It’s 2022; if you’re not texting, you’re missing out. According to this compilation of data from multiple sources, 3.8 billion people own smartphones. That’s nearly half the number of people on earth, and research indicates that the majority of them prefer to use their devices for texting. These are important numbers to know, especially for businesses wanting to reach today’s consumers. If you’re a real estate agent, in particular, texting can be a low-cost and effective way of communicating with a large, diverse group of people. Here are a few tips for improving the effectiveness of real estate text message marketing so that you can make the most of your time, as well as your budget:

Identify Your Audience

Real estate is a numbers game…sort-of. Yes, agents need a lot of leads, but they need to forge relationships with those leads. Thus, they need the right leads. Because it’s not feasible to bulk message 3.8 billion people, agents need to amass a group of contacts who they know have an interest in what they’re saying (i.e., selling). From there, they can begin to have meaningful dialogue with them. One of the best ways to identify the right types of leads is with a lead generation tool. Our Haines Criss+Cross database, for instance, uses over 300 searchable data points to help clients identify specific types of real estate prospects, who can then be approached with personalized real estate text messages that actually resonate with their unique interests and needs.

Keep It Short and Sweet

Texts are meant to be brief: blurbs, not novels. To ensure your real estate text message marketing plan works, you need to keep your SMS communications short and sweet, with just enough info to grab a potential client’s attention and just enough pizzazz to leave him or her wanting to learn more. The standard maximum length of a text is 160 characters, but agents should aim to use far less. There’s a reason that 90% of texts get read, but only 20% of emails, after all!

…and Make it Relevant

As mentioned in our first point, real estate text message marketing must facilitate meaningful dialogue in order to be effective. Don’t waste the time, energy and money you’ve put in to identifying your various targets by penning pointless messages to them. Real estate text message marketing is about relevancy. You need to create content that intrigues your prospects if you want them to keep engaging with you and the messages you send.

Have a Plan Around Real Estate Text Message Marketing

The best real estate text message marketing plans are intentional; they aim to address an explicit need. To that point, you should have a specific goal in mind before you send each and every message. Maybe you are advertising new listings so that you have five people request a showing this week or perhaps you’re wanting to get 20 people to come to an open house. Sometimes your motive might simply be to share good news or offer advice. Your motivation doesn’t matter, just that you have one and are able to evaluate the overall effectiveness of each of your real estate text message marketing endeavors. Track each message and use a variety of SMS metrics (like delivery, interaction and conversion rates, as well as ROI) to better understand how every one is affecting your bottom line.

Want to Learn More?

Real estate text message marketing is a valuable tool for real estate agents. To ensure your messages have the most impact, you need to partner with a firm that can supply you with the tools you need to accurately identify and reach the right people. Please contact our team at Haines to learn more about our proprietary databases and how our services can enhance your business success.