15 Oct Text Marketing: Best Tips + Practices [VIDEO]
Text Marketing Tips and Best Practices for Real Estate Agents
Text marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s 2018 and we already know how to text. If you’re reading this, then I’m willing to bet you’re already texting away with your friends family and even some of your clients.
A lot of agents seem to get really hung up on calling and leaving voicemails. And I’ll argue that while it’s important to make that call, sometimes picking up the phone and dialing the number isn’t always the *only* best way to initiate contact.
With our prospective leads having busy lives just like us, it’s likely that they aren’t answering their phones during the day. We know the best time to make a call is between 4-6 pm when they’re getting off of work, but at least for me, that’s not always a convenient time to get to calling. I know I can’t just let the lead fall through the cracks, so contact has to be made somehow. That’s when texting is a really good option here.
Texting is super effective. It’s easier to respond to a text than returning a voicemail. That’s why text messages have an open rate of 98%.
I also think it’s difficult to over exaggerate how addicted to instant responses consumers are today. 40% of homebuyers prefer communicating with an agent by text over phone calls. We would say that our rates are higher – 9/10 of our buyers talk to us via text primarily. And in addition to all of that, half of all home buyers expect an instant response by an agent. That means if they reach out online or by referral, you have to be in contact with them within five minutes or else they are moving off to your competition.
So you get it – texting is important.
I want to give a few tips that we’ve been implementing that can help you find greater results with texting in your follow up sequence. Hopefully, you find it worthwhile to implement these and find great results yourself!
Tip 1: Text within the first 5 minutes.
If you are receiving leads online, you need to have the ability to follow up within the first 5 minutes. For us, this looks like an automatic text that sounds out within 60 seconds of receiving a lead.
This also happens to be our text with the greatest response rate. 8 out of 10 of our leads respond to our first text which says basically: “Hey – Re: property XYZ [that you inquired about], what’s a good time to call?”
Just that – simple and to the point. It’s SO effective. Look at your CRM and set an initial text in this format to send out upon receiving a lead, and start booking those calls and appointments.
Tip 2: Keep it short and sweet.
Remember, consumers today are addicted to speed. They don’t need a long drawn out paragraph to read through – they want something short and concise that they can quickly respond to. Any more than a sentence or two is too long.
The idea here is to illicit quick responses. The way to do that is by giving short, easy to respond to prompts and questions.
Tip 3: Follow up call attempts with a quick text.
If you are making calls, try mixing it up by nixing the voicemail if there’s no answer. Instead, follow up your call with a quick text and ask when a good time to connect is. This way, you set up the stage for a warmer call at a time when the lead is going to be available and give you their attention.
Tip 4: Use emoji’s!
Consumers today are really savvy and also very wary of automated responses and “bots”. They can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away, so it’s really important to humanize yourself as much as you possibly can. Using emoji’s is a great way to achieve this.
Try signing off a quick text with a house emoji or a smiley face. Better yet, if you’re having trouble getting responses from a lead, just send a text with two cricket emoji’s, a waving hand or a listening ear. These are sure ways to break the ice and get a response from an unresponsive lead.
Tip 5: Systemize your texts
While, yes, it’s really important to stay authentic in your texting, it’s more important to make sure you get it done, to begin with. Incorporate texting into your auto-responses, your drip campaigns, and template as many options as you can in your CRM to make texting quick and easy. Just like everything in your business, the more you have the systems implemented behind texting, the more likely it is you’ll do it effectively and consistently.
Bonus Tip: Remember Compliance!
There are a lot of changes going into effect today regarding consumer privacy rights and our permissions to contact leads. The moment a lead notifies you that they aren’t interested in the moment you need to remove that lead from your call list. Verify you reached the right person, make that indication in your CRM, and block off that number and email from receiving unwanted communications.
*Pro-tip: this is also an effective stance to reach out to unresponsive leads. Got someone who’s not answering your texts and calls? Send a quick message like this: “Just checking, is this [name]? Don’t want to pester you with any unwanted listings…” Might be a good way to illicet a response.
So there ya go! 5 quick tips on getting in the texting game. I’d love to hear if you are finding success with implementing text marketing, or if you’re excited to try any of these tips on your own!
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