Efficiency at Your Fingertips: Why SMS is the Ultimate Tool for Real Estate Agents

In today’s digital age, communication has become more critical than ever before, and it is no different when it comes to the real estate industry.

Real estate agents require efficient communication methods to keep in touch with leads, manage appointments and stay up-to-date with clients. This is where real estate SMS marketing comes into play.

While email and phone calls are some of the more conventional methods of communication used by real estate agents, SMS or text marketing for real estate provides a more modern and effective way of communicating with clients

SMS is more effective because of several key benefits, including immediate, personalized communication, real-time engagement, and 24/7 availability.

For real estate agents, SMS offers a perfect opportunity to keep in touch with leads, disseminate timely information, and build long-lasting relationships with clients.

In this blog, we’ll explore the power of SMS as a tactic for real estate agents and guide you on how to use it to drive engagement and sales.

The Benefits of SMS for Real Estate Agents

In the highly competitive real estate market, every agent struggles to stay ahead of the game and win loyal clients.

Especially in today’s market, where every lead is valuable it becomes important to try every tactic possible in order to land more clientele. This is where real estate text message prospecting scripts can be a game-changer.

(Read more on this topic in our “The Ultimate Guide to Lead Conversion in Today’s Competitive Real Estate Market”)

SMS represents one of the most powerful and efficient ways for real estate agents to get ahead of the game and increase their chances of client acquisition.

There are a multitude of benefits tied to the usage of SMS, which we have detailed in the following paragraphs.

Convenience and Speed

Using SMS for real estate offers several prominent advantages, with convenience and speed being the most notable. When comparing SMS with traditional communication methods like phone calls, it becomes evident that SMS provides an instant means of contacting potential clients, eliminating the hassle of playing telephone tag or leaving voicemails.This is where real estate text messaging software like JustCall can be extremely beneficial.

By texting a potential client’s phone, you establish immediate communication and gain instant access to the client.

This swift interaction is crucial in the real estate industry where time is of the essence.

Considering the high probability of other real estate agents also reaching out to inquire about a client’s interest in selling their property, being the first to engage is a significant advantage.

SMS emerges as the swiftest way to accomplish this goal.

Increased Engagement Rates

According to research conducted by Gartner, SMS has a 98% open rate compared to email, which has a 20% open rate.

Again, when considering the importance we touched on above as it pertains to being the first person to get in front of a client, you are much more likely to do this when using text than email.

If you think about most people’s inboxes, there are hundreds of people trying to vye for your clients attention, and not just other real estate agents.

By sending them a text, you immediately get their attention and increase the overall likelihood that they will see and respond to you.

Returning Customers

Another benefit of SMS for real estate sales agents is that it personalizes communication, which can help real estate agents secure returning customers and referrals.

A survey by the National Association of REALTORSⓇ (NAR) found 91 percent of buyers would likely use the same real estate sales agent again or recommend them to a friend.

By using SMS, as part of their tech stack, real estate agents can tailor messages to their clients, send holiday greetings, and birthday messages, creating a personal connection with clients.

In a world where referrals are critical, using SMS to send personalized real estate messages to clients can stoke a continuous pipeline of warm leads which are extremely valuable to you as a real estate agent.

Enhanced Customer Service

In today’s busy world, people have limited time to engage in multiple phone calls with real estate agents.

However, SMS offers a valuable solution to enhance your service for both existing and potential clients, facilitating easy communication for inquiries and prompt responses.

Consider the typical individual you may be assisting in selling their home—they likely have a full-time job to manage alongside the property sale process.

Providing them with a means to reach out to you between calls allows them to feel supported without the frustration of spending excessive time on calls.

SMS excels at improving customer service through real-time support.

Clients can simply send a text message to their real estate agent when they have questions or concerns, receiving quick and efficient responses. This eliminates the need for time-consuming phone calls or emails, reducing frustration and ensuring a smoother experience.

By leveraging SMS as a communication channel, you can cultivate greater client satisfaction and foster long-lasting relationships based on effective and convenient interactions.

More Efficient Communications

As a busy real estate agent, your day is likely filled with a multitude of tasks demanding your attention. Thus, it becomes crucial to seek scalable methods that enhance efficiency without compromising effectiveness in your job.

Incorporating SMS into your client acquisition strategy offers a solution to prospect a large number of customers while saving time that would otherwise be spent on individual phone calls.

By utilizing tools like JustCall as part of your comprehensive communication strategy, you gain the ability to segment, schedule, and send bulk real estate SMS messages to prospective clients.

This approach not only allows you to reach out to a significant number of individuals, thereby increasing the likelihood of a lead’s response, but it also ensures better reach compared to traditional cold calling methods.

By adopting such a strategy, you optimize your prospecting efforts while preserving valuable time, enabling you to accomplish more in your busy schedule.

How to Use SMS Effectively as a Real Estate Agent

By now, the advantages of integrating SMS into your client communication strategy should be apparent.

Nevertheless, it is important to consider some tips and tricks before incorporating it into your client acquisition approach.

Building a Quality Database

The underpinning of a successful SMS strategy is similar to the more traditional client acquisition methods such as cold calling, which is you need to have a quality database to prospect to.

In order to build a quality database you should consider methods such as sites like Zillow and BoomTown, in addition to more manual methods like open houses and as mentioned before client referrals.

After acquiring this database, it is advisable to implement the best practice of segmenting your contacts. This enables you to send tailored messages to specific subsections of your database.

