Jen Percival:
Hello, hello. Hello. You’re listening to the Women Rocking Real Estate Podcast. I’m your host, Jen Percival, and as usual, thank you so much for tuning in. Before we jump into today’s episode, also, as usual, I wanted to say a special thank you to Keyanna. I hope I’m pronouncing that right. Y’all know I butcher names. And J Crosby, and Megan, and Sandra, and Joelle for leaving such amazing reviews for the show on iTunes. I so appreciate you taking the time out of your day to share your thoughts on the show and how it’s helping you in your businesses.

I’ve also been getting a lot of inquiries about my coaching program, and although I don’t like to hijack the show by promoting the program too heavily, it is one of the easiest ways for me to just get messages out. So, the program is full right now, however, 20 spots will be opening up in September. It’s on a first come first serve basis, so if you are interested in learning more about the program and what’s involved, I encourage you to go to my website and visit the work with me tab. I like to keep things totally transparent, so you can find all the details including pricing. If it seems like a good fit for you, you can get on the waitlist and you will be first to be notified when registration opens. You can also book a discovery call with me before then if you’ve got any questions.

Jen Percival:
All right. Today, I have got a special guest on the show. I think I say that every time I have a guest on the show because they’re all special. We’re going to be talking about all things lead magnets and email marketing. Now, I do incorporate lead magnets into my business all the time, but for those of you on my email list, you’ve probably noticed that I rarely email you. I have got a serious block about it and I feel like I’m bugging you. Now, I did email those on my list about this episode, so I am really curious and would love to hear from you on whether you would prefer to hear from me monthly, weekly, or never. I genuinely want to know. So, please reply to the email that I sent, or if it’s easier, send me a DM and let me know your thoughts on this.

Jen Percival:
Okay. Without any further ado, let’s dial in to today’s episode. Hello, Aniysa. Welcome to the Women Rocking Real Estate Podcast. I am so excited to have you here.

Aniysa:
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

Jen Percival:
Awesome. All right. We are going to be chatting all about lead magnets today, and I am particularly excited about this topic because I think that they are either underutilized as a lead generation tool in real estate or they’re done wrong, so I can’t wait to get your thoughts and insights on this tool.

Jen Percival:
So, why don’t we start off by you just telling us who you are, what you do, and how you got into this?

Aniysa:
Sure. So, my name is Aniysa, and I’m the founder of Anyse Marketing, which is a real estate marketing agency. We provide social media management and email marketing services to realtors, investors, and brokers. I actually got my start in real estate marketing back in college. So, I went to the University of Miami, and at the time I was looking for some extra income, so I just applied to a few jobs through my school and I ended up getting a marketing assistant position for two top realtors in Miami and I helped them with their social media marketing, their blog content, website stuff. And they were listing agents, so they only worked with sellers, so I did all of their marketing for their new listings. And this was back in 2016, so social media wasn’t as prevalent at the time, but they really knew what they were doing when it came to both real estate and marketing, so I really couldn’t have asked for a better foundation and introduction into the field.

Jen Percival:
That’s amazing. Amazing. And so that was… sorry, back in 2016, you said?

Aniysa:
Yeah, I was with them for about three years off and on.

Jen Percival:
Right. So, you’ve seen lots of changes in the world of marketing over the last five years.

Aniysa:
Definitely. Very fast pace.

Jen Percival:
It is such a fast paced world out there. So, I would say lead magnets are a very popular tool, and obviously, really well-known for list building in the online world, but realtors might not be as familiar with them. So, if we can just dumb it down and maybe you could just quickly explain what exactly is a lead magnet and why should realtors use them to grow their business?

Aniysa:
Yeah, definitely. So, a lead magnet is really any piece of free valuable content that you give away to your audience in exchange for their contact information. So, it’s a great way to generate leads, whether it be through paid advertising, like Facebook ads, or even organically through your own Facebook page or Instagram page, and it’s a great way to showcase your expertise. So, in real estate, I think that lead magnets are particularly important and useful because it’s not one of those things where you kind of see something, you mull it over for a few days, and then you buy it a week later. Real estate, you have to take months of saving, and preparing, and researching, so lead magnets are a great catalyst to start building relationships with new potential clients over a long period of time, whether it be through email, or your phone, or whatever the case may be.

