SMS text message marketing is a great option for communicating with current and prospective clients in a snap. Learn what makes SMS marketing great for real estate, as well as three key times you can use SMS marketing to improve the overall customer experience. 

What Is SMS Text Message Marketing?

SMS is an acronym that stands for Short Message Service and is another term for texting. Text message marketing and SMS marketing are two terms for the same thing: marketing your services to customers using text messages. 

Is SMS Marketing a Good Real Estate Investment?

SMS marketing is a budget-friendly marketing strategy that allows you to provide high-level customer service and care in real time. It’s possible for real estate agents to achieve seven-figure profitability with SMS marketing. 

Benefits of SMS Marketing for Real Estate

SMS marketing has several benefits for both you and your clients:

• High Open Rate: Text messages are 134% more likely to be read than emails, making them effective for automated marketing campaigns. 
• Enables Rapid Communication: The majority of text messages are read within five minutes of being sent. If you’re looking to communicate timely information with your clients, SMS is an effective strategy. 
• Clients Prefer Texts: The majority of clients prefer text message communications over other types of communications, with 58% of consumers believing texts are the most effective way brands can communicate with them.

Are There Legal Ramifications to Using SMS for Real Estate?

Like most marketing tactics, SMS marketing is governed by laws. Understanding TCPA (Telephone Communication Protection Act) compliance is a necessary factor in mastering text message marketing. 

The most significant aspect of TCPA regulations for SMS marketing is that text message marketing needs to be an opt-in service. Legally, you can’t just spam everyone in your contact list with text messages without warning; you need a system in place to ensure recipients are comfortable receiving text messages from you.  

The easiest way to stay in compliance and avoid legal issues is to have a candid conversation with new clients. Discuss how you use SMS marketing and ask clients to sign a statement that they are okay with receiving texts from you. This is an easy process; 91% of customers are happy to opt in to receiving text messages from companies, especially if they can see how those text messages will benefit them in the future. 

As a real estate agent, consider factors like data privacy. For example, you don’t want to create a text message group that shares clients’ phone numbers with people they don’t know. Working with a dedicated SMS marketing provider can help you navigate privacy issues with ease. 

How Can You Use Text Marketing To Boost Your Real Estate Business?

Your real estate business can use SMS marketing as an automated process for showcasing new listings, communicating important information, and providing valuable information your customers would appreciate. 

1. SMS Text Message Marketing for Showcasing New Listings

If you’re hosting an open house or trying to highlight a new listing, sending an SMS message to clients you know are looking for houses can benefit you both. 

This is a time when segmenting your contact lists is a good idea. Clients who have recently purchased a home probably aren’t going to be interested in a text message about a new listing. However, clients who are interested in flipping houses for a living or who own apartment properties might want to know whenever you have a new listing available. 

2. SMS Text Message Marketing for Rapid Client Communications

One of the biggest benefits of SMS marketing is that you can send messages quickly and receive responses almost as quickly. That’s one reason many companies use SMS marketing to send automated appointment reminders to customers; it provides an easy avenue for reminding customers about their appointment and asking for appointment confirmations at the same time. 

But while real estate agents can benefit from offering appointment reminders to clients, there are a number of other times the rapid-fire nature of text message marketing can be beneficial to you and your clients. For example:

• If last-minute clients are hoping to get in to see a home, you could text the home’s owners to schedule a viewing. 
• During negotiations, you can communicate with clients so that you can draw up paperwork as quickly as possible. 
• You can send reminders to check emails when paperwork needs to be signed or initiated. 

3. SMS Text Message Marketing for Adding Value to Your Customers

One of the challenges of working as a real estate agent is knowing that there can be years-long gaps between interactions with clients. A person may live in a home for 10 years or longer before needing to work with a real estate agent again. The challenge is staying relevant enough in their minds that they recommend your work to their friends and/or remember your name when it’s time for them to shop for real estate. 

Text messaging previous clients can be a great way to add value to their lives and attain that level of relevance. For example, you could: 

• Send a reminder at tax season explaining where they can find the paperwork they need to fill out their tax forms correctly
• Send information on how to fill out homestead exemption paperwork after clients have been in their home for a year
• Send seasonal information on how to winterize your home to best preserve pipes and lower energy costs

By providing good information to your clients at critical times, you keep yourself in their minds and improve the odds of them considering your services the next time they need a real estate agent. 

Improve Your Marketing Effectiveness With SMS

Real estate agents can use SMS text message marketing in a variety of ways, from sending rapid communications to sharing friendly tips and tricks that keep your agency at the front of your clients’ minds. 

Launch Control is here to help. Our platform is uniquely designed to help real estate professionals get the most out of text message marketing. We’d love to help you grow!