A Guide to Text Messaging for Real Estate
It is not easy to be a successful real estate agent. These experts are expected to do many things, such as negotiating, advising, selling, and marketing. Once they get a house that needs to be sold, they have to market it through various channels for them to get hold of any potential buyers. One marketing strategy that has proved successful for many real estate agents is text messaging for real estate. However, do not expect to get it right the first time as some various tips and techniques will help you come up with the right campaign. Read on;
How Does It Work?
Looking at the various forms of digital marketing today, it is a no-brainer that text messaging for real estate appears old school. While it is old, it has been redefined, thus opening up new opportunities for real estate agents. It is a quick and reliable way of establishing and maintaining relationships with vendors, buyers, brokers, and tenants, among others.
One vital aspect of any SMS marketing strategy is picking a keyword. It should be direct, memorable, and specific to your business. This keyword allows people to opt-in for your SMS, allowing you to text clients in the future. For instance, you can find a way of defining the various properties on your listings so that when people text this keyword to a certain number, they will get a message with all the details.
Before You Start
It is vital to set a few things right before you start a text messaging for real estate campaign. There are various ways you can approach these campaigns, and you need to choose one from the onset. Failing to do this will make you lose direction in the entirety of the campaign, something that can go a long way to derail its impact.
Common types of campaigns include;• Bulk SMS campaign
• Peer to peer texting campaign
• SMS opt-in campaigns
Various Ways of Using Messaging for Real Estate Agents
1. Advertising Your Opt-In Campaign
Real estate text riders are signs put in a place that is visible to many people. They make it easy for a potential homeowner that are looking for houses to sign up for your communications and get data on the properties they are looking at. This way, people will know that they will always get real-time updates on any available homes in that area and only have to move around when you know there is a house that fits your description.
2. Collect Data from Prospects
Once you have a few people opting into your campaign, it is essential to collect data from them for you to send them relevant property recommendations. This will help to focus your campaigns better and make them more efficient. Some of the essential information that you might prompt your potential clients include their first and last names, email address, budget, and city they were looking for property in. This information will help you to create a database that will guide your campaigns better.
3. Send Follow Up Text Messages
Through peer-to-peer texting, you can keep your audience engaged by sending them constant updates about the properties they are interested in.
Note that text messages should not be too bulky due to the limitation on the number of characters you can include. This way, your message should pass the intended information through the reduced text. An effective text message should be;
• Include the relevant information
• Be straight to the point
• Be conversational
• Have a call to action
How To Choose the Best Text Messaging Service for Real Estate
It is evident that setting up a successful text messaging campaign for real estate is no mean feat, and you will need the help of a reliable text messaging service. You will find many of them today, and it is vital to assess them thoroughly and pick the best one.
One thing to look at is the functions they have to offer. You do not want a text message service that will only provide a section of the functions you need and force you to find another to complement it or do the job you. You need a comprehensive service that will handle all the essential aspects of your campaign so that you do not have to look elsewhere.
It also helps to look at the analytics and reporting capabilities. You will invest money into this service and need to know whether it is working for you or not. Useful reports will give you a clear picture of how your campaign is doing and guide you on whether you should tweak a few things about or keep on doing what you are doing.
Lastly, look at the user reviews about the text messaging service in question. These will tell you whether the service is legit, and you can learn a few things about it that you won’t see on their home page.
