Is cold emailing good or bad for Real Estate Business?

Question

Last week, I was reading a "Catch-all guide" on cold emailing to generate RE leads. I have been in the Marketing/Branding profession for 6 years now and I still feel that cold-emailing can appear extremely impersonal and spammy. There is no doubt that sending cold emails for real estate is one of the most underrated and yet most efficient and cost-effective strategies to generate leads. But it's not every agent's favourite.

I think it's very important to set your intention while sending emails and more important to respect the user's privacy. Always include an "unsubscribe" option in the email and respect a person's choice to receive or end any communication with you. The number one mistake that people make while sending cold emails is imposing sales and information on the user. Never forget that the at the end of the email address is an actual person who wants to feel valued and respected. Nobody wants you to waste their time.

I want to ask the experts here if they feel sending cold emails can generate tons of hot leads with minimal effort or if it is another digital strategy that looks like a scam. What are some of the tools you use or have used for sending cold emails? My bid was on High level but it didn't really work for me. Has it worked for anyone here?

Urvashi Vasishtha · Answer

That's an interesting point you've mentioned here, @Adam Bartling. We are going to try video emails since emails with images go unread owing to the image filter in Gmail.

Adam Bartling · Answer

I am amazed that nobody suggested using video emails.  I do a mix of videos and blog posts and I typically get 25 to 32% open ratio and about 5% removed each time I send an email, however I'm always adding new emails.

the next email I send will be a video email with a form fill.

basically I'm going to ask everybody to fill out the form so that only relevant emails go to them.  Not sure if it'll work but at least have them view all services that my company's provide

Erik Estrada · Answer

Also what's the purpose of the email?

The best ones offer new information to clients you want to target.

Erik Estrada · Answer

I think it depends on who you are targeting. If it's someone that works in a white collar profession, it definitely works. If you are targeting a blue collar worker, probably not the best choice.

Understand who your client is and communicate to them how they would like to be. Sometimes texts work with younger homebuyers. That same text won't slide with someone looking to retire.

Kevin Liu · Answer

Cold emailing is one of those things that is an old reliable, just like knocking on doors or making cold calls. It works BUT needs to be done at a very high volume. Consistently sending out hundreds of emails a month is the only way you can see valuable leads come in.

Eliott Elias · Answer

Out bound is always good, diversify. Send 50 emails a day, make 50 phone calls a day, knock on 20 doors a day

Jack Mawer · Answer

I think that cold emailing has its pros and cons - definitely an inexpensive way to generate leads but can be efficient if you make the messages personal - this will be more time consuming but worth it to go the extra mile

Dominick Johnson · Answer

Good chance a cold email is going to a junk folder and the recipient will never see it anyways. If I received a cold email from any type of professional, I would immediately delete it and block the sender. Social media marketing is way more effective and less intrusive. Door knocking is annoying, nobody wants to be bothered by someone they don't know trying to sell them something and interrupting their time. Is it effective? Sometimes, but rarely. My wife has been a realtor for 5 years, 75% of her clients are referrals. The rest are generated from her social media marketing and website. She closed 52 houses this year as a solo agent.

Urvashi Vasishtha · Answer

Very valid points, @Erik Estrada Taking notes. Thanks a bunch!

Caleb Kacal · Answer

Email marketing can be very difficult to generate leads, especially if you are not sending in high volumes like Kevin said. I would suggest a social media presence (assuming you don't have one) and using ads from said SM to generate leads that way. If you have any other questions, or questions about that process in general, please feel welcomed to reach out! @Urvashi Vasishtha

Is cold emailing good or bad for Real Estate Business?

Most Popular Reply