Follow up! 15 Tips for Writing Your Own Real Estate Email Template
1. Avoid long paragraphs & confusing words
To keep your mobile leads interested in your email, try and keep your paragraphs to no more than two or three lines each.
A three-line paragraph will be six lines or even more on small phone screens. This makes your email seem much longer than it is.
2. Don’t use HTML email templates
Email templates might look great for your email newsletter, but they will do nothing but distract your reader for follow up emails to your leads. You want them to focus on your message, not fancy layouts.
Also, HTML templates won’t work on all devices all the time. Better to err on the side of brevity and simplicity.
3. Avoid using too much jargon as simple direct language works better
While many Realtors think industry jargon will impress their leads. In reality, real estate jargon can confuse your leads and make your message less clear.
4. Create an outline before you start writing
One of the best ways to make sure you hit the right points in the right order in your email is to make an outline before you start writing. Figure out what you want to say, and then flesh out the email and work on language.
5. Use the slide to keep readers engaged
In copywriting, “the slide” is the language you use specifically to make sure your reader reads the entire message. Best practices include starting off with very short sentences. Building intrigue or asking a question at the beginning of the email and using bucket brigades—linking words and phrases like “How can you beat that?,” “It gets better,” “Think about it,” “Here’s the deal,” and “Let’s face facts.”
6. Use playful language sparingly
While you may be tempted to use playful, informal language in your email to seem more personable, you should only use it sparingly. While it will help you and your message seem more personal, it can also very easily sound unprofessional.
7. Pay special attention to your subject line
If you want people to read your email, you need to pay special attention to the subject line. Your subject line should be around 40 characters or fewer to avoid getting cut off on mobile devices.
Straightforward subject lines often work the best, but don’t be afraid to try something more creative by asking a frequently asked question or writing a teaser subject line to pique interest and get your leads to open your email.
8. Read your emails out loud before sending
To give your message the most impact, your language needs to flow smoothly. If your lead is stumbling with your language, it will muddle your message and lower its emotional impact.
Your email should also sound conversational and authentic. One of the best ways to ensure your language flows smoothly and feels genuine is to try reading it out loud before sending it. If you can read it easily without stumbling or unnatural pauses, that’s a good indication your leads will read it that way too.
9. Send emails at the right time
Because your leads probably get tons of emails every day, you need to make sure your message doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. That means scheduling your emails to be sent when they’re most likely to read them.
10. Remember to follow up
Because you’ll likely be competing with hundreds of other emails in your lead’s inbox, chances are you won’t reach every lead with the first message. That means that following up is crucial if you want to maximize your potential conversions. Schedule follow-ups for leads who don’t open your emails, and schedule more targeted follow-ups for leads that opened your email but didn’t respond.
11. Track your progress
Typing up and email and crossing your fingers won’t cut it these days. Instead, use a good customer resource management (CRM) or email marketing program to track your open rates and response rates to tweak your subject like and message continually.
12. A/B Test Your ‘From’ Line
Don’t forget to A/B test your “from” line to increase your open rates. Does “Joe” work better than “Joe Realtor” or “Joe Smith: Realtor?” You won’t know until you test it.
13. Animated GIFs Are Your Friends
Used sparingly, animated GIFs can be a terrific way to add some personality to your emails without adding more words. Because let’s face it, the longer an email is, the lower the chance that your leads are going to read the whole thing. A GIF can pack more personality than a picture but isn’t quite as bandwidth-heavy as a video. Trust us―the kids are onto something here.
14. Try to Tailor Every Email for Buyers or Sellers
While including a tagline or something that asks for referrals in every email is kind of tacky, you can and should try and work in some buyer or seller specific language into every email you send. For example, for a simple Happy Thanksgiving email for a buyer, you could mention that you’re thankful you found them a place they’re happy in.
For a seller, you might mention something specific about where they moved to and why they moved there. For example, if your client moved to Florida, and you’re still in New York, you could mention something like “Happy Thanksgiving from snowy New York,” or something along those lines.
15. Don’t Get Too Personal
Even though personalization is the name of the game these days, that doesn’t mean oversharing, prying, or overly emotional emails are appropriate for your real estate business. Yes, there will always be those clients that you bonded with over a beer when a particularly tough deal finally closed, but you always need to remember that you are a professional first and foremost. It’s one thing to have one too many and get a little too personal with a client at a bar, but quite another to have that overly personal interaction immortalized in an email.
Bonus Tip: A/B Test Your ‘From’ Line
Don’t forget to A/B test your “from” line to increase your open rates. Does “Joe” work better than “Joe, Realtor” or “Joe Smith: Realtor?” You won’t know until you test it.
Bottom Line
To write great real estate email templates to engage your leads, check out what other agents are sending, then create an outline, and write your own email and subject line.