Updated on July 30, 2024
Real estate marketing automation is becoming increasingly popular among real estate professionals, and for good reason.
In a competitive industry where it’s essential to stand out and reach more clients, automation software can make a real impact. By automating different marketing tasks, like email marketing and social media marketing, real estate agents can save time and resources while also increasing their chances of success.
So, let’s uncover the 3 must-know marketing automation things every real estate agent has to know.
What is marketing automation?
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of marketing automation in the real estate space, let’s define it first.
“It’s the software solutions that assist businesses in eliminating repetitive tasks and automating their marketing and sales teams to gain more leads, increase conversion rates, and maximize ROI.” JGRobo Marketing, Inc.
What about real estate automation?
As we mentioned previously, automation refers to the use of technology to automate repetitive marketing tasks, freeing up time for more strategic and creative endeavors.
In real estate, this can mean using tools to automate email & SMS campaigns for your Home Buyers or Sellers. By doing so, real estate agents can reach more potential clients, improve their conversion rates, and, ultimately, boost their sales.
One of the key benefits of marketing automation is the ability to segment and target specific Home Buyers or Sellers. This can mean targeting homeowners in specific neighborhoods, first-time homebuyers, or selling luxury properties.
By creating custom campaigns tailored to these groups, real estate agents can ensure that their message resonates with their target audience, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Another benefit of automation is the ability to gather and analyze data on your marketing efforts. With the right tools, real estate agents can track the success of their campaigns, measure their ROI, and make data-driven decisions to improve their marketing strategy.
This data-driven approach helps you to optimize your efforts and get the most out of your marketing budget.
Why is real estate marketing automation important?
The real estate market is getting more competitive than ever.
More people are looking to buy or rent homes than ever before. It’s becoming a bit of a race to the finish line. According to Zippia, over 1.56 million Realtors were operating in the US as of May 2022. By the time you read this, the number most likely has increased.
That’s a lot of competitors looking for potential clients! It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but instead of a needle, it’s a client looking for the perfect real estate agent to guide them through the home buying or selling process.
To succeed in this loaded market, you ought to distinguish yourself from the competition, applying your expertise in parallel with the power of automation.
So put on your thinking cap and get ready to get ingenious with your marketing game.
Real estate automation helps you stand out
Imagine if you could save time and resources while increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing and sales efforts. What about standing out from the fierce competition, too? That’s exactly what real estate automation can do.
Automation is not restricted to saving time only, but with automated marketing campaigns come personalized dialed-in marketing.
With automation tools, you can create personalized marketing campaigns, access precious data, and streamline your workflows — all of which can give you a competitive edge and help to establish yourself as an expert in your field.
It’s no longer adequate to rely on classic marketing methods or word-of-mouth. Real estate automation has a vital role in the real estate industry, and real estate agents who embrace it will have a clear advantage over those who don’t.
The three things real estate professionals must know about marketing automation
1- Revolutionized real estate lead generation
With the right tools and strategies, marketing automation can help real estate agents attract and engage potential clients and convert them into raving fans.
One of the fundamental benefits of automation is: it enables you to reach a wider audience more efficiently than classic methods.
You can set up email campaigns, social media content, and other digital marketing efforts to target specific demographics, behaviors, and interests — ensuring that you are reaching the right people at the right time.
Another way marketing automation can help generate leads is via lead scoring and tracking. By analyzing customer data and interactions, you can identify the most auspicious leads and prioritize their efforts accordingly.
Automated lead scoring can also help you determine which leads are most likely to convert and which ones need more nurturing.
This empowers you to focus your efforts where they are most likely to see results, saving time and resources.
And the cherry on top is: by segmenting your audience and sending tailored messages, you can show that you understand your clients’ needs, hence, strengthen your relationship with them — and potent relationships generate trust, renown, and more word-of-mouth referrals!
24/7 Lead Generation with Real Estate Chatbots
Imagine a tireless, tech-savvy assistant who works around the clock to capture leads, answer questions, and even schedule appointments for you. Well, with the rise of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI), this scenario is no longer a fantasy.
