The real estate industry is highly competitive, with many agents and brokers vying for the same clients. Many realtors are looking for new strategies, technology, and marketing tactics to stand out in the industry. One of the emerging technologies and communication tools is text messaging.
Real estate SMS marketing is helping agents sell more properties, acquire new customers, and improve client communication. In this blog, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of using SMS for real estate and share real-life examples for inspiration.
Jump right to:
- Benefits of using SMS for real estate marketing
- 8 real estate SMS marketing ideas
- 12 examples of SMS marketing for real estate
- How to get started with real estate text message marketing
<h2 id="Benefits">Benefits of using SMS for real estate marketing</h2>
Text messaging is an effective way for realtors to reach their clients. Let’s look at several benefits of using SMS in real estate.
- High open rate. Clients read text messages. In fact, the average SMS open rate is 98 percent, nearly five times the open rate of email. This makes SMS a great way to contact clients and share important messages.
- Instant communication. SMS gives real estate agents a quick way to connect with clients. Most text messages are read within three minutes of receipt, making them an excellent channel for time-sensitive messages and urgent reminders.
- Separate work and personal texts. An SMS platform lets you separate work-related and personal text messages. SMS platforms allow realtors to use a business phone number to text clients without needing a second physical phone, which can help manage work-life balance.
- Less saturated channel. Email and social marketing are oversaturated. Nearly every brand uses those marketing channels. Stand out from competitors by using SMS marketing. Becoming an early adopter can help you take advantage of the less crowded channel to drive better results.
- Improve client engagement. SMS is a highly engaging channel. In this channel, you must get clients’ consent to text first, meaning you’ll only send messages to people who want to hear from you. This makes it easy to engage with these clients and stay in touch with them over time.
- Ability to personalize messages at scale. Texting enables realtors to send personalized messages to many clients and manage multiple conversations at once. This allows you to talk to more people without losing that human touch.
- Reach clients on the go. Text messages are convenient for real estate agents and their clients. They are sent directly to clients’ mobile phones, regardless of location. Text messages are also more discrete than phone calls, making it easier to get in touch with clients throughout the workday.
- Cost-effective marketing. Texts cost just pennies to send and receive, making SMS marketing cost-effective compared to traditional marketing channels like print, digital, or paid search.
<h2 id="Ideas">8 real estate SMS marketing ideas</h2>
SMS is a versatile communication and marketing tool that can solve business woes. Let’s look at a few top challenges for real estate professionals and how SMS marketing can help overcome them.
Improve lead generation and nurturing
Generating new leads and maintaining engagement with prospects can be challenging. This lead nurturing process is often time-consuming, and customer acquisition is highly competitive. Improve communication and engagement with SMS. SMS marketing can help your organization acquire and nurture leads in several ways. For example, you could:
- Set up an automated lead nurturing SMS drip campaign
- Follow up with interested leads quickly with SMS
- Promote your services to interested clients
- Promote a new property listing
- Invite clients to an open house
- Send a price drop text
Overcome low inventory
Many regions in the U.S. are experiencing a low housing inventory, which can increase prices and make it difficult for buyers to find properties and real estate professionals to maintain a consistent source of income.
SMS marketing can help you and your organization get more listings. You can use SMS to:
- Promote your services and expertise
- Share market updates with interested sellers
- Ask for referrals
- Stay in touch with past clients who may turn into sellers
Reduce no-shows and cancelations
It’s frustrating when clients don’t show up at scheduled appointments or attend open houses as planned. One of the most commonly cited reasons for no-shows is forgetfulness. To help combat this challenge, your real estate company can use SMS appointment reminders to ensure clients know about their upcoming commitments.
With an SMS platform, you can schedule SMS appointment reminders in advance so they reach clients at the right time.
Enhance appointment scheduling
When it comes to coordinating property viewings and appointments, it can be a lot of back-and-forth. Text messaging can help real estate agents improve scheduling. Use a text message to quickly confirm dates and times, or send a calendar link for a client to easily book a showing.
Text messaging can also facilitate easy rescheduling, making the process more efficient for both agents and clients.
Instant communication and updates
Clients expect timely updates and immediate replies to inquiries. This quick-response expectation can be challenging for busy agents to manage. An SMS platform gives agents an effective way to reply quickly.
SMS enables real estate agents to answer questions promptly, send property alerts, and inform clients in real-time. Plus, agents can even set up away messages that trigger when they’re busy with another client or out of the office. This helps improve response time and keep clients happy.
Stand out in the market
The real estate industry is highly competitive, with agents and brokers trying to win clients and market share. Since clients have numerous options, agents must maintain a strong reputation, stay ahead of industry trends, and provide excellent customer service to succeed.
SMS messaging can help real estate businesses stand out in a crowded market. Use SMS to provide immediate, personalized, and direct client communication.
