How to Choose the Best Email Marketing Platform for Realtors

In the dynamic world of real estate, staying connected with clients is crucial. Realtors® have an array of tools available for connecting with home sellers and buyers — everything from SMS to social media to referral programs. But email marketing is still a powerful tool for nurturing leads, building client relationships, and driving business growth. 

However, selecting the right real estate email marketing software can be overwhelming. There are a number of providers in the market, and understanding what will work best for your needs can be a challenge.

Read on to learn about must-have features and get help navigating the process of choosing the best email marketing platform. With the right solution, you can elevate your real estate brand and maintain those all-important client connections.

Why Email Marketing for Realtors® (Still) Matters

Recent statistics support the idea that email marketing continues to be a go-to strategy for marketers across industries. In fact, over half of marketers (57.8%) worldwide reported email open rates between 20%–50% in 2023. The takeaway is that people still open, read, and respond to emails — especially if the message is relevant.

It’s important to understand that email marketing isn’t just a communication channel. It’s a critical business strategy real estate professionals can use to stay top-of-mind with contacts, increase conversions, and close more deals. 

The key benefits of strategic email marketing for Realtors® include:

• Maintaining continuous client engagement
• Showcasing market expertise and local knowledge
• Generating and nurturing potential leads
• Providing personalized property recommendations
• Building long-term client relationships
• Establishing a professional, tech-savvy brand image

Bottom line: The real estate market moves quickly. Email marketing allows you to gain an advantage over the competition — and stay on the radar of your potential buyers and sellers — by delivering timely, relevant information directly to your clients’ inboxes. 

Before you can do that, you need to have the right real estate email marketing software in place. 

Key Features to Look for in Real Estate Email Marketing Software

1. Contact Management and Segmentation

Effectively tracking and organizing your contacts is the foundation of email marketing. The best email marketing platforms offer robust contact management features that include:

• Easy import and organization of contact lists
• The ability to segment contacts by categories (such as buyers, sellers, and investors, or what part of the funnel they're currently in)
• Custom tagging tools
• Integration with customer relationship management (CRM) platforms

Learn more about Fello's direct integrations with CRMs like Follow Up Boss and Sierra Interactive. →

2. Automation Capabilities

Automation is a time saver and can help you simultaneously run multiple campaigns for multiple audiences — which is especially helpful if you’re a solo agent or working with limited staff and resources. Look for platforms that can help you set up and run:

• A welcome series for new leads — for example, an introduction to you as an agent and an offer of a free consultation 
• Drip campaigns for clients in different stages of the selling process — such as a campaign for luxury sellers who are on the verge of listing and another for traditional sellers who are wondering about home improvements before listing
• Emails that trigger based on certain client actions, such as filling out a form on your website or checking their home value
• Weekly or bi-monthly market update newsletters
• Listing alert sequences to notify your contacts of homes selling near them and for how much

3. Template Design and Customization

Look-and-feel and personal branding are important components of email marketing that add to your overall professionalism. The real estate email marketing software you choose should offer:

• Professional-looking, real estate-specific templates
• Drag-and-drop email builders
• Mobile-responsive designs for easy viewing on smartphones
• The ability to incorporate property images and listings
• Customizable branding options

4. Listing Integration and Property Showcasing

The core of real estate is the actual listings and properties, so being able to feature them prominently in your emails is a non-negotiable. Top real estate email marketing services provide:

• Direct MLS listing integrations (MailChimp, HubSpot, Zoho, and Constant Contact generally integrate with local MLS)
• Or, easy integration via a tool like Zapier
• Automatic property showcase features
• Virtual tour and image embedding
• Dynamic content blocks for property details

5. Analytics and Reporting

Knowing how your email campaigns perform is key to making necessary adjustments that can increase your impact and return on investment (ROI). Successful email marketing for Realtors® has to rely on critical analytics and reporting features, including:

• Deliverability, open, and click-through rates
• Conversion tracking
• Audience engagement metrics, e.g., read, scan, and for how long
• A/B testing capabilities
• Performance benchmarking
• Unsubscribes, spam, and hard bounces
• Basic email compliance for the areas you're marketing to

Choosing the Right Platform: A Real-World Guide

Let's be honest: Even with a list of must-have features in hand, choosing a real estate email marketing software solution can feel a lot like navigating a complex real estate transaction. Many solutions seem similar, and it’s hard to know what to prioritize when making a decision. Here’s a straightforward approach to finding a solution that works for you:

1. The Real Estate Marketing Reality: Know Where You Stand

Before embarking on a tour of the best email marketing for real estate agents, take a moment to honestly assess your business:

• How big is your current client database?
• Are you a solo agent or part of a larger team?
• What’s your comfort level with technology?
• What’s your monthly marketing budget?