Chatbots are transforming the way real estate agents interact with potential buyers and sellers, offering significant advantages for lead generation and communication. They are revolutionizing the way you connect with leads, offering a multitude of benefits:
Qualify Leads Around the Clock:
One of the most significant benefits of chatbots is their ability to act as a 24/7 concierge for your real estate business. Unlike traditional lead capture forms, chatbots can engage website visitors in real time, answer basic inquiries about properties, and collect valuable information to qualify leads. This allows you to identify serious buyers or sellers who are ready to move forward, saving you precious time and effort.
Effortless Appointment Scheduling:
Streamline the appointment booking process by integrating your chatbot with your calendar. Clients can schedule viewings or consultations directly through the chat interface, eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails or phone calls. This saves you valuable time and ensures leads can easily schedule appointments at their convenience.
Nurture Leads with Personalized Communication:
Chatbots excel at keeping leads warm and engaged through personalized communication. They can automatically trigger targeted messages based on a user’s initial inquiry.
For example, a potential buyer interested in a specific neighborhood could receive automated drip emails with additional property listings, market updates, and valuable local area guides.
This ongoing communication fosters trust and positions you as a knowledgeable expert, keeping your real estate brand top-of-mind throughout the lead nurturing process.
Adding chatbots to your real estate marketing strategy will give you a significant edge in lead generation and communication. You’ll be able to capture leads when interest is high, qualify them efficiently, and provide a seamless user experience that keeps them engaged throughout the buying or selling journey.
2- It’s a lead nurturing tool
Generating leads is just the first step in the real estate sales process. To truly succeed, real estate agents need to nurture those leads and guide them through the sales cycle.
This is where automation systems shine once again!
By automating key tasks such as email follow-ups, social media engagement, and personalized content distribution, you can stay on top of mind with your leads and provide the knowledge and support they need to make informed decisions.
Marketing automation also facilitates tracking and analyzing lead behavior, identifying where they are in the sales process and what they need to move forward.
This allows you to tailor your communication and outreach efforts to match the needs and preferences of your leads.
Also, it can help you nurture leads with drip campaigns. By setting up a series of emails, you can provide ongoing value to your leads, building relationships and increasing the probability of a successful sale.
You can also customize drip campaigns based on lead behavior and interests, ensuring that you are providing the right content to the right people.
5 Examples of Lead Nurturing Workflows
To make this point crystal clear, here are 5 examples of lead nurturing workflows marketing automation enables you to use:
1- Welcome series
Send a series of automated emails to new leads, welcoming them to your brand, giving information about your services, and inviting them to engage further.
2- Drip campaigns
Create a series of emails triggered based on lead behavior, such as visiting a page on your website or downloading a resource. These emails should provide relevant content to help nurture leads and move them further down the sales funnel.
3- Event follow-ups
If you host events such as webinars or open houses, use marketing automation to send automated follow-up emails to attendants, give additional resources or provide a personalized consultation.
4- Re-engagement campaigns
If you have leads that have gone cold, don’t worry! Use automation to send targeted re-engagement campaigns, offering an exclusive promotion or providing new content to revive their interest.
5- Referral requests
Use marketing automation to ask delighted clients for referrals, send personalized requests, and provide motivations for clients to refer you to others.
3- It also includes Sales and Customer Relationship Management
Usually, marketing automation goes hand in hand with a Customer Relationship Management system, aka CRM.
Lead management is critical to success. However, the process can be time-consuming and often involves juggling multiple tasks simultaneously.
A CRM system allows you to manage and track customer interactions, while automation helps to automate communications and marketing processes.
You can gain a comprehensive view of your customer interactions and behaviors by integrating marketing automation with a Customer Relationship Management system.
This allows you to provide a more personalized and focused approach to your marketing endeavors, ultimately leading to better conversion rates.