Jen Percival:
My God, I love that. That’s so true, that decision making process is long… especially on the buy side of things, a really long drawn out process. And so, there is time to build that relationship with people and to establish yourself as an authority figure and build that credibility and those know, like, and trust feelings. And so, one of the things that I see agents often doing and I’m curious to get your thoughts is how they use lead magnets, meaning, should they use different ones for different audiences and different pain points or should they just focus on one? What are your thoughts on that?

Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I definitely think it’s a great idea to have multiple lead magnets because the more value that you’re able to provide, the better. So, not everyone is at the same stage of the process. You might have a home buyer, you might have a home seller, and all these people are following you, but obviously, what’s important to a buyer is not going to be what’s important to a seller. So, being able to pinpoint all of those pain points and provide as much value as possible will be really important to help position you as an expertise and showcase your authority. So, understanding your audience and creating a piece of valuable content that really speaks to them and their needs is super important. If that means more lead magnets, that’s even better.

Jen Percival:
And I totally agree. And I think this is, again, one of those underutilized things in real estate is, if realtors spend as much time as they should figuring out who their ideal client is, or ideal community, or the types of people that they want to attract, they might know that, but I don’t think they’d go as much into detail as to what that audience’s pain points are, and what they’re struggling with, and what questions they have, and what information do they need to know, or what myths do you need to bust, or what beliefs do you need to change that they might have about the buying or selling process or about you as a realtor. And creating content that helps to address all of those pain points is such a critical part of generating leads. And so, lead magnets, if you do have a variety of different ones, that again, address those different pain points and those different questions and mess, etc, that’s super effective. And so, what are some examples of effective lead magnets that you would recommend in real estate?

Aniysa:
So, the most common ones that I see are buyer and seller guides, and those can definitely be super effective if you pack tons of relevant and helpful information in them, for example, market statistics in the area, frequently asked questions in the buyer or seller process. But you can also get really creative with it. Again, to be the most effective, it’s really important to identify who the lead magnet is for, and I always say go super local. So, for example, you can make a city guide for buyers who are relocating from another state with the best restaurants, museums, schools, so that would, of course, only be relevant to your area. Another realtor from another state or something like that wouldn’t be able to use that same lead magnet, so that kind of establishes you as the authority. You can also make a new construction homes’ guide with a list of new construction homes in the area. You can also do a quiz. “Am I ready to buy a home?” And you have to submit your contact information to receive the answer. You can even go as far as doing a webinar and having people submit their email address or their contact information to attend. And in that webinar, you can pack tons of valuable information for first time home buyers that just really need to be educated about the process.

Jen Percival:
I love it. So, in terms of the vehicle of your lead magnet, there’s a couple of different options. You said you could do something that you would turn into like a PDF guide, correct?

Aniysa:
Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah.

Jen Percival:
And then potentially doing a webinar. Like a pre recorded webinar or a live training? What are your thoughts on that? What tends to be more successful?

Aniysa:
I think you could go either way. Honestly, you probably might be a little bit more comfortable if you do it pre recorded, but if-

Jen Percival:
I agree.

Aniysa:
… if you do it live, then you can open up for questions and answers and answer some of the burning questions that first time home buyers might have in that moment.

Jen Percival:
And so, when you have created this lead magnet, what’s the mechanism of how you promote it in terms of like, where do you put it? Is it on your website? Is it on your social media? Is it on your email signature? Where do you recommend people house these lead magnets?

Aniysa:
I would honestly put them anywhere that you think that your target audience might see them. So, you can put them on your email signature, you can put them in a landing page link on your social media, you can put them in a Facebook ad. But getting as much visibility as possible is really important, so having them everywhere would be really good.

Jen Percival:
And one of the things I always recommend is if… social media is fantastic at reinforcing those know, like, and trust feelings and building that authority, etc, but it’s not usually the platform that somebody goes to search for a real estate agent. So, if they’re actively thinking that they want to buy a home, they don’t go on to Instagram and start searching for real estate agents that way, because it’s just not an efficient way to find it. But they do go on to Google, obviously, and when they do those searches, they land on somebody’s website. And so, is having a lead magnet that’s tied to the specific page that somebody landed on a really, again, targeted approach. So, if somebody was searching for a particular neighborhood that they wanted to live in and they landed on your website’s page, would it be worthwhile and effective to have a lead magnet as a pop up, for instance, that is really specific to the content on that particular landing page?

