You’ve heard it before: Email marketing is one of the best ways for realtors to stay connected with existing clients (and get new ones). But doing it well is easier said than done.

Whether you’re starting from no email sends or you’ve been sending emails every week, we’ve put together a set of tips to help you get the most out of your sends — and that comes down to getting the highest open rate you can.

Your email marketing open rate is a percentage that represents the number of people who opened your email out of all of the people you sent it to. In our industry, the average open rate is around 20% according to email marketing platform Mailchimp — we believe you can easily exceed that on almost every send.

Are you ready to increase your email open rate? At AFrame, we believe that improving performance starts with setting measurable, achievable goals. Perhaps your achievable goal is to hit an average 25% open rate and your stretch goal is 30%! We think you can do it! Here are some action items you can follow to achieve it!

• Nail that Subject Line! Every day you open your inbox and ignore countless emails. It’s the ones with the best subject lines that get you to open them. That sounds like a lot of pressure but keep these facts in mind when writing your next subject line. Set a goal of following these guidelines every time.

· Keep it under 50 characters always, put additional information in your preview text.
· Don’t use more than one emoji or any exclamation points.
· Make sure you describe what the email is about but leave a little mystery.
· Use assertive/actionable words describing what you want the reader to do.

• 5 Example Email Subject Lines for Transaction Coordinators:

· 5 Things Your Home Sellers Aren’t Telling You
· Don’t Forget These 3 Things In Transaction Negotiations
· The Secret of Smooth Real Estate Transactions
· Need To Know Trends In Home Sale Negotiations

• Send Useful, Quality Information. No one will read your email if it contains unhelpful information or things the reader already knows. You are uniquely qualified to share useful information with your current or prospective clients. Think about what you know that they might appreciate learning.
• Keep It Simple, Sort & Easy to Read: Keep your email out of the SPAM folder. Approximately 45% of emails are categorized as spam thanks to ever improving spam filters. Here’s how: Write like a human to a human. Don’t include too many images or links. And keep the formatting and extra HTML simple. Test two different lengths of emails to see which one performs best. Some of the best performing emails can be simple text!
• Optimize When You Send Emails. Your clients probably get hundreds of emails a day — but certain times they may be more likely to pay attention to your message. For instance, sending an email early enough that it comes in before they sit down at their desk at 9 a.m. would work well. Times like just after lunch, when work is slowing down, or around 8 p.m., when many are checking their email before shutting down for the night are also good times to send. Set a goal of testing each time period more than once to see what works best for you.
• Segment email list. This last tip is if you’re ready for the next level of email marketing! If you are looking to get even more opens and engagement it is going to take a little extra work. Try segmenting your master list into smaller groups of people with similar interests. Agents who work alone, agents who are members of large groups or brokerages, agents who handle multi-family properties or those who represent luxury properties.

You are not only an agent – you are a business owner, a salesperson, and a marketer. You wear many hats, and your time is valuable. Whatever you do, keep trying and putting yourself out there. What works for one person will not always work for the next. Don’t be afraid of rejection!

Learn more about how AFrameSoftware’s powerful CRM platform can help you with real estate lead generation, helping you grow your list of contacts – and your business. To find out more, visit our website or email us at info@AFrameSoftware.com.