The integration of marketing automation and CRM tools also ensures that leads and customers receive consistent and timely communication — a critical element in sustaining a positive relationship with them.
Using a CRM system makes managing leads and customers more effective, and marketing automation can help to streamline the process even further. It also provides you with critical insights into your real estate lead and customer behavior.
By tracking open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics, you can better understand what approaches and messages resonate with your audience.
This allows you to refine your marketing strategies and improve the overall campaigns’ performance.
Common Real Estate Marketing Automation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
1- Not Defining Clear Goals
Many real estate agents jump into marketing automation without setting clear, measurable goals. This can lead to wasted resources and ineffective campaigns.
How to Avoid:
- Set SMART Goals: Ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, aim to increase lead conversion rates by 20% within six months.
- Regular Reviews: Continuously review and adjust your goals based on performance data to stay on track and make necessary improvements.
2- Over-Automating and Losing the Personal Touch
While automation saves time, over-reliance on automated messages can make your communication seem robotic and impersonal.
How to Avoid:
- Balance Automation with Personalization: Use automation for repetitive tasks but ensure that your messages are personalized. Include personal touches such as addressing leads by their first names and referencing their specific needs or behaviors.
- Segment Your Audience: Create segments based on different criteria like location, buying stage, or preferences, and tailor your messages to each segment.
3- Ignoring Data and Analytics
Failing to monitor and analyze the performance of your automated campaigns can result in missed opportunities for optimization.
How to Avoid:
- Use Analytics Tools: Leverage the analytics features of your marketing automation platform to track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
- Regular Audits: Conduct regular audits of your campaigns to identify what’s working and what’s not. Use A/B testing to experiment with different approaches and refine your strategies.
4- Lack of Integration with Other Systems
Not integrating your marketing automation system with other tools like your CRM, social media, or website analytics can create data silos and inefficiencies.
How to Avoid:
- Ensure Seamless Integration: Choose a marketing automation platform that easily integrates with your existing tools. This will enable smooth data flow and a holistic view of your marketing efforts.
Centralize Data Management: Centralize your data to get a comprehensive understanding of your leads and customers, improving your ability to create targeted campaigns.
5- Failing to Nurture Leads Properly
Some real estate agents set up automation to generate leads but then fail to nurture these leads effectively through the sales funnel.
How to Avoid:
- Develop Drip Campaigns: Create drip campaigns that provide valuable content and keep your leads engaged over time. Tailor your content to the specific needs and interests of your leads.
- Monitor Lead Progress: Use lead scoring to track the engagement level and readiness of your leads. Adjust your nurturing strategies based on their behavior and interactions with your content.
What is the best software for real estate marketing automation?
So, now you know how real estate marketing automation can help you grow your real estate business. But what is the best real estate automation software you use to maximize your marketing efforts?
There are several marketing software solutions in the market, such as ActiveCampaign and Green Rope. However, we recommend using Keap.
We chose Keap, formerly Infusionsoft, not only because we are Keap Certified partners, but because it is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation software that grows your business and does not break the bank.
In fact, Keap is a perfect real estate CRM, and it’s easy to scale up in case your business grows exponentially — which it will if you use automation to your advantage.
With JGRobo Marketing, Inc. by your side, you’ll have trusted experts in marketing automation to guide you every step of the way.
Our years of experience and professional expertise will help you streamline your marketing efforts, reach more potential clients, and ultimately close more deals.
And the best part? You’ll have more time for the things you love, like sipping margaritas by the pool or selling your heart out on the beach. So, what are you waiting for?
Conclusion
To wrap up, real estate marketing automation is a must for professionals who want to stand out in an exceedingly competitive market.
By leveraging marketing automation tools, you can generate leads, nurture them, and manage your sales and customer relationships more effectively.
By providing personalized and relevant communication, you can increase engagement and drive more conversions.
You can also gain valuable insights into your audience, which can improve the overall campaigns’ performance. And ultimately, gain a competitive edge in the market and succeed in the ever-evolving real estate industry.