Aniysa:
Yeah, definitely, because if somebody is coming to your page and they’re looking for something specific, having that piece of valuable information right there that they didn’t even know that they could get would be really helpful, and having it pop up right in your face is like you can’t really ignore it. So, if you have that advertisement for it and you have a place where you can opt in and put in your contact information, that will be a great way to have people submit and receive the lead magnet as well.

Jen Percival:
So, are pop ups better or are in line embedding it into your website better?

Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I actually tested this and I found that pop ups were actually more effective because you see it better. Having it in line, you might ignore it because it’s part of the web page so you don’t necessarily see it, but if it pops up maybe three to five seconds after you’ve arrived to the page, then there’s no ignoring it.

Jen Percival:
Right, right. I love it. And I think we’re all accustomed to having pop ups, and some people might say that they’re annoying, but I think we’re just so used to them that you can quickly delete it if you don’t want to or if you’re not interested in what it’s about, but like you said, it is in your face and it could get somebody’s attention that otherwise might not have.

Aniysa:
As well with the verbiage and the graphics and stuff can make it so that it’s not as annoying or shows that it’s going to be valuable for the person.

Jen Percival:
Exactly. And now, do you have any tools that you recommend for website pop ups? Is there one in particular that you would recommend people use?

Aniysa:
I think it would depend on your email provider. So, a lot of my clients have either MailChimp or Squarespace and they have some plugins that are built in so that you can create them easily because it might take a little bit of coding to implement that. Not, necessarily, everybody’s strong suit. So, having a plugin is really helpful through your website provider.

Jen Percival:
And so, MailChimp is… I mean, I always say MailChimp… although I don’t actually like MailChimp because it’s just… I don’t know what it is about the interface, I don’t like it, but it’s been around for so long, and it integrates with absolutely everything, and there’s a free version, and so it checks so many boxes, so it is a good option for people to use.

Jen Percival:
So, once somebody does opt in to the lead magnet, then what? How can realtors nurture those potential clients over a long period of time?

Aniysa:
Yeah. So, the best thing to do would be to set up what’s called an email drip campaign ahead of time. So, that’s a major time saver because it’s like a set it and forget it. You can create a campaign of maybe 12 to 15 emails over a three to four month period and you integrate it with the landing page of the lead magnet. So, once somebody opts in to receive the lead magnet, they’ll automatically get an email to send them that piece of valuable information, but then they’ll also be implemented to receive emails from you over that period of time.

Jen Percival:
And so, do you have a recommendation, again? So, you said three to four months of a nurture sequence. How often do you think people should be emailing? Because I know in the online world, it’s recommended that you contact your list weekly, but I feel like consumers have a lot less tolerance for real estate related content. So, what are your thoughts on that?

Aniysa:
Well, I think it goes back to understanding your audience and where they’re at in the home buyer or seller process. So, for example, if somebody is looking to sell their home in the next month or so, you’re probably going to have more frequent touch points with them versus somebody who’s not looking to sell until a year from now. So, just going back to that foundation and really understanding what their needs are. But I would say for a standard, once a week, or even once every two weeks, just making sure that you’re staying visible and staying consistent is most important, but definitely don’t overdo it to the point where you are overwhelming them and they’re seeing your name in their inbox all the time, especially if it’s not-

Jen Percival:
Relevant.

Aniysa:
Yeah, that’s valuable to them.

Jen Percival:
And so, that’s a really good point, that don’t just create one standard nurture sequence that goes out to everybody, you would create specific nurture sequences depending on what lead magnet they opted into, which would then give you a little bit more insight into who they are, what their pain points are, and what their objectives are, correct?

Aniysa:
Definitely. The more targeted your emails are, the better. So, if you segment your audience based on where they’re at in the home buyer or seller process, if they’re a home buyer or seller, where they’re located, you can segment your audience in different ways. But the more segmented it is, the better you’ll be able to provide them with relevant information.

Jen Percival:
So, how do you recommend that you go about trying to get that information to actually segment them? Because when they are opting into the lead magnet, I’m assuming on that initial opt in, you don’t want to be asking a ton of questions because you’ll probably get a high drop off rate, right?

Aniysa:
Right.

Jen Percival:
Yeah. So, basically, in that one, you just ask for first name, I would assume not even first and last name, just first name and email address?