Pro tip: When you’re clear about where you’re starting from — the time you have, the support available to you, the budget you’ve allocated for technology — you can make a smarter decision and avoid an investment that’s beyond your reach.

2. Hands-On Research: Test Drive Before You Buy

Just like you wouldn’t recommend a home to a client without having them do a walkthrough, don’t commit to an email marketing platform without experiencing it firsthand:

• Take advantage of free trials or demos — most platforms offer them, so use them
• Request or create sample email campaigns to understand what the recipients will see
• Test the user interface and make sure it’s intuitive and easy to use
• Check out the responsiveness of customer support 

Pro tip: If you don’t consider yourself tech-savvy, invite a colleague with tech know-how who can help you evaluate different solutions. A second set of eyes can catch potential issues or point out feature limitations you might miss.

3. Integrations: Understand Your Existing Marketing Ecosystem

Your real estate email marketing software shouldn’t be off on its own island. Instead, it needs to fit as seamlessly as possible into your existing marketing ecosystem. Look for solutions like Fello that play nicely with:

• Your existing CRM
• MLS listing services
• Lead management systems
• Social media platforms

Pro tip: Seamless integration with the other key tools of your trade can help you avoid data silos, reduce or eliminate manual work, and give you more time to focus on closing deals.

4. User Experience: Keep It Simple

The day-to-day business of real estate is complicated enough, so if you’re going to turn over some of your most important marketing tasks to technology, make sure the software is easy to learn and use every day. Your email marketing tool should include:

• Help with setup, onboarding, and ongoing training
• Personalized dashboards and user-friendly tools
• Straightforward and actionable analytics

Pro tip: If using the platform feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube, it’s probably not the right fit. Don’t talk yourself into something that will just create more work for you and waste your valuable time.

5. Flexibility: Ramp Up as Needed

The best real estate email marketing software solutions are built with the understanding that no two real estate agents or businesses are identical. Everyone is in a different phase of building or growing a business and will have more or fewer resources at different times. Your key to staying competitive and productive no matter the twists and turns of the industry is to rely on a flexible email marketing tool that: 

• Syncs with a variety of third-party apps
• Doesn’t constrain you with contact limits
• Offers scalable pricing models

Pro tip: Your ideal platform should grow with you, not hold you back. Think of it like choosing a starter home versus an investment property. You want something that meets your current needs but has potential for expansion as your business and client list grows.

6. Budget Considerations: Think Beyond the Price Tag

Pricing for real estate marketing email software varies depending if you’re considering a basic plan or a more advanced plan with a richer feature set. You can also find enterprise solutions that offer custom pricing. But pricing is much more than a monthly cost commitment. Consider the total value you expect to get from the platform, including:

• The time you can save through automation
• Potential lead generation capabilities
• Advanced features that can streamline your email workflows
• Your potential return on investment

Pro tip: Going with a slightly pricier platform that saves you hours each week and can help you generate two or three times the leads might be worth every penny. But it's all up to your budget.

7. Potential Red Flags: Trust Your Instincts

As you compare platforms, save yourself the trouble and avoid the ones that:

• Feel overly complicated
• Don’t offer real estate-specific features
• Have poor customer support!!!
• Get consistently poor customer reviews
• Don’t offer clear pricing or have hidden fees

Pro tip: All else being equal, if something about a particular platform doesn’t sit well with you, take note. Your real estate email marketing services should fundamentally help — not hinder — you.

Final Recommendations

Selecting the right real estate email marketing software is an investment in your real estate brand and gives you a huge step up in reaching your marketing goals. Prioritize platforms like Fello that are built to specifically support real estate professionals and offer comprehensive, relevant features that meet today’s demands. 

Effective email marketing can transform how you connect with clients and generate leads. By carefully evaluating your options and understanding your specific needs, you’ll find an email marketing platform that can become a powerful ally in your real estate success.

Ready to transform your seller lead generation strategy? Schedule a demo to see how Fello’s tools can help uncover more seller leads, get more listing appointments, and close more deals.

Already a Fello user? We built pre-built, tested, and optimized email marketingcampaigns right into the Fello platform. And if you have questions about any of the Fello features and tools mentioned above, schedule a call with your CSM or email success@hifello.com.