With all the hype about the importance of social media and mobile marketing, some people think email marketing is old news. In fact, email remains one of the most successful marketing tools, ranking as the third highest earner among online strategies. 

Luxury real estate marketing is multifaceted. Whether you’re selling high-end custom homes, country club memberships or vacation properties, the key to success is a comprehensive online marketing strategy that includes social media, blogging and an interactive website with content that visitors actually care to read. Email marketing is just one component, but it’s among the most useful for targeting a particular audience at a reasonable price.

Benefits of Email For Luxury Real Estate Marketing

Email marketing builds brand awareness generates leads and keeps your name in front of customers and potential customers. It’s affordable and, perhaps more importantly, it’s measurable. You will know exactly what percentage of recipients open the email, click on leads and take advantage of your offers.

The personal nature of email also makes it effective for luxury real estate marketing. Each message can be targeted precisely to the type of customer you want to reach. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, though important for marketing, don’t allow for such specific targeting. And while not everyone will check social media daily, they’re most likely checking email. Open rates vary, of course, but they tend to range from 20 and 50 percent. When emails are professionally crafted, open rates can be much higher.

Crafting the Right Email for Luxury Real Estate Marketing

Luxury real estate builders and developers can use email marketing to send exclusive offers, project updates, sneak peeks of upcoming luxury properties, testimonials, invites to private events and more. The key with luxury real estate marketing, in particular, is to send personalized and customized emails. Luxury buyers want to feel like the opportunities are not available to just anyone. 

To maximize the impact of luxury real estate marketing emails, always make sure they feature social media sharing buttons and single-click access to your website. They should always be mobile-friendly, given that nearly 50 percent of emails are viewed on mobile devices. Write catchy subject lines that leave recipients wanting to learn more.

Email Marketing Missteps

Regardless of whether you’re selling to luxury customers, they’re are some rules that apply to all email marketing campaigns. Many of the common mistakes are even bigger flops in the world of luxury real estate marketing because customers tend to be choosier.

Over-saturation: Don’t bombard your contact list with a barrage of emails. They don’t need the play-by-play of your project’s progression, recaps of every country club social event or daily reminders that lots are available for custom homes. There are no ironclad rules to frequency, but if you have to wonder whether you’re annoying people with too many emails, you probably are.

Spamming: Federal rules are clear about what’s allowed and what’s not. Permission is required, so everyone on your email list must have opted in. All messages must give recipients the option to unsubscribe from your list. Penalties for violating these rules can be stiff - up to $16,000 for each violation.

Misleading subject lines: A clever subject line will increase your open rate. But if the subject line has little to do with the actual contents of the email, you’re turning off potential buyers. They won’t open the next email.

Shameless advertisement: The purpose of sending emails for luxury real estate marketing is to sell properties, but you can’t be that obvious about it. The recipient needs to feel like they’re getting something valuable - a great value or an exclusive opportunity, for example - not just a sales pitch.

It is a bit of a science, but as you experiment and learn more, your emails will become more and more effective.