Aniysa:
Well, I would actually ask maybe a couple of qualifier questions. I would add maybe two to three questions, not necessarily long form questions where they have to take a bunch of time to fill it out, but choosing from a multiple choice question or something like that where they can just give you a little bit more information about themselves so that you can better provide them with the information that they need, and even explaining that on the lead form that that’s why you’re asking the question so they’re not feeling that it’s being a little bit too invasive.

Jen Percival:
Right. So, you recommend asking a few, again, easy checkbox kind of questions on the lead magnet opt in form right away versus just getting their email, but one of the first emails that you send out, asking some qualifier questions.

Aniysa:
Right.

Jen Percival:
Gotcha. So, I can imagine when you start thinking about all of the different segments that you could come up with here between buyers, and sellers, and renters, and then first time buyers versus… but is that effort worth it? And again, I think if you’re strategic about who it is that you’re trying to attract, and who your ideal client is, and who you want your niche or niche, however you want to pronounce it, to be, then you can focus in on lead magnets that are going to appeal to them, and so it does lessen the amount of nurture sequences that you would have to set up, correct?

Aniysa:
Definitely.

Jen Percival:
And now, do you think that the average person would struggle trying to set up all of the tech associated with this? You could be honest.

Aniysa:
I mean, I think that a lot of… For example, I use Constant Contact for myself and my clients, and I think that Constant Contact does make it relatively simple to implement. If you don’t have the patience or the time to really sit down and learn it, it might be a little bit more complicated, but I think after doing it a few times, you’ll see that it comes a little bit easier. So, I think that with Constant Contact in particular, that platform is a little bit easier, but it really depends on the provider that you’re using and your knowledge of technology and marketing as well.

Jen Percival:
Right. And I think technology is one of those things that so many people have got limiting beliefs around their abilities or their tech savviness, and I always say to people like, “Being tech savvy is not a gift that you’re born with. It’s not like being born as a musician or an artist or something. Nobody is born tech savvy, it’s just a matter of the mindset of learning it.”