For instance, you might have a group of contacts identified as high-potential, and you can create a distinct SMS campaign specifically designed for them, which differs from the campaign targeting low-potential clients.

With solutions like JustCall, you can effortlessly segment your contacts before launching campaigns, simplifying the process of executing targeted campaigns.

By ensuring you have good quality contacts up front, you will not only increase the likelihood of response but also the chances of turning them into new business.

Crafting Engaging SMS Content

As with any communication you are going to send to prospective clients, care and attention needs to be taken in crafting a compelling message to potential clients.

Best practices for messaging when it relates to SMS, is to keep it concise and compelling in order to increase the chances of response.

In order to make this more scalable, a good idea is to create templates which your agents can replicate when sending out texts.

As mentioned before, solutions like JustCall, include the ability to bulk send, so once you have your template created you are able to send this out to multiple potential clients.

Additionally, JustCall comes with out of the box analytics which letyou see the overall success of your real estate SMS marketing campaigns.

You can use these analytics to iterate on the messaging you are using, and refine it so that your SMS campaigns have the highest chance of success.

Timing and Frequency of SMS Communication

As highlighted earlier, incorporating strategy into SMS campaigns to potential clients is essential. Another crucial aspect of this strategy is determining the timing and frequency of your text messages.

As a real estate agent, it is vital to strike a balance between keeping your clients engaged and avoiding being overly pushy. Before sending a message, consider whether it offers value to the client.

For instance, instead of a generic text like “Wanted to check in on your appetite to sell your home?”, consider sending a more valuable message such as “A home in your area just sold for (x) $. Would you be open to a conversation to explore if we could achieve a similar price for yours?” The latter provides them with valuable information about their property’s potential worth, while the former might be perceived as bothersome.

Moreover, carefully consider the timing of your text messages. If your target audience consists of busy professionals, it may be more effective to send SMS campaigns in the evenings or on weekends. This timing increases the likelihood of capturing their attention and enhances their chances of responding.

By thoughtfully crafting your real estate SMS script and considering the optimal timing, you can maximize the impact of your SMS campaigns while ensuring they are well-received by your clients.

Create multi touch campaigns

In the realm of real estate, it’s uncommon to receive a text message response on your first attempt. That’s why it is crucial to implement multi-touch campaigns to maximize the chances of connecting with your prospects.

A commonly cited statistic in the real estate industry is that it may take up to 33 contacts with a prospective client before they respond. Therefore, it becomes essential to not only send an initial SMS but also follow up with continuous real estate SMS messages.

Managing such campaigns manually can be overwhelming. Fortunately, with solutions like JustCall, you have the ability to create and schedule drip SMS campaigns. This enables you to consistently stay at the forefront of your prospects’ minds, ensuring you remain in constant contact with potential clients.

Use Local Numbers to text from

The final tip to ensure the utmost effectiveness from SMS campaigns for real estate agents is to ensure you are using local numbers to send the messages from.

When preparing to send out your text campaigns, ensure that the numbers you are sending these text forms align with the local numbers of where your contacts are located.

Doing so does a couple of things…

Firstly, it creates trust and familiarity with the person receiving the text message.

When potential clients see a local number appear on their devices, they are more likely to perceive the message as genuine and relevant.

The fact that they trust the number more, also leads to increased response rates, as they are more inclined to engage with messages from local numbers.

This process is made easier through solutions like JustCall.

JustCall lets you purchase a local phone number in more than 70 countries around the world, enabling you to Create a local presence and inspire confidence in your clients.

Bonus Section: The Importance of Adhering to Local and National Regulations Related to SMS Marketing

Before we conclude, it’s crucial to detail another key factor that real estate agents need to understand and comply with when considering sending out SMS campaigns.

There exist a number of key regulations that have been put in place to protect consumers from unsolicited messages and spam.

Violating these regulations can result in hefty fines and even lawsuits.

One of the most important regulations is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The TCPA sets strict guidelines for SMS marketing, including obtaining the recipient’s consent and allowing them to opt-out at any time. Real estate agents must ensure they are in full compliance with these regulations when sending real estate text messages to clients.

Another important consideration is the CAN-SPAM Act, which regulates commercial email messages.

While this act doesn’t specifically apply to SMS marketing, many of the guidelines are relevant. For example, all SMS messages must include a clear and conspicuous opt-out mechanism.

Before starting to generate SMS campaigns, ensure that you are complying legally to protect yourself from violations and additionally maintain your reputation.

In order to keep up with latest compliance requirements, real estate agents can check out The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which provides guidelines and FAQs on SMS marketing on its website. The National Association of RealtorsⓇ (NAR) also offers resources and training on compliance.

Wrap Up

To conclude, SMS marketing is a powerful tool for real estate agents looking to generate new leads, improve customer relationships, and streamline communication.

The ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and high read and response rates make SMS for real estate an effective and efficient communication method.

In a real estate market where leads are hard to come by, SMS increases your overall likelihood of connecting with and converting prospects into customers.

However, as we have detailed in this blog, if choosing to go the SMS route, there is a need to create a well through out comprehensive strategy which is compliant before kicking SMS campaigns off.

JustCall helps remove many of the barriers to using SMS as a real estate agent, providing you with an easy way to craft, bulk send and monitor your SMS campaigns to ensure the maximum chance of success.

Check out how we can help you by booking a demo, and for more real estate content, head over to our blog.