How To Grow and Maintain an Effective Real Estate Email List

As the marketing director of a busy real estate auction firm, I used many tools to connect buyers with sellers. None were as effective as building a strong real estate email list.

Agents overwhelmingly agree that this list is their most valuable asset: 96% call exclusive, protected access to their contact list important, according to The State of Real Estate Marketing Report. This means the list you build today is the stable, confident foundation for your entire future business – especially when paired with powerful, real estate marketing software.

All real estate professionals have the same goal of making it to a closing with happy clients who will refer you to others with new listings. That’s no small feat! 

According to this Constant Contact webinar, Making Sense of Online Marketing for Real Estate, 29% of real estate agents and brokers report that getting more leads and clients was their greatest challenge.

Marketing budgets are limited — and so is everybody’s time!

That’s why I came to appreciate email marketing, which provides a return on investment (ROI) of $36 for every $1 spent. There are a few good reasons for this. Email marketing for real estate agents:

• Saves time by connecting with thousands of potential leads
• Makes it easy for previous buyers to provide referrals
• Directs traffic right to the appropriate listing landing page
• Keeps your name top-of-mind for both buyers and sellers
• Attracts new customers with professional, eye-catching designs

Best of all, I loved how easy and super-fast email campaigns are to build, thanks to customizable templates, image libraries, mobile-responsive displays, and email signup forms built right into real estate email marketing software. 

Whether I was sending out a new listing announcement or the weekly real estate newsletter wrap-up, I could ensure the message complied with state law, fit our branding guidelines, and could be measured for success. 

My peers who still work in real estate confirm that this marketing strategy is still extremely effective — if you follow the best practices of the industry. 

Let’s start with the best ways to grow your real estate email list, even if you’re starting from zero.

Ways to grow your real estate email list

Real estate professionals are talkers, so the first thing to do is to verbally ask the people you network with every day to join your list. Then, you have to make it easy for them. Have a QR code handy to lead them to your website.

Include a signup form on your website

The first step in your email marketing strategy is to update your agency website to include a signup form. This is the easiest and most efficient tool for turning occasional website visitors into new customers. 

Landing pages and signup forms come in many formats. Some websites have pop-ups that appear when a visitor first arrives on the home page. Others use a banner at the bottom of the screen or have a permanent fixture in the footer or a contact page. 

Once you set up the signup form, the process of acquiring information becomes automated. That means you don’t have to go into the backend to add anyone. Instead, website visitors provide you with important information you can leverage to target them with the best listings.

That said, be sure your signup form includes:

• Client’s email address
• Their first and last name
• A contact phone number
• Whether they are a buyer, seller, or both

Less is more with signup forms, as you want to reduce the friction they’ll experience during the process. For example, you may also want to know their purchasing budget. You can always ask more later with quick email surveys. That’s a great way to nurture leads.

Plus, if you’re utilizing Google Ads to drive traffic to your website, you’ll have a way to capture your visitors’ information and connect with them later on.

Run Facebook and Instagram ads

You’re likely already using Facebook and Instagram ads for individual listings, but you can use social media marketing to grow your email list. While you cannot target people in ways that go against housing discrimination and other real estate marketing laws, you can target by city and interests. Perhaps your target audience is going through a big life change making them interested in baby supplies, relocation, or wedding information.

Here are other interests you might consider targeting:

• Zillow
• Trulia
• Property finder
• For sale by owner
• House refinancing
• Land and houses
• Luxury real estate

The real estate agents I worked with were impressed by how easy it is to generate new contacts with Facebook lead ads. Once you register with Meta Business, it’s fairly intuitive to create effective ads for your target audience.

Make sure you add a compelling visual and work within a reasonable budget to drive people to your email list signup. Post regularly on your agency’s social media page, and make sure the profile is optimized with a call-to-action button that appears on the bottom right of your cover photo. Change the call-to-action text to something like, “See Listings First” and funnel it straight to your sign-up form.

Sync leads from other sources

Real estate-specific sites online are another important source of leads. You definitely have some clients who endlessly scroll Zillow searching for a listing that you somehow missed in your MLS searches. They’re not alone! 

Utilize the power of this site to generate leads and then sync them directly into your Constant Contact account to follow up with them later.

Connect your SMS marketing

Of course, everyone you work with has their smartphone within arm’s reach. If they’re not scrolling Zillow, checking out your website, or popping on to their social media, they can still get a text. 

SMS marketing is a great addition to email marketing for real estate agents. You can even use artificial intelligence (AI) to craft the most effective text to encourage recipients to stay connected.