Jen Percival:
And I always say, in business, especially when you’re running a small business, which real estate is, you need to know enough about all of the ways that you run your business to be dangerous, because when you don’t know anything about it and you rely entirely on outsourcing everything to somebody, well, God forbid something goes wrong and you can’t afford to do that anymore, or you get taken for a ride and you don’t even know if they’re doing it right. So, knowing how to do this stuff, you don’t have to become an expert in it, but at least spending, like you said, a little bit of time investing some energy into learning how to do it is probably not a poor waste of time. Would you agree with that or no?
Aniysa:
Definitely.
Jen Percival:
Love it. So, I do have some more questions about email marketing, but I do want to go back just on lead magnets. What are some things that make them effective or ineffective?
Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I would say that making sure the content in the lead magnet is of value to the client, and that ties back to knowing what it is that your client needs and what information that they’re searching for. So, for example, I’ve seen some buyer guides that basically just highlight the realtor and their accomplishments and have some testimonials in them, but at this at this stage in the game, you really want to focus on serving your audience and providing as much value for them as possible as opposed to selling, because they don’t know you yet, so you haven’t built that know, like, and trust factor, and that’s really what you want to focus on right now. So, of course, maybe including a page or two on yourself and your accomplishments in the lead magnet, but really focusing on packing as much value as possible. The majority of the lead magnet should be educational.
Aniysa:
Another thing is the way that the lead magnet is formatted. So, we of course, have really short attention spans, so when we see like big chunks of text, we might not want to read it or think it’s going to be helpful information to us. So, formatting it in a way that’s easy to read and scannable so that you can pick out keywords that people would want to get more information on. And then of course, having a call to action. So, what do you want your audience to do with this information, whether it be scheduling an appointment, or sending you an email with questions that they have, but having them take a next step with you. So, I would say [crosstalk 00:22:48] those things are super effective to have in your lead magnet.
Jen Percival:
So, basically, just to recap, make it about them and not about you. So, you can obviously end it off with details about you, but really make it about adding value and addressing those pain points, and teaching, educating etc. Make it really pleasing to peruse, so to speak. And there’s so many templates and stuff out there now that you can use on Canva that are pre designed and beautiful that you just make your own, so nobody has to be a graphic designer anymore to create beautiful stuff. And then the third was having a call to action, which is that next step.
Jen Percival:
Oh, I think I just want to also circle back to the whole creativity in terms of the type of lead magnets, because I know buyer and seller guides are effective, but I feel like they are probably overdone and everybody has them. So, the more, like you said, niche, and targeted, and specific that you can create a lead magnet, I would think the more effective. Have you looked at different opt in rates for different types of lead magnets?
Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I would actually say that the webinars probably have the highest opt in rates that I’ve seen.
Jen Percival:
Oh, interesting.
Aniysa:
Yeah. And I think it’s because people want to see that live presentation and get that information, and it’s a way to build that connection with a potential realtor. Any event that you’re able to promote as a way to really help out somebody who’s looking to buy a home for the first time I think it’s going to be really impactful. But I do think that buyer and seller guides also get a good opt in rate if they’re promoted correctly. You can tell when a buyer or seller guide is very generic and just has standard information, but again, tailoring it to where the person lives and the type of buyer they are, whether they’re a first time home buyer, or they’re an investor, or they are looking to sell their home, making sure that it is super targeted and relevant to your target audience.
Jen Percival:
Love it, love it. Sorry, let’s just circle back on the webinar thing again for a minute because, again, I don’t think it’s not done as often, and it’s so true that people really do form a much stronger connection when they can see and hear you, it gets them to start feeling like they’re getting to know you, and that is such a critical, critical thing in building those know, like, and trust feelings. And so, oh my God, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before. I see webinars, obviously, in the online world all the time, but yeah, I don’t see realtors doing them that often. I see realtors promoting themselves on video, obviously, across social media, and maybe on YouTube, etc, but doing an actual webinar is a really interesting concept.
Jen Percival:
So, in terms of, again, the tech associated with that, do you have a particular platform that you recommend that would easily integrate with other ones or am I putting you out of the scope of your wheelhouse here?
Aniysa:
Oh, no. I would actually recommend Zoom. I think Zoom is the easiest way to do one pre recorded.
Jen Percival:
Love it. And obviously, it’s free as well or it can be free. So, that’s a good… So, you would have your lead magnet that would tie people to watch, I’m assuming like an on-demand webinar, and then from that webinar, there would be a call to action, and then there would be a nurture sequence. Correct?
Aniysa:
Right. So, at the end of the webinar, you can include a call to action. “Schedule an appointment with me to talk about any first time home buyer questions you might have or have a free consultation.” Discussing that call to action at the end of the webinar and getting them to take that next step, and then of course, they’ll be implemented into the email sequence.
Jen Percival:
Well, and it’s also a good time to let people know what your social media platform, where they can find you, your website, that sort of thing. And then how would you recommend promoting stuff like this? So, I know we talked about pop ups on website, I know we talked about social media, but can we chat about ads, running an ad to a lead magnet? Any thoughts that would be helpful to share on that?
