Effective Drip Campaign

[docmuller]

OK, so who wants to share an effective drip campaign?? I can't seem to find the time or the patience to design my own mainly because I think I am trying to be too perfect.

any pre-made campaigns I have looked at all seem spammy and annoying.

so what do you think makes a drip campaign effective? and if you have one how much do you want for a copy?

[ghenrard]

Hi Rob

I'm assuming this is for email. I've never seen a pre-made drip campaign. But, I'm guessing the reason it seemed spammy is because it wasn't targeted to your list. And, obviously it had none of your personality in it.

So here are a few questions I would have, when prospects signed on to your list to receive email from you, what were they told to expect? Did you promise them a certain type of information? If you did, you need to be sure you are fulfilling those expectations either with your drip campaign or thru separate broadcast emails.

And, aside from ultimately hiring you as their agent, what is your MWR--most wanted response--from people on this list? I mean what is the next step you want them to take? Pick up the phone? Request a CMA by email? Forward your newsletter to five of their friends?

Your drip campaign should do two things. It should give your list members valuable information that demonstrates your expertise and builds trust in you while at the same time moving them towards that MWR.

People love stories. So, anytime your can tell a story about how someone solved a real estate problem (with your help or the help of a solution you are selling), go for it.

Believe it or not, your subject line may be the most important line you write. You've got to get people to want to know what's inside that email. People are inundated with email. It's easy to pass by something that does not stand out or intrigue them--even if they know you.

One way to create curiosity with a subject line is to ask a question the recipient can't answer without opening the email. "Are You About to Make This $10,000 Mistake?" They won't know unless they open your email to see what the $10K mistake is. Then in the body you may have a story about a seller who invested in a lot of upgrades thinking he would get his money back--but of course, he didn't.

Depending on your MWR, you might then send them back to your site to sign up for a CMA appointment. When they do, they get to download your free report on "Upgrades that Make the Grade" (improvements that do add to the re-sale value). That may not be exactly the tact you would take and it's just one email--but you get the idea of how the various marketing pieces you have can work together to build a relationship with your list and move them closer to doing business with you.

Hope that helps.

[tsteuwer]

Although I agree with Gale on a certain number of things, there are some that I don't.

It could be my age, but I don't think people want to hear stories. When I get an e-mail, I want it to be simple, to the point and valuable. I don't want to have to sit there and read a 5-10 minute e-mail about someone buying property.

Another I don't agree on is Gale's "Are You About to Make This $10,000 Mistake?" subject line. Subjects that come in to my inbox looking like that get automatically deleted or marked as SPAM. If I saw that, I would immediately think, "If I open this, I bet its going to say 'Don't make a $10,000 mistake!!!! Buy my book right now for $59.99 and I'll take $10 right of the top!!! ORDER TODAY!!!' "

In my experience, effective drip campaigns are:

1. To the point
2. Quick
3. Valuable - links to relevant content
4. Personal
5. Always ask questions

For instance, about every 6th e-mail, this goes out:

Hey <insert name>,

I haven't heard from you in a while so I was just checking in to see how you are doing. Are you still interested in real estate in Panama City Beach?

E-mail me back and let me know. I'll be free this weekend if you want to go look at properties.

Hope to hear from you soon.

<agent name>

I can't tell you how many responses we get back from that. Even if its "No, we changed our minds about buying. I think we'll be staying in our current home." At least it did one thing: we got a response.

I would love to know what everyone else is doing to get people to respond. This would be great for all involved.

[Discover Davis Homes]

I drip to my contacts but I would not call it a campaign. I also think emails along the lines of what Troy is doing would be more effective for most web users. Right now I am either sending out market news or reminding people that my site is out there and they can search for homes. I also would like to implement different campaigns for more frequent users of my website, hitting them with information related to what they have searched for.

[ghenrard]

Hi Troy

I think a lot depends on the personality of the agent and the type of clientele they are targeting. If your clients are mostly commercial developers then keeping your marketing conservative and low key and very down-to-business is probably more the order of the day.

Home buyers on the other hand, may want more of a personal sense of who you are before they hire you. This is especially true if they found you on the internet and have never met you in person. Stories don't have to be long winded--in fact to be effective they shouldn't be. I like them because they do give you the opportunity to let your personality shine through.

Regarding the $10K subject line, if I received something like that from someone I didn't know, I agree with you I would delete it as spam. I'm assuming that Rob is working with an opt-in list that already knows him and knows he doesn't spam them. But, I definitely wouldn't use it with a rented list.

~G

[docmuller]

Thanks for the input so far, a couple of sites i have tried, TP and others have boasted about having pre-made drip campaigns and all have fallen way short of the mark.

I try to judge it by what I would think if I received the email myself. I think I am going to try the short and sweet technique you guys are talking about.

Thanks,
Rob

[EFS Webmaster]

try alamode's xsellerate

[Discover Davis Homes]

Hi Gale, many of us here get email registrations from people who find us on the internet and have no prior personal contact. I think Rob and many of the rest of us are trying to find the best ways to reach out to this type of contacts.

EFS, what do you like about the xsellerate campaigns?

[EFS Webmaster]

what do you like about the xsellerate campaigns?

1) All around ease of use,
2) Low, transparent + predictable pricing

They also have a TON of pre-packaged campaigns across a number of categories and continually add new ads/campaigns gratis.

[Bigtoe]

My MLS has a feature where I can set clients up to get automatic updates of new listings that meet their criteria as soon as they come on the market. Every lead I get goes into this system.

The emails are branded with me and contain a link to the listing and the listing is branded with me.

They love this. They are looking for real estate and I give it to them without all of the typical spammy crap. They show up with the listings already printed out.

If your MLS does not have this feature you really need to push them to get it.