Why old school marketing still matters to estate agents - guest blog by Jerry Lyons, Estate Agent Content

If you gave me the choice of having 10,000 followers on Facebook / TikTok / IG etc. or 1,000 people on my email database – I’m picking email every time.

 Why?

Well, essentially, all your social media followers aren’t yours. Instead, they are ‘owned’ by whichever Silicon Valley or communist state-run platforms they’re on (do your research on this – it’s fascinating).So that ownership issue can present itself in many ways. The platforms can and do change their rules – tweaks to the algorithms mean a lot of your content will never be seen by your followers.And all social media platforms of note are now so busy that even the best content and shares get lost as white noise.Now don’t get me wrong. You can’t ignore Facebook and the rest of them. However, your agency has to have a presence within them and a strategy around them. The most successful agencies have a marketing mix spanning digital, social, print, community and many other potential ways people access their brands.

 But here’s why I really, really, really like email marketing.

1. You own your email database.
2. You’re not at the mercy of an ever-changing algorithm.
3. By being consistent with your email marketing, you will get noticed.
4. Especially if that consistency is mixed with discipline and your email is sent out at a set time every week. This is called Destination Content and lets your audience know when to expect to hear from you over time. Examples of this in the estate agency world are the daily 7 am news bulletin from Property Industry Eye, Peter Knight’s Four-I bulletin on a Monday morning, and our Midweek Marketing Magic (MMM) sent out at 11 am each Wednesday.
5. You can brand your email marketing more effectively than social media posts, e.g. If you are a letting agent in Solihull, your weekly email could become – The Solihull Landlord’s Report / Update / News.
6. Even with simple tools, it’s easy to see who is reading your emails and who isn’t. This helps you shape the content.
7. Email marketing allows you to round up your content and provide your audience with a selection of articles, ideas and news to mull over.
8. I’m regularly asked when the best times are to send your weekly email. From experience, we’ve found Monday is too busy with people returning to work. On the other hand, Friday can be a time when people switch off, so Tuesday to Thursday mid-morning or around lunchtime or first thing in the morning is where we’ve seen good open rates.

We often hear from members about their successes in email marketing. The keys are consistency and quality. As a technique, it keeps you front of mind in an inexpensive, consistent and relatively simple way.