Continuous client engagement
Keeping in touch with clients throughout the buying or selling process can take time and effort, especially when agents juggle multiple listings. SMS is a low-cost and scalable solution that allows real estate agents to deploy personalized mass texts to stay in touch and share timely messages.
Additionally, an SMS platform like Textline allows real estate agents to conduct true group messaging, which can keep groups informed. For example, if you have a husband and wife who want updates on the same text thread, you can do this via Textline.
Help reduce long hours
A fruitful real estate career requires agents to put in long hours, especially in the beginning when building a book of business. It’s easy for agents to spend countless hours helping clients and stretching themselves thin.
SMS can help agents save time on client communication and nurturing. In fact, a national real estate company that uses Textline to communicate with sales prospects and tenants saved 1.5 hours daily by adding SMS as a tool.
<h2 id="Examples">12 examples of SMS marketing for real estate</h2>
Now that you understand a few ways to use SMS marketing in real estate let’s examine some examples.
1. Real estate drip campaign
Use SMS to nurture a real estate lead automatically using an SMS drip campaign. This SMS marketing example lets real estate agents reach prospects with personalized messages at the optimal time to move them through the buyer journey. In the following drip campaign example, a realtor nurtures a seller with a series of personalized messages.
2. Share a new listing
Another way to use SMS marketing is to share a new property that entered the market with your interested clients. SMS is a great way to get the word out and share a link to the property listing.
3. Promote an open house
Use SMS marketing to promote an open house your realty group is hosting. This can encourage more potential buyers to attend the event to help you close the deal.
4. Share a coming-soon property
Use a promotional text message to let your clients know about any inside scoops you have on new properties. This can help you build rapport with your clients and get tours booked to sell sooner.
5. Reminder text
One of the most cited reasons for no-shows is forgetfulness. Remind clients about property viewings, inspections, appointments, closings, and more via text message.
6. Schedule a property showing
Another great way to use real estate SMS is to schedule property tours and showings. Texting contacts who reach out via a website to schedule them is easy. Plus, texting often leads to quicker replies than email.
7. Price drop text
If you have a buyer who is unsure about the price and the seller decides to reduce it, you can use a text to reengage your client. An SMS marketing message helps you quickly get this information to a contact.
8. Thank you text post-showing
Use SMS to thank a potential buyer for attending a showing or open house. This will keep the conversation going and provide them with an avenue to ask questions.
9. Follow up with a lead
You can use SMS to follow up with a lead or prospect. There are many times in the buying journey when a follow-up text can come into play. For example, you can reach out after a no-response, after leaving a voicemail, or post-event. In the example below, a real estate agent follows up with a prospective seller who asks you to reach out in a few months.
10. Offer accepted text
Another way to use SMS is to inform clients about positive news, like an accepted offer. You can use SMS to let them know immediately and tell them you’ll be in touch with more details and the next steps.
11. Share market updates and helpful content
Use text message marketing to share important housing market information. For example, you can share a first-time home buyer guide, information about interest rates, or how to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. This helps keep your clients informed.
12. Request a review
Clients will read online reviews before selecting a real estate agent or property management company. This means your online reputation can help you win or lose customers. Text messaging is a great way to solicit reviews from happy clients.
Are you looking for more real estate text message examples? Check out these 30 ready-to-use real estate text templates for inspiration.
<h2 id="How">How to get started with real estate text message marketing</h2>
Any realtor can get started with real estate text messaging in a few steps. Let’s look at the key ones:
1. Establish an SMS marketing strategy. Create an SMS marketing strategy first, which includes determining your use case, setting goals, and understanding your audience.
For a more in-depth look at how to create a winning SMS marketing strategy, download Textline’s 12-step guide.
2. Pick an SMS platform. To send marketing texts, choose an SMS platform that fits your business needs. To narrow down your options, decide what texting features, pricing structure, and integrations you need. You can also look at online reviews and security needs. SMS platforms like Textline make it easy for realtors to text contacts compliantly.
3. Collect SMS opt-ins. You can’t just get a list of phone numbers and start texting. Instead, you must gain consent to text clients. This opt-in is required by law and is also called building an SMS list or generating SMS subscribers.
4. Craft your messages. Now, it’s time to start creating your marketing text messages. Remember to keep them short.
5. Send SMS. You’re ready to send your marketing texts to your clients. From here, you can measure performance and optimize to improve results.
Get results with Textline’s SMS platform
Texting is an effective marketing and communication tool for realtors. It helps them reach clients quickly, promote new listings, share market news, and improve relationships with homebuyers. Why wait? Take advantage of SMS's ease, convenience, and efficacy today. Textline’s SMS platform is the most secure and simple-to-use business texting app. Try it free today for 14 days and see for yourself.
