Real estate marketing: Write letters to individuals, not to groups
Hopefully you have dozens of people – even hundreds of people – that you stay in touch with. Some are the people you’re prospecting to and some are your past clients and your sphere of influence.
But even though you’re writing to many people at the same time, they’re ALL individuals. You need to write to them as such.
I cringe when I see ezines and e-mail campaigns that reference “All of you” or even “You guys.” Even though a newsletter is obviously sent to many people, using those terms makes the reader feel like they’re just part of a herd.
Whether you’re using an autoresponder to send email, or a contact management system to print letters, today’s technology makes it simple to customize your email messages with “Dear Sally” or “Dear Mr. Jones,” and doing so is a good idea. But more than that, the body of the message should sound like it’s just for them.
When you sit down to write, think about just one person and write directly to that person.
If you’re writing to your sphere or your past clients, think about what they want to know about the current market. They may even be pleased to know something about you – a trip you took, a designation you earned, or a sales goal you reached.
If you’re prospecting, you’re writing to people you don’t know yet. But hopefully you do know something about them, so you can create a make-believe person. Do it – and picture that person in your mind’s eye. You can even give him or her a name.
One of the first things we learn in copywriting is to know your audience. Spend some time thinking about what matters to them and what worries them. And of course, think about what you can offer to make their lives more pleasant.
If you market to different niches, separate your lists and send a different letter to each niche. The concerns of a homeowner in distress are much different from the concerns of a young family buying their first home. And their concerns are different from those of the empty-nesters who simply want to change homes or the executor of an estate who needs to handle the sale of a loved-one’s home.
As you write, talk to them like you would if you were sharing a cup of coffee. You wouldn’t sound stiff and formal, and you wouldn’t say things like “People like you.” No, you’d say “you” instead. Your goal is to sound conversational, not academic, and definitely not pompous!
In short, give plenty of thought to the person who will read your message. And don’t try to create a “one size fits all” letter – because one size will end up fitting no one.
If you don’t know what to say, remember that I offer more than 40 different prospecting letter sets – all written in a conversational tone to make your prospects feel like your letter was written just for them. Click here to see the selections.
