How to Improve Deliverability Rate for the Real Estate Industry
By Sam Thomas Davies Head of Content
@ Sleeknote

In today’s digital world, email marketing has become an essential tool for businesses across various industries, including the real estate sector. However, one of the biggest challenges that real estate professionals face is ensuring high deliverability rates for their email campaigns. Deliverability refers to the ability of an email to successfully reach the intended recipient’s inbox, rather than being filtered out as spam or bouncing back.

Understanding the Importance of Deliverability in the Real Estate Industry

As a real estate professional, it is crucial to understand the significance of deliverability in the success of your email marketing efforts. Low deliverability rates not only mean that your carefully crafted emails are not getting through to your target audience, but it also impacts your brand reputation and limits your ability to generate leads and build meaningful relationships with prospects.

Furthermore, poor deliverability rates can lead to your domain or IP address getting blacklisted by internet service providers (ISPs), making it even more challenging to reach your audience in the future.

One way to improve deliverability is by regularly cleaning your email list. This involves removing inactive or invalid email addresses from your database. By doing so, you can ensure that your emails are reaching active and engaged recipients, increasing the chances of them being opened and read.

In addition to list cleaning, it is important to optimize your email content for deliverability. This includes avoiding spam trigger words, using a reputable email service provider, and personalizing your emails to make them more relevant to your recipients. By following these best practices, you can improve your email deliverability and maximize the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns in the real estate industry.

Key Factors Affecting Deliverability Rates in Real Estate

To improve deliverability rates in the real estate industry, it is essential to identify and understand the key factors that can influence the success or failure of your email campaigns. These factors include:

  • Email Content: The content of your emails plays a significant role in deliverability. Using spam-triggering words or phrases, excessive promotional language, or misleading subject lines can increase the chances of your emails being marked as spam.
  • Sender Reputation: ISPs closely monitor the reputation of email senders. If your sender reputation is poor due to previous instances of spamming, high bounce rates, or a history of complaints, your emails may be flagged and routed to the spam folder.
  • Email Authentication: Properly authenticating your emails using technologies like Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) can help establish your identity as a legitimate sender, improving deliverability rates.
  • List Quality: The quality of your email list is crucial. Using outdated or purchased lists can result in high bounce rates and spam complaints, negatively impacting deliverability.

In addition to these key factors, another important aspect to consider for improving deliverability rates in the real estate industry is email engagement. ISPs analyze the engagement level of your recipients with your emails to determine their relevance and legitimacy. Factors such as open rates, click-through rates, and overall subscriber engagement can influence how ISPs prioritize your emails and whether they are delivered to the inbox or spam folder.

Analyzing the Current Deliverability Rate of the Real Estate Industry

To determine the current state of deliverability in the real estate industry, it is important to analyze industry-specific data and benchmarks. Research and monitor industry-wide deliverability rates to understand the average performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Additionally, tracking your own email metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints, can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Understanding the current deliverability landscape gives you a baseline to measure your own performance and establish realistic goals for improvement.

One factor that can significantly impact deliverability in the real estate industry is the quality of email lists. It is crucial to regularly clean and update your email lists to ensure that you are sending messages to engaged and active recipients. Removing inactive or unengaged subscribers can help improve deliverability rates and reduce the risk of being flagged as spam.

In addition to list hygiene, another important aspect to consider is the content of your emails. Avoid using spam trigger words and phrases that could potentially land your messages in the spam folder. Personalize your emails and provide valuable, relevant content to increase engagement and reduce the likelihood of being marked as spam by recipients.

Best Practices for Enhancing Email Deliverability in Real Estate

To enhance email deliverability in the real estate industry, there are several best practices that you should consider:

  • Building a High-Quality Email List: Focus on growing an organic email list of engaged subscribers who have willingly opted to receive communications from you. This ensures better engagement and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints.
  • Crafting Compelling Subject Lines: Your subject lines should be clear, concise, and relevant to the content of your emails. Avoid using deceptive or clickbait-like subject lines that may trigger spam filters.
  • Optimizing Email Content: Create valuable and relevant content that is personalized to your recipients. Avoid excessive promotional language and focus on providing useful information that adds value to your audience.
  • Segmenting Your Email List: Divide your email list into smaller segments based on demographics, interests, or previous interactions. This allows you to send targeted and tailored messages, resulting in better engagement and higher deliverability rates.
  • Implementing Double Opt-In: Double opt-in is a process where subscribers confirm their subscription by clicking a verification link sent to their email. This helps verify the validity of email addresses and reduces the chances of spam complaints or incorrect addresses.
  • Avoiding Spam Traps and Blacklists: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or invalid email addresses. Monitor and avoid known spam traps, and actively manage your sender reputation to prevent blacklisting.
  • Leveraging Sender Reputation: Establish and maintain a good sender reputation by following email best practices, monitoring bounce rates and spam complaints, and promptly addressing any issues that arise.
  • Monitoring and Analyzing Email Metrics: Continuously track and analyze key email metrics to identify trends, detect deliverability issues, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns.

Additionally, it is important to regularly update your email list to ensure that you are only sending emails to active and engaged subscribers. Remove any email addresses that consistently bounce or show no activity to maintain a clean and responsive list. This will not only improve your email deliverability but also help you focus your efforts on those who are genuinely interested in your real estate offerings.