Offer fun (and free) events

In Constant Contact’s webinar with guest expert Chris Linsell, he shared one of his favorite ways to grow a list — throw a housewarming party for clients. Not only will this event provide a platform for you to introduce yourself to your client’s friends and family, but you can also connect with neighbors who saw how successful you were in their community. Provide some refreshments and giveaways to make networking easy.

Another idea is to host educational events about community resources, staging ideas for quicker sales, and other topics with which you’ve got expertise. Other ideas are:

• First-time home buyer seminars
• Investment property information sessions
• Yard maintenance and gardening ideas
• Collaborations with home designers and decorators
• Remodeling tips with experts

Don’t forget to offer a raffle for every registrant who brings a friend!

Make a list builder app

Another idea at your open houses and events is to use an app to collect client’s information. Apps help you stand out from other real estate professionals as someone who truly embraces technology. You’ll send a message that you are willing to use all the tools to get their home or commercial property sold — while also making it easy for them to stay connected through email marketing.

Add a sign-up link in your email signature

You don’t want to neglect adding a sign-up link to your email signature! I’m surprised by how many emails my fellow real estate professionals sent out in a day that weren’t optimized with this simple opportunity.

If current and potential clients are already showing up in your email inbox, they’re already in your funnel for real estate lead conversations. You can keep fostering these leads for both current and future listings by having all your contacts sign up for your email list.

Give them an incentive to sign up

Another powerful way to get people to join your real estate email list is by giving them something they’ll appreciate as a token of your thanks. This is the beginning of the traditional sales funnel, which starts by netting in a wide group and strategically converting your leads into clients under contract.

You may want to offer an eBook for the home-buying process for first-time buyers or a checklist for selling a home. Another idea is working collaboratively with a local property appraiser to offer a discount for your new subscribers.

Whether your email updates occur weekly, biweekly, or monthly, both potential and current clients will appreciate receiving the latest updates about your brand.

Tips to keeping your list growing

Many real estate professionals are rightly concerned that all the work to grow email lists can easily be thwarted by the fearsome “unsubscribe” button. Some agents I worked with even wanted to hide the link in emails! That’s simply bad form.

Remember that some people will naturally drop off your email list through no fault of your own. They may have moved out of the state or changed their life circumstances so they’re no longer in the market. If you’re working to continually grow your list, you won’t have anything to worry about.

Offer valuable content to your subscribers

If you’re providing valuable content, you can connect with your target audience and keep them engaged. That’s right — you should give them something of value with every connection.

This means offering pertinent information, new knowledge, or even a bit of fun or inspiration. Be creative as you brainstorm email marketing ideas, always thinking first of what your recipients want. 

People typically sign up for a real estate email list for three reasons:

1. To receive property details and updates
2. To receive content and information they care about
3. To show their support

Of course, the people interested in the listings are the potential clients who can get you to closing. So, ask your current clients what kinds of content they’d like to receive from you. They may have surprising ideas!

For example, let’s say you work frequently with young families moving to your community. They will likely appreciate tips for great local restaurants or service-related businesses they’ll need once they settle in. Showing your connections within a region demonstrates your local expertise and will foster new leads.

Set proper expectations for emails

A common question the real estate agents asked me when I was the marketing director was “How often should I send emails to my clients?” There’s a fine line between staying top of mind and overdoing it.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for the total number or the best time to send emails each month, but it’s better to be consistent than anything else. If you can, designate a regular day and time to send the email and tell new subscribers what they can expect. 

It’s also quality over quantity. Use real estate email marketing templates to create a beautifully designed newsletter with regular sections that recipients will come to expect. In your email content, you may want to include:

• Notifications of new listings
• Home improvement tips
• Market data
• Local information
• Industry trends

To share your plans, send a welcome email to all new subscribers. You can automate this task with a personal message that helps begin the relationship you’re looking to foster. Remember, that’s the main goal — and benefit — of email marketing. This is a direct and personal connection from you to them.

If you show respect by telling your email list members what they can expect in their inbox, they’ll be less likely to unsubscribe. As you deliver on what you promise with regular emails, you’ll be building trust. That way, they’ll more likely become local clients later.

The next step in building your real estate email list

Integrating email marketing into your outreach strategy makes a lot of sense for real estate professionals. Now you’re probably full of great ideas for adding more people to your email list. But where to begin? As a first step, I recommend creating a lead-generation landing page. Include an easy-to-use sign-up form along with examples of some of the valuable content you’ll provide in every email. When you have a place on your website just for new email signups, it’s easier to encourage your current and future clients to get — and stay — connected. 

Download: First Impressions Matter: How to Create Landing Pages that Make Your Audience Take Action