Realtors- Plug Into The Advantages Of Internet Marketing
Real estate agents comprise my biggest group of clients. I get lots of requests for help setting up websites, linking to MLS systems, etc. But when I suggest they set up autoresponders and AdWords campaigns, they usually give me a funny look - like "how much more is this going to cost me?".
Truly, adding AdWords and an autoresponder to your web marketing activities will not 'cost' you - it will actually 'pay' you. A well-crafted AdWords campaign might cost you $50-$1000 per month, depending on your market. The payoff from AdWords is in the form of leads - and the value of that lead depends on the Realtor's ability to convert them into a buyer or seller.
The concept is simple: get your visitor to your web page and collect their email address. Sounds easy, right? Well, that depends - on what you are giving the potential subscriber in return. Are you just saying something like - "join my email list" with a vague or non-existent benefit? Or are you offering the visitor something valuable to them in return, like a free report, free market data or something similar?
Sometimes our emails are focused on a single goal, aiming the entire message at driving to a specific landing page.
Other times when our purpose is more general, it makes a lot of sense to take a broader approach, aiming to get our subscribers back to nearly *anywhere* on our website. We can let them choose their own adventure from there, hoping they'll eventually complete a site goal (e.g. ordering, membership sign up, etc.).
For those times, here are 3 techniques that could significantly boost your click through rates back to your website:
Include Some Website Navigation Links
Screenshot of newsletter with website navigation links
If your site uses a navigation bar, most likely every page of your website contains those links in a predictable place, allowing visitors to select from at least a few things that might catch their interest, so why not experiment with adding them to your email newsletter?
Adding links to the most popular sections of your website in a consistent way across all messages might bring more overall traffic to your site.
Link More of Your Text
Screenshot of newsletter with a lot of text links
It's called "the web" for a reason. Most websites aren't structured hierarchically or in a linear way where a single page leads to just one other page, which leads to another, and so on.
Instead, pages are linked together from one another in a web, where a single page can link to many others, and many others pages can link to a single one.
A single email can link to several pages in this same way.
Hyperlinking Contextual Words and Phrases
The -> Click here < - type of linking strategies have gone out of fashion in favor of more relevant and contextual approaches involving words and phrases found directly within the paragraphs of the content (often strategically placed).
You probably already do this to some extent on your web pages. Have you ever tried this out in your emails with your headings and paragraph text?
Here are some report giveaway ideas:
-"Ten Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make"
-"How To Get Top Dollar For Your Home"
-"Home Sales Data In Yourtown, NY"
You can easily type up a 10-30 page report, create a pdf of your document and upload it to go out with the first message of your autoresponder. Then follow up every 5-7 days with additional information.
Carl Ringwall is an expert in blog marketing, web business and internet programming. Visit the Aweber Communications site - an excellent autoresponder product.
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