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Is Your Newsletter Going Straight Into The Trash?

By Alex Camelio, CEO - Posted on
Don’t forget to leave us your comments at the bottom after you’re done reading this article…

A lot of agents send newsletters in hopes that they’ll create business. They hope that someone will see the new property they’ve just put on the market, or read all about why working with John or Sue is the right move when buying or selling a home. Sadly though, the vast majority of those newsletters end up in the recycling bin, sometimes before they even make it into a prospective client’s home.

So what does it take to create a newsletter that actually gets opened, read and responded to?

First, let’s cover some mistakes that everyone is making. Then, we’ll get into some steps for making sure your newsletter drives your business.

 
 

5 Newsletter Mistakes:

 

  1. It looks like a piece of trash. Where do you sort the mail? If you’re anything like me, you sort your mail over the trash. It’s ok, we all do it. We all sit there trying to quickly figure out if that piece of mail has any value. If it immediately looks like marketing mail, into the trash it goes.

    Most likely, that’s because your newsletters are in color, glossy, and often not even in an envelope. They look like an ad, instead of a personal letter or something with value. They scream “I’m trying to sell you something!” Let me ask you, what is your immediate thought when you receive a piece of mail like that?

  2. It’s all about you and your properties! Many of the real estate newsletters I still receive to this day, start out talking about how great you are and how you have amazing properties for sale. Look, I know, you’re an amazing agent, I get it. You’ll sell my home faster and for more money… and you have homes you really want me to see… but why do I care?

    If you only talk about real estate, you’re immediately not relevant to at least 50% of your audience who aren’t currently in the market to buy or sell a home. Worse yet, if you keep serving people real estate information when that’s not what they’re looking for, they’ll tune you out entirely. It’s ok to remind people you’re an agent, but if you keep your content covering a broad range of topics, you’re more likely to draw people in and be top of mind when it is time for them to buy or sell a home.

  3. Consistency! Let’s be clear about newsletters. If you’re looking for an overnight return on your investment, newsletters probably aren’t for you. However, if you’re looking for long term, consistent, and quality return on your money, newsletters are a great option. Ideally, according to the Direct Marketing association, you should be contacting your sphere of influence once every 21 days to stay top of mind, and a monthly personal newsletter can be a great addition to your follow up strategy.

  4. A CALL TO ACTION! It’s easy for clients to forget about you if you don’t remind them you’re here to help, and you’re a REALTOR. It’s also easy for them to forget when someone asks if they know a good realtor – I bet you’ve had this happen with your own friends and family. If you don’t ask for referrals, or don’t tell people to call you if they need your (free, expert!) advice, they won’t.

    Beyond that though, what about those folks who don’t need your services right now? How are you keeping them engaged? Even simple tricks like monthly “movie ticket” giveaways, or brain teasers can keep people interested and engaging with you and your content. I know… it might sound a little hokey, but trust me, it works.

  5. Doesn’t help to set you up as an expert. Those glossy newsletters your broker provides do tell recipients that you work at that company. But so do all of the other similar mail from realtors they receive. To show you’re an authority on real estate, you should provide content that answers important questions about buying and selling homes.

    How about a monthly “Question and Answer” section in your newsletter that IS about real estate? You can offer free real-estate focused reports, information or services- and have a ‘call to action’ for readers to give you a call to receive that expert info!

 

Direct mail (your newsletter) isn’t the be-all end-all of everything you need to do as a REALTOR. But, it’s an important tool that can help set your practice up to be consistent, help you stay top-of-mind, and stay in touch with your sphere of influence – your Power List. CLICK HERE to read more about the Power List

At the end of the day, your newsletter must be something that is welcomed and valued by the recipient on its own merit. By this I mean it must contain information that is engaging, informative, helpful and seen as valuable in the eyes of your reader. If you keep this in mind, you’ll create some stellar newsletters moving forward.

Want to learn more about direct marketing? Our founder Craig Forte developed a free course – developed after years of research with direct mail – but it’s not something we give away to most people. Why? Because it’s over 200 pages, and we only want to provide it to those who are going to take the time to read and understand it! Click this link to download the course if you want to start implementing this time-tested strategy in your practice.

 

What did you think of this article?

Click here to leave a comment!
Alex Camelio
Throughout his career, Alex has personally helped over 15,000 Agents and Brokers, including some of the Top REALTORS® in North America. His passion for marketing, technology and business development has translated into more than a decade of cutting edge technology and contributions to the real estate industry. As the CEO of the Agent Inner Circle®, a 40,000-member real estate agent community, Alex focuses on providing agents with education and actionable strategies to grow and optimize their business, ultimately building some of the most successful careers in real estate today. Alex is an internationally recognized educator who’s shared his thoughtful and energetic presentations with various National Associations and industry organizations. As always, Alex is excited to share his expertise with everyone.
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5 thoughts on “Is Your Newsletter Going Straight Into The Trash?”

  1. I love the article and enjoy getting and giving tips on writing newsletters. I help agents in my office with their writing and marketing skills. Cards and notes are something I enjoy sending out. I think you have some great ideas, Alex! Videos are a great tool to get information out to people. They are much like mail. If they are going to be opened, they need to have great content, just like newsletters. You made a great point! I’ve been practicing that as well, but haven’t published any videos yet. I used to be in publishing and forgive me, but I’m a grammar nazi. May I give you as a CEO a suggestion for your videos so that we older folks would be more likely to open and listen to them? Please don’t take this wrong because I think you’re a great guy with great information! So, bear with me, but in your video, I couldn’t help but notice you say the word “RIGHT” a lot, (14 times by the halfway mark) and it was distracting me from really taking in and hearing you give out the great information you have. So, I stopped watching the video after two minutes (but started over to give you a fair shake!). I love coaching and mentoring, and just want to help. My suggestion would be to use a PAUSE for emphasis, instead of overusing the word “right”, and it will help draw your viewers in even closer. I love growing and helping others grow in their skills, and I hope you took this the right way, Alex. You’re enthusiastic and great to listen to with good content. I look forward to more videos of yours!

    1. Hi Connie – Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it and will use it to improve what I’m doing. I originally did this as a FB Live and need to focus more on what you mentioned even in Live videos. I’m really happy you enjoyed the content. Hopefully we can keep up with the high standards we’ve all become accustomed to. 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful night.

  2. Very insightful information. I now have a better idea of what a newsletter marketing campaign can accomplish. Thanks for the tips.

  3. Made me rethink what I send…
    The call to action was missing…never thought of that for this piece…added it.

    Thanks again!😍

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