Is anyone doing text message marketing?
Flipper/Rehabber · San Diego, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 47 votes
Hey Bigger Pockets fam!
I’m a wholesaler and I’m in the process of testing some new marketing campaigns for my company. We have some cold callers that work 30 hours a week for us but they’re only generating 1-2 leads a week. We’re launching a Facebook ad campaign (hopefully this week) and I’m looking forward to seeing how that strategy plays out.
But...I recently heard about text message marketing from a house flipper that I interviewed for my podcast last week and it’s got me really intrigued.
Has any tested the market with this yet and had some success? Does anyone have a software that they recommend? What is the average costs to run a text messaging campaign? What else should I know about or look into when considering this type of marketing??
Thank you in advance if you’re able to provide some answers! There isn’t much out there in this topic but BP seems to have an answer for everything!
Best wishes,
Alex
Honestly if you want to do it go for it. It's a great way to generate leads and way cheaper than most other ways I've had people specifically go with me because their mail box was so jammed they didn't even look at it.
Theres always going to be people who moan and whine but at the end of the day unless they're putting food on the table or cash in the pocket or at the very least is constructive in some way their opinion is absolutely irrelevant i.e "ugh please don't". Just about every article on BP has at least one person who does it. Some hate wholesalers, others hate flippers, others who despise RE agents.
The best way I found is to be clear with seller and make sure the numbers work the buyers. Point of the text is to get a response then phone call which is fast than cold calling them individually and a whole lot cheaper than mailing them individually.
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Let the sellers know "hey I work for investors and if you're interested in selling right now we'd like to submit our best offer to you"
Then walk it take pictures get a rehab budget together that has reasonable numbers not "$25k for a 3,000 sqft house built int 1892".
Try out different marketing tactics to see what works for you :)
We used to do SMS marketing. It wasn't as effective as Cold Calling (the leads were harder to qualify, and tended to have smaller spreads), but they were better leads than RVM. We no longer wholesale, but I'm a fan of using the "omnipresent" approach to marketing, where you hit the prospect from multiple angles. This can help you maximize your lists. Think of it as a "conveyer belt" method.
I have been on the receiving end of text messages regarding properties we own, though I can't speak of it from the outbound side. I have a lot of respect for salespeople and those trying to make things happen for themselves, so I'm probably on the VERY lenient side here - but generally, I don't mind. I usually reply something to the effect of - not looking to sell, but keep up the hunt and Godspeed. It hasn't felt overly intrusive to me, and as it is it feels like the DNC list no longer works (I receive 10 + spam calls - titled "spam risk" per day now) so a periodic text asking if I'm open to selling something seems fine. Certainly - from an effectiveness standpoint - I'm more likely to see it than an unsolicited email. Also, I prefer a text to a call, generally speaking. It's how I communicate with most people (and how most of the world communicates now).
I'd probably get irritated if I responded as above indicated and they kept pestering me, but I assume most people won't do that.
Here's the other thing - you just never know when somebody is going to want to sell. Most of the time the answer is no. That's true of all cold sales methods. And that's a reason a lot of people look down on it. But it does work. Some of my best relationships and investors started as cold calls. We live in a world filled with distraction, and sometimes people don't know they want to sell until you get ahold of them and/or bring up the concept. And the certain truth is that he/she who makes the effort to get in touch will eventually find gold, and the one who frowns on cold marketing is not going to get the same traction (unless they come with some nice rolodex already established).
Is SMS marketing legal? I have looked into it and there are websites that say it is and that there is the risk of large fines, others say it is. Is it really a grey area? What am I missing?
Hey @Gene Hacker. Texting is legal. The caveat here is that your intent should be to purchase something from the person you are cold texting. If you were instead trying to sell them something then it wouldn't be compliant. The other part of that compliance conversation is that the software that you're using shouldn't be a robotexter. How you'd resolve that with a software tool is to have human interaction with the sending of each text; one click, one send; no automatic or scheduled sends.
If you're using software that's a robotexter or if you are selling in a cold text (with no consent) then that's where the fines have come up, in my experience. If you do get a software, ask that company for a legal opinion letter by an independent TCPA compliance law firm.
I get quite a few of these each month and they drive me insane. I'm not your target. If you're contacting me it means that you don't know anything about me or my business. I don't live in my investments but my houses are not a nuisance for me and I'm not looking to unload them at bargain basement prices. For how impersonal sms is, I'm amazed that this works for anyone. I would love for this to be made illegal. If I didn't ask you to contact me, don't contact me. Certainly don't try again 6 months later after I told you I'm not interested in selling. I think the big problem with sms is that it has such a low bar to entry that it seems to attract folks who are willing to try the least. i.e. it doesn't take much, I might as well spam everyone I can. I'm not directing that at anyone specific here. I assume it can be handled better than I have experienced but if anyone is thinking about this, please reconsider. The mailed offers to buy properties are bad enough.