Step-by-Step: Email Marketing That Works

If you don’t have a good email marketing campaign, you’re missing out on easy business. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide that will literally turn email into money…

Step 1: Get an “Edge”

Check out this video. This is the owner of GoDaddy (one of the Internet’s most profitable companies) telling you that you need an “edge.” Although an “edge” can be pretty much anything that is useful to your customers, consider these “edges” for “Yee Olde Real Estate Company”:

• Real-Time House-Price Trending for South Chicago
• ONLY 10% Cap-Rate or higher Revenue Properties in Calgary
• Monthly Condo Conversion Opportunities in Vancouver
• This Month’s Best University Area Family House Deals in Edmonton
• The House-Flipper Expert – Exclusively for Flippers
• etc…

Once you’ve got an “edge,” you’ve got a target market, and it’s time for Step 2.

Step 2: Start a Blog to Facilitate QUICK Access to RELEVANT Information

Readers want useful information QUICKLY – You’ve got 1/2 second to get someone’s attention, and that’s it. So, an email needs to be short and sweet, but still allow access to a range of relevant information quickly. Here’s how you do it:

1. Write 1-2 articles per week that are relevant to your “Edge.” This will take some time in the beginning, but as you write more, you’ll find it easier and easier to create great, useful content that your target will want/need to read.
2. Create compelling headlines. Which would get your attention: “Great Revenue Property In Calgary,” or, “12% Cap Rate: Best Deal In East Calgary.”
3. Links to you and your site. People that read the article are interested and should be no more than 1 click away from contacting you, or finding more information. Always have your phone number/email obvious, and have links throughout your site for more information.

A quick note about content: Make sure your content is compelling – I’ve seen blogs that basically have 2 articles: “The Market is going Up,”  and “The Market is Going Down.” How boring is that? Be diligent to keep your articles original and compelling, with information that you yourself find useful and interesting.

Step 3: Get a Mailer Program

RPM Agent comes with a fully integrated drip-email program that allows you to create and manage email campaigns. Other options include Constant Contact, Streamsend, and Tellemonline. Some are more expensive than others, and require duplicating your client lists on multiple servers.

We highly recommend using an integrated service (like ours) to save you a lot of administrivia time.

Step 4: Create a Subscriber List

Everyone you meet that expresses even a remote interest in your “edge” should in your mailing list (with their permission, of course). This includes:

• friends and family
• past customers
• people you meet at weddings
• people that sign up through your website
• etc.

Don’t worry if your list is small to begin with – just be diligent about maintaining and adding to it regularly.

Step 5: Decide on the Campaign Details

Is it monthly, bi-weekly, or what? I recommend starting monthly and then increasing to bi-weekly once you’re in the rhythm of things. If you start too aggressively, you may find yourself rushing out poor content just to keep up with your campaign frequency.

Step 6: Create a Compelling Email

For every mail out, choose the top 3 headlines from your last two weeks (or month, depending on your campaign frequency). Put them in a nicely formatted email with LINKS to the full article on your blog. DON’T FORGET THE LINKS – After all, driving traffic to your website is the whole point. Use the mailer program to personalize the message to your subscribers.

Don’t dress the email up with pictures/backgrounds/etc. as they will be ignored by most of your readers.

Step 7: Click Send and Watch Readership Statistics

Click send. If your website has good statistical trending, you’ll be able to see which articles are read most, which will allow you to further refine your “edge” and to create more focused content to increase readership.

Step 8: Be Consistent

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see results immediately. Like any marketing campaign, consistency is the key. If you don’t start seeing results within 4 months, however, I recommend refining your “edge” and taking a look at the quality of content you’re creating.