An Ultimate Guide on Building an Email List for Real Estate Agents

The importance of good real estate agent email lists

A good email list is essential for any business as it gives access to leads who provide their contact information and permits you to send them updates on your services and properties. This implies they are interested in learning more about the real estate listings and may also be eyeing potential deals.

With a developed email list you can:

• Reach out to potential buyers and sellers who are interested in your services and properties.
• Send personalized emails to each lead with updates about new listings, discounts, or other offers.
• Keep leads informed of any changes or news related to the real estate market, such as industry insights, trends, or recent activity. 
• Monitor the engagement metrics of emails and adjust your strategy. 
• Drive more traffic to your website and get leads closer to conversion.

Having an email list can help you stay in touch with potential customers, establish relationships, build trust, and recognize what they’re looking for. Besides, sending emails about a customer’s specific needs is the fourth most important agent communication. Based on the same report by the National Association of Realtors, 8% of home buyers find the real estate email newsletter significant as well.

How to build a quality real estate agent’s email list

To generate a database of active and engaged prospects, there are a few steps you must take.

Set a goal

Establish your email list objectives. Do you want to reconnect with past customers? Do you wish to keep current clients informed of new listings or draw in fresh leads? What new leads do you wish to attract (sellers or buyers)? Furthermore, goals must be exact and clearly outlined (like the acquisition of a specific amount of subscribers). When these goals are identified, coming up with an action plan will be much simpler.

Choose an email service provider

Reaching success in the real estate industry requires you to find a marketing service that can meet your specific objectives. Yes, it’s possible to send bulk emails from your mailbox, but the mailing limits are strict and you risk triggering the spam filters. Besides, you can send emails more conveniently and significantly faster using dedicated software.

When selecting an email service provider for real estate agents, there are a few key considerations to make:

1. Search for an email service provider (ESP) that offers an easy-to-use email builder with professional templates. It will make your emails look more professional and ease the creation process. Pleasing templates specifically crafted for property listings, real estate newsletters, or other promotional materials can save you time and hassle.
2. Choose services that provide email list segmentation. With an effective tool, it is easy to categorize contacts based on the area, age, marital status (individuals or families), the function of property (as a personal asset or to rent out), etc. By doing so, you can craft personalized messages tailored for each group with greater efficiency.
3. Invest in marketing software that provides personalized emails. Adjusting your emails according to individual customers’ details — like their name, business, city of residence, or profession — is what we call email personalization. You should be able to change these features both inside the body and the subject line of your message for a more personalized experience.
4. When searching for an ESP, ensure that it provides automation — a powerful workflow that triggers automated messages in response to clicks on certain links, emails opened by users, views of property listings, or visits to your website.
5. If you want to know where your real estate email marketing strategies are successful and which ones need improvement, look for an ESP that offers comprehensive email analytics. With valuable data on email deliverability, opens, and clicks, you can make informed decisions about how best to optimize your campaigns. And with A/B testing functionality you can experiment with your emails to get even better results.

Build a landing page

Eliminating distractions, a sign-up landing page is crafted to guide the visitor towards one action — to provide contact information in exchange for an offer. With the right design, there shouldn’t be any external links on the page. And only one registration button supports and stimulates conversions.

Subscribers need to know what they’re signing up for — recent housing updates or a report with a complimentary home appraisal. Whatever option you select, let every prospect know exactly what’s being offered.

Due to its critical role in the success of your business, you should follow all the landing page best practices:

1. Draw more clients to your email list with a compelling headline that succinctly conveys what they can expect from subscribing.
2. Provide support for this offer in the subheader.
3. Include an opt-in form that links up directly with your real estate CRM or ESP so you can effortlessly collect emails right away. 
4. Utilize either an image or video emphasizing the advantages of joining your subscribership.

Promote your email list

Growing your email list should be a priority. After all, every additional lead could potentially turn into a sale for you. Reinforce this goal by adding a direct link to your opt-in landing page in as many places as possible — the more traffic and sign-ups it gets, the better.

Maximize the promotion of your email list with a few simple steps. Include the link in your signature and on Facebook and other social media bios. Put a call-to-action at the end of the website content, create subscription pop-ups, or launch Google/Facebook ads with the same CTA. Also, extend lead generation by creating longer forms of digital content as a reward for providing an email address. Offer valuable information that will entice visitors to take action.

Segment your contacts and start the campaign

For targeted communication, segmenting your email list is a must. You can make different lists based on these parameters:

• Specific needs of each demographic — some may be in the market for selling or renting homes while others only want updates on new listings. With this approach, you’ll be able to deliver pertinent messages to every single customer.
• Past engagement with your business — clicks or opens. This is standard practice for all email marketers, not only real estate agents.
• Source of the contacts — such as open houses, events, or social media platforms. 

Properly segmenting your leads allows you to nurture them more effectively. For example, if there are attendees that have already joined multiple networking events in the past, this is a good time to ask what topics they would like covered next or offer them exclusive VIP access. Followers who engage with you frequently on social media could be asked to share some of your posts as a favor — and those who appreciate your content will gladly spread the word about it.

