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RP Data RP Data
Email & Real EstateEmail & Real Estate
David SmerdonDavid Smerdon
Head of Strategy - Vision 6Head of Strategy - Vision 6
www.vision6.com.au
AgendaAgenda
• 30 seconds on Vision 6• Why consider email?• Why direct makes sense?• The age of accountability• Email stats• Is your business in e-denial?• Design, construction and deliverability – 5 best practice tips• Transactional emails• 3 list growth tips• Spam compliance• 3 ideas for the Real Estate Industry
www.vision6.com.au
30 seconds on Vision 6:30 seconds on Vision 6:
– We provide an online hosted eMarketing platform called VeMail
– Australia’s leading email marketing software & services provider
– 6,500+ business users of our technology
– Founded in 2001 with a current team of 28 based in Brisbane
– IBM, Stella Resorts, RACQ, Lonely Planet, Dick Smith
– Host over 150 million contact records
– We sent over 45 million emails last month
www.vision6.com.au
Why consider email?Why consider email?
www.vision6.com.au
Campaign FinishesCustomer contact is broken with no details
captured
The prospect or customer is gone without a trace…
www.vision6.com.au
Speed to marketSpeed to market
Why email?Why email?
www.vision6.com.au
TailoredTailored one to one communications that can one to one communications that can inspire action - one click away from a saleinspire action - one click away from a sale
www.vision6.com.au
More relevant More relevant dialog more often = dialog more often =
deeper customer deeper customer relationships and a relationships and a
more profitable, more profitable, loyal customer baseloyal customer base
CostCost
Sending 5,000 emails per month;
Access fee $50.00
Email send costs $100.00
$150.00 per month
Monthly access feesTotal Records Monthly Fee0 - 1,000 $301,001 - 5,000 $505,001 - 15,000 $9015,001 - 50,000 $15050,001 - 500,000 $220
Cost per emailNumber of Emails Cost per Email1 - 200 4 cents201 - 2,000 3 cents2,001 – 10,000 2 cents> 10,000 1 cent
www.vision6.com.au
Your Message Gatekeepers Intended recipient
State newspapersLocal newspapersLetter box dropsOnline i.e. realestate.com.au
Why direct makes sense?Why direct makes sense?
www.vision6.com.au
Why direct makes senseWhy direct makes sense
“Myer will this year spend more on direct marketing to its Myer One customers than all of its other advertising put together, according to Chief Executive Bernie Brookes”
Will maintaining a relationship with existing customers help or hinder your business into
the future?
Word of mouth will always be one of your most cost effective tools. Positive word of mouth propagates leads and email keeps
you front of mind…
www.vision6.com.au
We’re in a time of We’re in a time of microscopic accountabilitymicroscopic accountability
“I know at least half of my advertising is wasted I just don’t know which half”
Henry Ford
www.vision6.com.au
www.vision6.com.au
www.vision6.com.au
www.vision6.com.au
www.vision6.com.au
Email stats Email stats Vision 6 Email Metrics Report July – December 2008 Vision 6 Email Metrics Report July – December 2008 (based on 182 million messages from 186,000 campaigns)(based on 182 million messages from 186,000 campaigns)
• Average open rates 22.5%• Open rates Real Estate Industry 28.3% • Average click through rate 4.8%• Click through rate Real Estate Industry 4.9%• Bounce rate 8.9%• Bounce rate Real Estate Industry 6.2%• Hotmail represents 24.9% of all email recipients• Highest volume of emails sent are on a Friday 20.6%• Highest open rate is Sunday 32.2%• Time taken to open an email
– 21.6% in the first hour– 73.1% in the first 24 hours– 92.7% in the first 5 days
www.vision6.com.au
Is your business in e-denial?
www.vision6.com.au
Design, construction and Design, construction and deliverabilitydeliverability
5 best practice tips5 best practice tips
www.vision6.com.au
1. Keep email width to 550px – 650px. This will display emails without horizontal scrolls on most standard screen resolutions with vertical preview panes.
