourage your website visitors to sign up for valuable information on your web site
    • Gather business cards from business resources and other agents
    • Gather contact information at local events with giveaways, raffles and request for information
  • Organize your Email Contacts into Logical Groups based on Types of Emails you Plan to Send Design and Create Emails
  • Send Emails to a Targeted Subset of Your Email Addresses

While you can manage email marketing to a small group of contacts through your personal email service, there are several resources that are optimized to help you design compelling emails, maintain large contact lists, and manage and track multiple email campaigns. For example, iHOUSE recently launched its MarketReach Email Marketing Program. MarketReach is designed to drive traffic to your website and keep buyers and sellers coming back for more. With MarketReach, you»ll have access to over 100 attractive eCards as well as email property flyers and real estate-oriented articles, and a simple-to-use contact manager that allow you to get started within just minutes. You’ll also gain access to the iHOUSE Contact Database, which includes relevant Real Estate contacts in your area as determined by zip code.


Robert Warner

By Robert Warner

Robert Warner started with iHOUSEWeb back in 2009 in the Customer Service Department helping over 10,000 clients with all of their Real Estate Website questions. After launching the YouTube training videos for iHOUSEWeb he moved up to the marketing department where he helps design and write marketing materials as well as managing the Social Media side of iHOUSEWeb.