Aniysa:
Yeah. So, right now, it’s a little bit difficult to run paid ads on Facebook just because Facebook has a lot of targeting restrictions due to the housing laws. For example, you’re not able to target specific neighborhoods or a specific income or job because that would be considered discrimination. So, you have to be very generic with your targeting, and a lot of times that can bring in people that are not necessarily qualified as the type of home buyer or seller that you’re looking for.
Aniysa:
So, one way to get around that is to include what’s called a Facebook Pixel on your website and to track the visitors that are coming to your website, and then you can create what’s called a look alike audience or a custom audience where Facebook shows your ad to people who are similar to those that have come to your website. So, if people have already come to your website, they’ve gone to specific pages and inquired about a home buying or selling a home, then they’re likely a potential lead for you. So, showing your ad to people that have similar behaviors online is an effective way to target through ads.
Jen Percival:
And not only that, if you had an email list already of people, whether it be your sphere of influence, whether it be people who have joined your list from an open house or whatever, you could also target those people who might not have taken that next step with you to see this webinar, so you could target them through a Facebook ad as well. Correct?
Aniysa:
Yes.
Jen Percival:
So, I know that there is a whole bunch of changes coming down the pipe, even with the Facebook Pixel and the ability to use that data, but until that’s all rolled out, obviously, you might as well take advantage of it, right?
Aniysa:
Yeah. You know that the change is going to come.
Jen Percival:
Exactly. And you know what… I don’t know. So, on that note, I’m sure my listeners are going to be like, “What are you guys talking about?” So, basically, there are some changes, if you haven’t heard, coming through the Apple iOS system that will now on mobile only, you will opt in or opt out from being tracked on websites that you visit. So, if you went and looked at some new vacuum, that vacuum is not going to show up all over the internet now in ads because if you opt out of it, it won’t be able to track you. Now, you do have the choice of opting in, and my understanding is that it only happens on mobile, it’s not on desktops, etc. But I personally plan to opt in because I find it a really efficient way of shopping. I don’t know. Have you experienced that or do you get annoyed by it? I know we’re totally off topic here, but might as well talk about it.
Aniysa:
No, I agree because I feel like I like to see ads sometimes and I like to see ads that are relevant to me. For example, if I’m online shopping and I see some clothes that pop up, and I’m like, “Oh, I’m interested in buying those clothes,” I want to see those types of ads come up. But if I opt out then I won’t see that type of information, I won’t see ads that are relevant to me. And if you have an advertiser that isn’t necessarily experienced and doesn’t know what they’re doing, then you might get an ad for wedding dresses when you never searched for wedding dresses, or you might get an ad for motorcycles that have nothing to do with you. So, it’s nice to see ads that are relevant to you, but I can understand, on the other side of things, wanting to protect your own privacy and knowing that you don’t have technology tracking your every move.
Jen Percival:
Right, right, right. Yeah. And what a lot of people don’t realize is some of the browsers have had this in place for… like Firefox has been blocking those cookies and tracking for ages now. And so it seems like it’s this new big thing coming but it’s just been a slower transition, and Google is going to be doing it as well. So, it’s all about adjusting and just figuring out what the new way is going to be to reach our ideal audiences, but until it’s done, might as well continue the way you have been, right?
Jen Percival:
So, just circling back now to email marketing, one of the other questions I had on my list that I did want to ask you was, what are some of the do’s and don’ts of email marketing? Is there anything you wanted to add in there about that?
Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I would say one do would be to have a compelling subject line. Obviously, that’s the first thing that your audience is going to see before they even open the email. One tip is to add the person’s name to the subject line, and you can do that in what’s called a merge tag. So, the email provider will source the contact name from your list so that you don’t have to put the specific name for every email that you send, and that makes it feel a little bit more personal. So, when they see their name in the subject, there’s a slightly higher chance that they’ll open the email.
Aniysa:
And then, again, always having that call to action at the end of the email. So, booking an appointment, scheduling an appointment, or responding to the email with questions. But don’t have multiple call to actions. In an effort to not confuse your audience, keeping it simple with one call to action that you want them to do is a lot more effective. But I would recommend to do A/B split testing with various subject lines and call to actions to see what works best for your audience. And you can do this by tracking the open and click rates of your emails, and whichever one gets a higher open and click rate is the one that you know resonates more. So, sending half of your audience an email with one subject line and the other half of your audience an email with another subject line and doing the same for your call to actions, and just testing what is most effective.
Jen Percival:
And then another question I have, and this is, again, something that started in the whole online world, what about just text only emails versus graphically prettily laid out emails? What are your thoughts on that specifically related to those real estate type emails and those nurture sequences, and then maybe a monthly newsletter?
Aniysa:
Yeah. I definitely think that graphics make the email more engaging and more fun.
Jen Percival:
Yay. I can’t stand the text ones anymore. They’re so undone.
Aniysa:
Yeah, and basic. But I get a lot of emails that have memes in them, so those are really fun, or GIFs, for example. So, just making it more animated and more engaging. The more images you have, the better, I would say. Well, of course, don’t overdo it, but making sure that is aesthetic and it makes sense for the email, but not just putting a ton of pictures. But I definitely think that having not just a text email is a better way to go.
Jen Percival:
