Four Reasons Why You Should Use SMS Marketing for Your Real Estate Business
Creating a successful real estate business requires more than just selling properties. To survive and flourish in the industry, real estate professionals must build a reputable brand and make themselves known. Because of this reality, marketing is not just an additional task but a crucial component of any real estate business.
Although it is easy to rely on emails, social media, and other digital marketing strategies to get ahead of the competition, you should never underestimate the value of traditional platforms like short message service (SMS) or text messaging. Integrating SMS in your marketing plan is a straightforward solution to reach qualified customers and promote your business.
It is necessary to point out that SMS marketing no longer means crafting and sending text messages to different prospects and existing clients individually. Today, SMS marketing software applications are available for realtors to automate the process of sending photos, pricing, and other relevant information to clients, such as the products offered by Pro Agent Solutions.
Are you still unconvinced? If so, here are four specific ways how using SMS marketing can add value to your line of work:
Instant Connection with Clients
Responding to clients’ inquiries on time is a fundamental customer service best practice for real estate agents and firms. Clients expect a prompt response to their queries and requests for information. A prospective client who fails to hear from you in the same morning or afternoon that they contacted you will most likely find another agent who will provide speedier service.
Since there are close to two million licensed agents in the United States, you need to set yourself apart and be more responsive than everyone else. Do not miss another prospect through SMS marketing. All you need to do is set-up automatic responses to specific keywords or queries, so you can readily answer client messages instantly, even when you are in a meeting or busy with something else.
High Engagement Rate
Because of the many distractions of the digital world, capturing people’s attention is more challenging than ever. While most of your email promotional materials remain unread and your phone calls to potential clients often go unanswered, text messages almost always get people’s attention.
According to global research firm Gartner, SMS open and response rates are at 98 percent and 45 percent, respectively. On the contrary, emails only have an open rate of 20 percent and a response level of 6 percent. Given these numbers, should you continue sending marketing campaigns using emails alone?
Although you have nothing to lose by sending promotional emails, you should not ignore the engaging power of sending text messages. Make your SMS campaign more effective by keeping the following points in mind:
- Be straightforward
- Include pertinent information
- Consider adding images or videos of the estate
- Have a call to action
- Use a conversational tone
More Cost-Effective
Creating an SMS marketing campaign only costs a fraction of the amount you usually spend printing promotional materials and mailing them to prospective clients. But in terms of effectiveness, SMS reaches and engages far more than other strategies.
Think about it. Instead of printing hundreds of fliers that cost thousands of dollars, you can directly advertise your opt-in campaigns on yard signs and your website. Prospective buyers who want to obtain more information about the property you are advertising can simply text you the keyword you provided.
Make sure to create an automatic response that includes pertinent property details, relevant links, and your contact information, so the system can generate a reply as soon as you receive a message. Even if you choose to send bulk SMS to numerous leads, integrating SMS marketing will hardly impact your usual advertising budget as it only costs a few cents per text message.
Simple and Convenient
Apart from being cost-effective, SMS marketing is also an easy and convenient way to reach more prospects and convert them into buyers compared to print advertisements. For one, you do not have to take a trip to the printing agency to ensure that your fliers and other promotional materials are printed according to specifications. Secondly, you do not have to drive around various places to distribute your fliers or refill empty yard sign boxes.
With the right SMS marketing software, promotion is a breeze. After setting up your automatic reply and composing your email campaign, you can command the system to send an email blast to your contacts and reply to text messages of potential buyers automatically. Some applications even allow the sending of follow-up SMS and updates to keep prospects engaged. All that is left is for you to monitor the responses, so you can meet the clients who are ready to buy.
Contrary to a common misconception, SMS marketing is not a thing of the past. As you can see in the above discussion, this strategy is still useful in helping your real estate business go to the next level and putting you ahead of the competition. Do not let this effective and inexpensive marketing tactic go to waste. Incorporate SMS marketing into your overall business plan and keep yourself updated on the new ways SMS can boost your firm’s marketing efforts.