Strategies for Dealing with Bounces and Unsubscribes in the Real Estate Industry

In the real estate industry, it is common to experience bounces and unsubscribes due to various reasons. When it comes to bounces, differentiate between hard bounces (permanent delivery failures) and soft bounces (temporary delivery failures). Remove hard bounce addresses from your list promptly to maintain list quality and improve deliverability.

In regards to unsubscribes, make sure to include a clear and visible unsubscribe link in your emails, as required by the CAN-SPAM Act. Honoring unsubscribe requests promptly not only helps to maintain compliance but also prevents recipients from marking your emails as spam, which can hurt your sender reputation.

Additionally, it is important to regularly monitor and analyze your email campaign metrics to identify patterns and trends related to bounces and unsubscribes. By tracking these metrics, you can gain insights into the effectiveness of your email marketing strategies and make necessary adjustments to improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of bounces and unsubscribes.

Overcoming Common Challenges with Email Filters and Spam Folder Placement in Real Estate

Email filters and spam folder placement can pose significant challenges for real estate marketers. To overcome these challenges, consider the following strategies:

  • Focus on list quality and engagement: Sending targeted emails to engaged subscribers helps build a positive sender reputation and increases the chances of your emails bypassing spam filters.
  • Avoid spam-triggering words and phrases: Be mindful of the language used in your emails and avoid using known spam-triggering words or phrases.
  • Test your emails across various email clients and ISPs: Ensure your emails render properly and avoid common formatting issues that might trigger spam filters in certain email clients or ISPs.

Additionally, it is important to regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics and analyze any patterns or trends. By keeping a close eye on your email open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates, you can identify any potential issues with your email deliverability and take proactive measures to address them.

Collaborating with ISPs and ESPs to Maximize Email Deliverability for Real Estate

Establishing relationships with internet service providers (ISPs) and email service providers (ESPs) can be crucial in maximizing your email deliverability rates. Consult with your ESP to understand their deliverability practices, seek guidance, and take advantage of any deliverability tools or services they may offer.

Collaborating with ISPs involves building a positive sender reputation and adhering to their guidelines and best practices. Establishing direct feedback loops with ISPs can provide valuable insights into the deliverability of your emails and help resolve any deliverability issues promptly.

When collaborating with ISPs and ESPs, it is important to regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics. Keep track of your bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribe rates to identify any potential issues and take corrective actions. Analyzing these metrics can help you identify patterns and trends that may affect your email deliverability and allow you to make necessary adjustments.

In addition to collaborating with ISPs and ESPs, implementing email authentication protocols such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) can significantly improve your email deliverability. These protocols help verify the authenticity of your emails and prevent them from being marked as spam or phishing attempts.

Testing and Optimizing Your Emails to Ensure High Deliverability Rates in the Real Estate Industry

Testing and optimizing your emails is essential to ensure high deliverability rates in the real estate industry. Conduct A/B testing to compare different subject lines, email content, and call-to-action strategies. Monitor the results and use the insights gained to continuously refine and improve your email campaigns.

Embrace a data-driven approach by analyzing email metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Experiment with different variables, such as send times, email frequency, and personalization, to determine their impact on deliverability and engagement.

Additionally, it is important to consider the mobile-friendliness of your emails. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, a significant portion of your audience may be accessing their emails on mobile devices. Ensure that your emails are optimized for mobile viewing by using responsive design techniques and testing them on various devices and screen sizes.

Staying Compliant with CAN-SPAM Regulations for Better Email Delivery in Real Estate

Compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act is crucial to maintaining good deliverability rates in the real estate industry. Ensure that your emails include accurate sender information, a clear and visible unsubscribe link, and a physical mailing address as required by the legislation.

Respecting recipients’ preferences, promptly honoring unsubscribe requests, and avoiding deceptive subject lines are important practices that demonstrate your commitment to compliance and can positively impact deliverability.

Another important aspect of staying compliant with CAN-SPAM regulations is to include a valid and functioning “reply-to” email address in your emails. This allows recipients to easily respond to your messages and ensures that you are reachable and responsive to any inquiries or concerns.

In addition, it is essential to regularly review and update your email lists to ensure that you are only sending messages to individuals who have given their consent to receive communications from you. This can help prevent complaints and potential legal issues related to unsolicited emails.

Continuous Improvement: Tracking, Analyzing, and Adjusting your Strategies for Optimal Deliverability in the Real Estate Industry

To achieve optimal deliverability rates in the real estate industry, it is crucial to continuously track, analyze, and adjust your strategies. Stay up to date with industry trends, technological advancements, and changes in email deliverability best practices.

Regularly monitor your email metrics and key performance indicators to identify areas for improvement. Make data-driven decisions and experiment with various strategies to optimize your deliverability rates.

In conclusion, improving deliverability rates in the real estate industry requires a holistic approach, encompassing email content, sender reputation, list quality, authentication, and compliance. By implementing best practices, establishing strong relationships with ISPs and ESPs, and continuously monitoring and adjusting your strategies, you can enhance deliverability and maximize the success of your email marketing campaigns.