Tools to help you grow the list

With the right tools, you can quickly and easily attract more subscribers and give them the incentive to stay subscribed. Here are some of the best tools available for growing your real estate email list: 

Social media

Using social media is an efficient way to attract a relevant audience and expand your email list. You can increase the number of your subscribers by adding a subscription link to the bio section of your profile or posting about your email list frequently. You can also provide an incentive for people to subscribe by promoting exclusive content that requires a login. Read about other ways to collect emails from your Instagram followers in our guide.

To benefit from Facebook, there is a must-have tool. At the top of your business page is a call-to-action button. Simply tweak the text to say “Sign Up” and link it directly to a sign-up form. This will open up more opportunities for potential customers and ultimately help you grow your real estate email list.

Add a sign-up link to your email signature

Include a link for subscription within your real estate email signature line and motivate people to sign up.

Add a sign-up form to your website

To ensure you capture your web visitor’s attention, include a sign-up form on either your website or blog. Out of the many options available, subscription pop-ups can be an effective way to draw in viewers and engage them with your offer to subscribe.

Facebook and Instagram ads

Facebook and Instagram ads can be used to build a quality real estate agent’s email list. These two platforms are incredibly powerful when it comes to targeting potential customers and getting your message out there. 

Facebook Ads allows you to create highly targeted campaigns based on user behavior, demographics, interests, and more. You can also use different media such as images and videos to capture the attention of your audience. Thanks to a special integration, you can automatically add contacts from Facebook Lead Ads directly into your mailing list in Selzy.

Instagram Ads, on the other hand, allow you to post engaging content and stories that can help build brand awareness as well as grow your real estate agent’s email list. Both platforms enable you to track performance, optimize campaigns, and measure results to get the best ROI possible.

Tips on how to do the most out of your realtor’s email list

Keep your subscribers engaged and coming back with the following techniques:

Send weekly newsletters

Help your subscribers to be the first ones to know about new, sizzling listings in your neighborhood — send them a weekly newsletter of all the properties that are currently up for rent or sale.

Keep your audience updated with the latest news

Keep your followers informed about any and all possible changes that could have an impact on their home prices. Notify them of new retail stores, tax reforms, or upcoming housing buildings — whatever happens within your locale. Your readers should always be one step ahead when it comes to understanding what’s happening.

Provide monthly property overview

To update subscribers on the latest neighborhood housing trends, deliver a monthly summary of the top-selling properties. This can help those who are still considering buying or selling to make an informed decision.

Write a birthday wish for clients

Your realtor email list is a great place to send personalized birthday messages that will make your prospects feel valued. You can also use it to congratulate them on significant dates, such as when they first bought a home with your help. These little touches will go a long way in creating relationships with potential customers and making them more likely to come back to you for their next deal.

In Selzy, you can choose from several different birthday templates:

Leverage analytics to enhance your marketing efforts

Examine the open and click-through rates of your emails that have been most successful, so you can observe what really captivates your subscribers’ attention. With this data, it’s time to start brainstorming innovative real estate email ideas for content that is sure to spark engagement.

Create an email message template

Having a selection of real estate email templates is an invaluable way to save time and resources. Rather than having to craft each message from scratch, develop a set of ready-made emails that suit different tasks — such as welcome messages, new listings notifications, open house announcements, etc.

Make sure you give the option to opt out

To stay compliant with regulations and avoid any legal disputes, include a link in every email you send that allows recipients to easily opt out of your mailing list. By adding this simple but important feature, you safeguard yourself from potential repercussions.

Remain consistent with your email frequency and timing

Your subscribers need to have a reliable understanding of when they can anticipate new content from you. Refrain from sending too many emails in a day as it will only lead to unsubscribes. Instead, determine the best time to send an email for your audience to open it — neither too early nor late during busy times. By doing this you can ensure that each subscriber is fully engaged and ready for what you have prepared.

Is buying realtor email lists a good idea?

Buying email lists may seem like a good idea, but it can be a risky move. While buying an email list of potential clients can save you time and money on marketing, there are many drawbacks to purchasing one.

• The main problem is that the email addresses in a purchased list may be outdated or invalid, resulting in low delivery rates and wasted resources.
• Emailing people who haven’t already expressed an interest in your services may lead to a high rate of spam complaints.
• You’ll violate the rules of consent under GDPR and CAN-SPAM by sending unsolicited emails to a list of people who have not given explicit permission for you to contact them.
• Using purchased or rented email lists can damage your email deliverability and IP reputation. Companies fight against spam by setting up honeypots, which are special emails that reveal the sender as a spammer when harvested and contacted. Similarly, they use spam traps to detect suspicious activity. When someone sends anything to these email addresses, the sender is flagged as a spammer.

Final thoughts

To generate a quality list of active prospects:

1. Set clear objectives — decide if you’re looking to reconnect with past customers, keep current ones informed about new listings, or draw in fresh leads. 
2. Choose an efficient email service provider and create a landing page that clearly outlines what each subscriber can expect from signing up. 
3. Promote the list by including the link in your signature and social media pages; also have a call-to-action at the end of content on your website. 
4. Segment the contacts in order to send more tailored messages and maximize their satisfaction with your campaigns.

Building an email list does not have to be complicated since there are various options available such as:

• Utilizing social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
• Creating a sign-up form on your website
• Using targeted ads to reach potential customers

Buying realtor’s email lists isn’t a good idea. We strongly advise against it.