The power of the email newsletter is in its scale. A real estate professional with thousands of contacts and leads can spend just 20 minutes crafting a quality email, sending it out to those thousands all at once, and placing themselves top of mind for everyone who opens that email. 

You could create the world's best email content, but it’s a waste of time if your contacts don’t open it. 

In the real estate industry, you can expect around 21% of those emails to get opened. (26% on average for Curaytor clients). 

But how can you increase that number and get more people to engage with your content? 

Many factors can play into a successful email marketing strategy, from database health to finding the optimal time of sending. 

One simple way is to focus on the subject line of the email. It’s the attention-getting gatekeeper—the face of the email. 

There are two main approaches to effective subject lines. Let’s dive into them. 

Iterate and Optimize for Opens

Every audience is slightly different, so take these tips, and as you implement them, always A/B test your audience to confirm that you are optimizing your subject lines to improve opens. 

Beginning Example: Your Real Estate Market Report

The biggest and most effective thing you can do to optimize your subject line is to add personalization. According to Experian Marketing Services, emails with personalization in the subject line see a boost of 29% in the open rate. Add a first name, neighborhood, or pet’s name in that subject line. It will stand out in the inbox and nurture the relationship. 

New Example: Laura’s Real Estate Market Report is ready

Something you’ll want to test with your audience, but could boost open rates another 28%, is adding Emojis into your subject line. There are two keys to success with the Emoji. Don’t overdo it by tossing a bunch into every subject line, and use a relevant Emoji to your brand or the email's message. 

New Example: Laura’s Real Estate Market Report is ready 🏘

A tactic used by many website headlines is to include a number.  The subject line is the email's headline, so throwing a number in is an effortless way to boost opens. It could increase your open rate by as much as 206%

New Example: 3 Things about Laura’s Real Estate Market Report 📊

Finally, you can use the subject line to create a curiosity gap. Set the stage for a story but leave a piece out, so the reader opens the email and satisfies their curiosity. 

For example, “Here’s the best restaurant in your neighborhood,” “my last client said this was her greatest mistake,” or “What no one tells you about selling a house.” All these subject lines make the reader aware of a gap in their knowledge. A hole that they often feel compelled to fill by opening the email. 

New Example: What do these 3 stats from Laura’s real estate market mean 🔍

Combining these tips can help you iterate your subject lines until you’ve hit on a formula for your audience that reliably performs above average. 

But what about just abandoning the idea of boosting your open rate? That’s what this other suggests:

Optimize for Impressions

‍There’s another entirely different approach you could consider with subject lines. 

You could send the same subject line every time and use the subject line to build your brand through repetition and consistent messaging. 

To do this, you’re going to want to make sure that the subject line you’re using has you, your brand, and your value all in a single line so that even without opening the email, it still places you top of mind as the real estate expert for the contact who sees the email in the inbox. 

For Example: Real Estate Report from Phil Dunphy — Selling North Park 

So this subject line reminds them who you are and reinforces your brand. Consistency can be a great way to build trust with your audience. But also, studies have shown that it can see a message seven times before it sinks in. If you send weekly emails using the same branded subject line, you’re only two months away from building trust with your new contacts. 

Test, Test, Test

So that’s it! You can use the subject line to quickly get yourself top of mind with your contacts and leads. 

Two final tips.

First, don’t forget to set up a Sync of your leads to your CRM so that whenever you hop into Curaytor to send out your email, all your latest leads are already there. If you go to API Nation, you can set up a Sync of leads from Facebook, Zillow, Realtor.com, and more into CRMs like Follow Up Boss and Chime with just a few clicks. See those Syncs

And finally, always continue testing and improving. These tips work today, but email has come a long way and has changed a lot. All of us using email have changed a lot. And the next great subject line strategy is out there for you to discover through consistent testing and thoughtful execution. 

About API Nation

API Nation is a software integration platform known for its ease of use. Connecting hundreds of applications using thousands of pre-built workflows, API Nation helps professionals everywhere get the most from their technology to make money and save time.

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