And is there a length that you recommend that you, “Make it at least this long, but not longer than this”? I know these are not questions that I had on my question list, so you’re probably like, “Why are you asking me stuff you didn’t tell me you were going to ask me?”
Aniysa:
No, no. I’m not sure as far as character length, but I would say not making it too long where it’s going to take them forever to get through the whole email, especially if you are trying to give them valuable information, making it as concise as possible. It doesn’t have to be like a two-line email… I mean, it can be if you can get the information across in that short of information, but the shorter-
Jen Percival:
Make it as long as it needs to be but keep it as short as it could be.
Aniysa:
Yeah.
Jen Percival:
And so, what about adding video into an email? And again, I know most email providers can’t actually play a video but it would take them to some sort of landing page. What are your thoughts on incorporating video into email marketing?
Aniysa:
Yeah. I definitely think that video is king right now. On email, on social media, that will definitely increase the engagement rates, just like the images that we’re talking about, and the GIFs, and memes and stuff like that. It is really annoying that you can’t play the video directly in the email, that it takes you to another like YouTube or Vimeo or something like that. So, I think that that makes it a little bit of an inconvenience for the user, but I definitely think that incorporating video, especially if you have an open house or a new listing, embedding that video into the email is really effective.
Jen Percival:
Anything that I didn’t ask you that you thought, “Oh, it’d be really great if we could talk about this”? Did I miss anything?
Aniysa:
And I think you did ask me this and I didn’t finish answering the question. For email marketing, and I actually see this a lot, is don’t purchase your email list.
Jen Percival:
Good one.
Aniysa:
And I think this is important because there are a lot of privacy laws in place where if the person didn’t physically opt in to receive emails from you, it’s actually illegal to send them an unsolicited email. So, that person can mark your email as spam, and if your spam rate gets too high, then your entire account can get shut down. So, it’s really important to make sure that you’re receiving your emails completely organically, and that might take a little bit more time, but you will have a more engaged audience, because these people want to hear from you and they’re expected to hear from you rather than a long list of people that have no idea who you are and why you’re emailing them.
Jen Percival:
And why you’re emailing them. It’s so true. That’s such a good don’t. Thank you for bringing that one up.
Jen Percival:
This has been, honestly, so helpful, so insightful, Aniysa. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Where can agents find you and learn more about the services that you offer?
Aniysa:
Yeah. So, I have my services and some of my previous projects with clients on my website, which is anysemarketing.com. A-N-Y-S-Emarketing. And I’m also very active on Instagram, so if anyone wants to connect with me there, my Instagram handle is anysemarketing. And also, you can shoot me an email with any questions that you might have about lead magnets or email marketing.
Jen Percival:
Love it, love it, love it. I will link, obviously, to all of that stuff in the show notes, but thank you so much for being here today, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights with us, and I can’t wait to follow you more on social media and see what you’re putting out there.
Aniysa:
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time.
Jen Percival:
Well, there you have it, ladies. I hope you enjoyed that interview. And I want to leave you with a few key kind of takeaways as a reminder. Number one, in order to have effective marketing strategies, you really do need to know who it is that you’re trying to attract. Now, I’m going to do a whole podcast on this topic specifically, but I want you to remember that when you try to attract everyone, you end up attracting no one. I also want to clear up a myth about niches or niches, however you like to pronounce it. So, many realtors are afraid of niching down because they’re afraid of turning away people that don’t fall into that niche. And let’s face it, you probably don’t want to turn anyone away if you’re still building your business. But marketing, it just doesn’t work that way, and I want you to kind of think of it as a one way street that only goes one way, but not in reverse.
Jen Percival:
When your messages are targeted to a particular audience, that audience notices the message and pays attention to you, you attract them. But it doesn’t work the other way. People that aren’t in that niche that you’re trying to attract, they don’t notice the message in the first place. There’s so many marketing messages out there that our brains are designed to subconsciously filter out ones that aren’t relevant to us. So, someone who isn’t in the niche that you are trying to attract won’t even notice your message, so they’re not going to think, “Oh, that agent only specializes in that so I won’t consider using them.” No, they literally won’t notice the message at all. But the ones who it does speak to, they’ll pay attention. So, that is the reason it’s so important to niche down and target your messages to one particular niche or a few in particular.
Jen Percival:
Okay. The second takeaway that I want to highlight is that marketing your business effectively, it takes work. There are no two ways around it, there’s no quick detours to fast track your results. So, creating lead magnets and setting up all of the nurture sequences, especially if you are being really strategic about them, and creating multiple ones that speak to different audiences, well, it takes time, and it takes effort. But it can be a really effective lead generation strategy that has been proven over time to work, especially when it’s done right.
Jen Percival:
Now, this strategy can also fall into what I call shiny object territory. You’re definitely going to want to implement it in your business at some point, but right now might not be the right time. You might have bigger priorities that you need to implement first. If that’s the case, then put this strategy in the later vault, I call it, and focus on those other priorities first. The key is to focus on just one thing at a time and then take consistent actions every single day to make it happen. Only when you’re done should you focus on the next project on your list.
Jen Percival:
All right. I am done babbling. Remember, the more you learn, the more you’ll learn. Until next time. .