Width 550px fits in vertical preview pane without horizontal scrollbars
www.vision6.com.au
Width over 650px. Recipient has to scroll left to write to read the email
www.vision6.com.au
2. Avoid scripts, video, flash in emails. Direct users to landing pages + have a plain text version
www.vision6.com.au
3. Include call to action within first 400px
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4. Avoid background images as some email clients such as Outlook 2007, Hotmail, Gmail & Lotus Notes ignore body background images
Email width over 650px. Recipient has to scroll left
horizontally to read the email
www.vision6.com.au
5. Make sure the message is understandable in an images ‘switched off’ environment.
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Images switched off
Images switched on
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Transactional emailsTransactional emails
Often a missed opportunityOften a missed opportunity
www.vision6.com.au
Transactional emails can give you Transactional emails can give you permission to conversepermission to converse
What are they?
• Any communication that forms part of the sales process i.e. confirmation email for subscribing to a weekly newsletter, receipt email from a deposit, outline of critical dates i.e. building and pest due by x date, settlement etc
• Transactional emails get through more spam filters because they consist of important customer information
www.vision6.com.au
My trip to the coast…
www.vision6.com.au
“Transactional email offers the highest open and click-through rates of any type of email – 70% open rate for transactional email v 33% for opt in email”¹
“Less than 1% of email marketing funds industry wide are spent on transactional emails”²
Source: 1. Harte-Hanks metrics, 2005 2. JupiterReasearch, “E-mail Model” November 2005
www.vision6.com.au
Advertising is working hard to get new leads
But the conversion
engine is letting the team down…
Apple's iTunes
Transactional e-mail receipts contain three "if you liked this, you'll also like" recommendations, an approach that turns a cost center into a profit center
Clickz 5th October 2007
www.vision6.com.au
3 list growth strategies
1. Best practice enews registration
1. Website registration
2. Registration web form
3. Thank you page
4. Confirmation email
5. Confirmation page
6. First eNewsletter
www.vision6.com.au
2. Phone / in-office registration
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3. Audit existing assets
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Spam compliance
www.vision6.com.au
The Spam Act 2003Three key conditions
• Consent (express or inferred);• Identify; and• Unsubscribe
For all commercial electronic messages:
Julia Cornwell McKeanManager, Anti-Spam Team
www.vision6.com.au
Consent1. Consent
Express consent: • Completes an online form and ticks a box• Fills in a hard copy registration form and
requests commercial information• Hands over business card and verbally requests
information
Inferred consent: • Easily visible publication of ‘work related email
address’; e.g. on a website, trade magazine, newspaper
• Long standing customer, good business relationship; a once off purchase or use of service is generally not enough
Keep good recordsSilence does not mean consent
www.vision6.com.au
2. Identify
• Must identify the body that authorised sending of message
• Sender information must be reasonably likely to remain accurate for 30 days
Identify
www.vision6.com.au
3. Unsubscribe
• Must be functional, simple to use, low or no cost. Automatic link within email or return email with unsubscribe request
• Must be honoured within five working days
Unsubscribe
www.vision6.com.au
A common sense take
• Just because it’s legal doesn't make it right• Spam is;
Any email the recipient doesn’t want, even opted in email
• Having ‘unemotionally subscribed’ contacts in your database isn’t good for either party
www.vision6.com.au
Ideas for the real estate industry1. Lifecycle Marketing
• Lifecycle Marketing is the evolution of the broadcast email
• Moving from one list to segmented lists to deliver the right message to the right person at the right
• Basic Lifecycle Marketing can be as simple as;
– An SMS when your dry cleaning is ready– Email reminder of your dentist check-up– Email receipt or thank you for your purchase
www.vision6.com.au
Lifecycle marketing, conditional content and geo-targeting
Header
Footer
Standard introduction
Conditional content based on area of
interest
Property listings
Open houses
www.vision6.com.au
Ideas for the real estate industry2. Automated triggers
• If a prospect sends you an email about a particular property on your website
– The prospect receives an instant automated email designed in the agencies branding with further details about the property (additional images etc) and a personalised message
– At the same time an automated email and SMS notification is sent to the relevant sales people
– Additional ideas: Congratulations email on settlement, dining voucher in the local area, key dates branded email, local area buying / selling resources (building and pest etc)…
www.vision6.com.au
Ideas for the real estate industry3. Signs on steroids
Virtual SMS for real estate signs
– “Text your email address to 04… to receive full details about this property”
– Also triggers an email and SMS to the agent to follow-up
