We all know real estate marketing newsletters are important. Or at least we should know. (Took me years to catch on to exactly how important they were.)
Unfortunately, email is a much more complicated process than hitting send. There are a variety of factors, including design, responsiveness (making sure it looks good on a cell phone) and overall page load. (Bulky, image-heavy emails can take FOREVER to load.)
So, it’s important that you find a template that does most of your email heavy lifting, so you have more time to do more fruitful stuff. (Like go get a latte!)
Here are five templates you can use to crate real estate marketing newsletters that are engaging, easy-to-implement, and ultimately lead to additional revenue.
How to Use Templates for Your Real Estate Marketing Newsletters
Option #1 (Simple): Plain Text (Nuthin’ at All)
This is by far the cheapest template of all. And that’s not using any kind of template. Just some text and some links…and virtually nothing else.
This isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Sending out text-only emails can be surprisingly effective. I think this is because most of the other email crap people get, while they’re looking to buy the house, looks like a brochure. Whereas your email, with just words on a screen, comes off as genuine and authentic. (Even if you’re neither.)
I think this approach works really well if you’re a one-man or one-woman shop who caters to buyers. If your secret sauce is a personal relationship or you work with first-time homebuyers and boomers who want their hand held during the process then I think this is a great approach. (You will really stand out.)
That’s why I don’t think you should use it if you’re part of a big shop or dealing in luxury or commercial. You will really stand out.
=>Pros: Simple; cheap; personal; good email deliverability; better for buyers
=>Cons: Not corporate; not ideal for commercial or luxury; avoid with sellers
Option #2: (Done-for-You) Use the Template That Comes With Your Email Service
Whether you use Constant Contact or Aweber — or my new fave ConvertKit — you’ll find most email autoresponder services have more than a few email templates to choose from.
The trouble with that is:
- The templates are a bit generic; hard to customize
- There’s too many to choose from (at least for my ADD brain)
Now, the more expensive an email marketing service you use, the more deluxe whiz-bang choices you’ll have. (MailChimp, on the cheaper end, has a lot less choice than Active Campaign.) And there are some templates out there are pretty good and can serve as one of your most valued real estate marketing tools.
Here a couple of tips to using your in-house template:
- Perfection is the enemy of done – Meaning it’s much better to have a semi-decent template – and be sending email out — than to wait for that perfect template. You just want to send stuff out.
- Let a designer take a whack at customizing — Unless you’re really good at color schemes – I’m not — and know how to make things look less sucky, better to let somebody take a crack at getting the look and feel you want.
- Ask your rep for conversion rates – This data may not be available from all platforms. Some are paranoid about this stuff. But give ’em a call and say: “I’m looking for a good real estate template. Can you give me intel on which ones perform best?” Who knows, they might just help you out.
- Search for examples – Here’s a trick: take the exact unsubscribe phrase at the bottom of your email “To unsubscribe to this email, you must perform a back flip” and then Google with terms like “real estate” and “realtor.” You should get some visual examples of fellow agents using the same service. Might give you some good ideas.
=>Pros: Cheap (comes with your email service); Much of it is done-for-you; Works seamlessly for email delivery
=>Cons: Not always customizable; may need tweaking to not look sucky; can look generic
Option #3: (Visually-Stunning) Envato Market
Envato Market is like one of those indoor artisanal, hipster shopping districts. Only about creative web assets. (And with a lot less gelato.)
Under the Envato Market umbrella they’ve got tons of little “shops” such as ThemeForest (great place for WordPress website themes), Photodune (good place for stock photos), and AudioJungle & VideoHive — both great for adding stock clips (like intros and outros) to your video.
But for our all-powerful real estate newsletter, we want to focus on Graphic River. With nearly 4200 options to choose from, Graphic River will definitely have something awesome for ya.
Here are a couple of tips when using Graphic River:
- Make sure the template is responsive. That it adjusts for mobile. This is crucial.
- Make sure the template is fully-editable. Every element must be editable. Otherwise you could get stuck with irrelevant crap.
- Make sure the template comes in a PSD format. Your designer will know how to use this.
- Make sure the template is clean. Doesn’t have a lot of clutter. Looks pleasing to the eye.
- Buy 4-5 and have your friends and family vote. At only $5-$10 a piece, this is worth it. You want to make sure the template you choose communicates exactly what you want it to.
=>Pros: Visually-stunning; Professional; Lots of choice
=>Cons: Requires some development to customize and install; lots of choice
Option #4: (Custom) Make Your Own Template
- Do some research and find newsletter elements that you like. (Canva is a good tool for this. But you can also collect examples at GraphicRiver. Or simply subscribe to a bunch of real estate marketing newsletters and see what elements you like.
- Hire a designer to create a PSD version of your custom template. The more specific you are about what you want, the better it will be.
- Hammer out a finalized version you like and have the designer install on your email service.
I helped this one realtor client of mine who specialized in commercial properties in distressed downtown neighborhoods. He wanted something grung-y but corporate. (Yeah, it didn’t really make sense to me either.)
We realized we needed to customize his real estate newsletter. So, that’s what we did.
We found a bunch we liked, and even more we didn’t like, and then sent them to a designer. (This custom design increased open rates by 15% and conversion rates by 9%!)
=>Pros: Control over design; You’ll get exactly what you want
=>Cons: Requires development; You have to know what you want
What’s Your Take on Templates for Real Estate Marketing Newsletters?
Have you tried using templates for your real estate marketing newsletters? Got a resource I didn’t mention? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Facebook Comments