Texting has quickly become the favored mode of communication between friends and family, outpacing voice calls and emails.
But how do consumers feel about businesses using text to communicate with them? Turns out, they are receptive to it. A nation-wide survey found that individuals actually read 82 percent of text messages sent from businesses within 5 minutes of receiving them.
And consider this stunning statistic — only 5 percent of real estate agents are currently using text as a means to market to their networks.
If you want to further build your real estate business and stay ahead of the technological changes that are coming, it’s time to consider putting a text marketing strategy in place for your reaching your clients.
When Should You Use Text to Communicate with Clients?
Just like any content you send to clients, it’s important to make sure that the messaging is useful and relevant, otherwise, you’ll likely end up on their blocked list. Here are a few of the best uses for using text to reach real estate clients:
Short Codes
If you want to start experimenting with using texts, a great way to begin is by using short codes. The beauty of short codes is that potential buyers reach out to you directly from messages that incorporated on your other branding materials such as for sales signs, listing flyers and print ads.
For example, your sale sign for a property on Cherry Tree Lane you could include: “Text CHERRY to 12345 (a five-digit code that you’ve assigned to this listing) for more information.” When interested buyers respond you can send them info about the home and others like it, they might be interested in within the neighborhood.
Reminders
Another great way to implement text in your marketing is by using it to send reminders to your clients. From scheduled listing appointments to upcoming open housings you’ll always be top of mind when you are able to keep clients in the loop of important updates. Studies have also shown that individuals prefer text reminders over email reminders for appointments. Sending text reminder can not only get more people through the door at your open houses, it can also help you save time and be more efficient by ensuring clients show up for listing appointments.
Engagement
Once you have an established client base, a fun way to keep in touch with past clients who might not be currently looking to buy or sell a home is to engage them by text with fun polls, contests or best wishes on special occasions like the anniversary of their home purchase. The key to engagement texts is to keep them light and fun so they are something your clients appreciate.
New Properties
Nothing grabs attention like a beautiful photo or video. That’s why it can be a great idea to add multimedia message services (MMS) to your texting plan. This will allow you to text photos and videos of new listings to show clients instantly.
Mass Messaging
Texting is also a way to reach a broad audience in a geographical area, all at once. Much like sending out an email, it’s important to carefully segment your list to include only your intended audience. These types of texts work great for an open house in a specific area and you can even ask them to RSVP by text.
Sounds Great But Who Has the Time?
Starting a text marketing strategy can seem daunting at first, luckily there are a number of services out there that can take much of the minutiae out of your hands and instead automate it. The Chime CRM allows you to incorporate a number of text features tied directly to your CRM so not only is it easy to set up auto alerts through text, you can also track your response rate to better gage which customers are more likely to convert. Chime also offers a feature where any missed calls from clients can automatically be sent a follow up text message so you never have to miss a potential lead or sale. Call us today to learn more!