How to create a real estate sms marketing strategy (7 steps)

I’m willing to bet that you already text your real estate clients. It’s low-cost and saves you from playing phone tag. What’s not to love?

To sell more homes with texting, you’ll need the right plan in place to scale your messaging and target the right people. 

Want to know how we at SimpleTexting advise our real estate customers on creating an SMS marketing strategy? I’ll let you in on the seven steps to building your own plan.

How do you make a real estate SMS marketing plan?

1. Pick a service provider for sending your text messages.
2. Choose a phone number for your business’s text messages.
3. Create a welcome text that gives value to your new subscribers right away.
4. Invite buyers and sellers to subscribe to your texts.
5. Send text messages about your property listings and services.
6. Answer any questions that people ask you through text messages.
7. Look at your text message campaign data to see what’s working.

Let’s take a look at the process for building a successful text marketing plan in more detail.

Picking the right real estate SMS marketing platform is crucial for connecting with leads and clients. You need a tool that’ll keep all of your contact lists organized and make it easy to text when you’re bouncing between properties.

Your real estate business’ text messaging platform should have:

1. Cost-effective and flexible pricing plans
2. SMS automation features, like scheduled texts and autoresponders
3. Personalization options, like custom fields and contact segments
4. Transparent privacy policies for your contacts’ protection
5. A responsive customer support team that’s available daily
6. Detailed text message campaign analytics

Once you’ve narrowed down your options, sign up for free trials to evaluate the features and user experience of each platform.

You may already have a phone number, but businesses that send promotional texts from a text messaging platform need to use a number that’s accepted by wireless carriers.

There are three popular types of business texting numbers, most real estate agents use local numbers.

Local numbers are 10-digit long codes (also known as 10DLC) with local area codes (e.g., 212-555-5555).

You’ll need to register your number with The Campaign Registry to start texting, but we’ll walk you through the process and get you up and running in a day or less.

As soon as someone joins your texting list, send them a welcome text to show your appreciation and set expectations. 

📣 SimpleTexting is the only SMS marketing software provider offering free compliance messages after sending your first text to a new contact.

Real estate welcome message best practices:

1. Send your welcome message promptly: Create an autoresponder welcome message that enables contacts to save your number for future messages.
2. Clearly communicate expectations: Acknowledge their decision to subscribe and inform them about what they can look forward to, such as industry insights, exclusive offers, and updates on new properties.
3. Include compliance information: To adhere to SMS industry regulations, let your contacts know about messaging frequency, how to unsubscribe, how to seek assistance, and any applicable message and data fees.

🚫 Example of a bad welcome text:

✅ Example of a good welcome text:

Now that you’ve automated your welcome message, you need to invite contacts to join your list and receive information about your property listings or home selling services. 

You may already have a list of contacts, but you have to get their express written consent before sending them promotional texts (like information about listings or services you offer). This’ll help keep you stay compliant with texting laws and SMS industry regulations.

Use opt-in methods such as SMS keywords, web forms, and paper forms to invite people to join your texting list.

💡 Take our quiz to discover the suitable opt-in method for your real estate business and learn how to set them up in our comprehensive opt-in method guide.

Before you start texting your contacts, keep these SMS compliance guidelines in mind:

1. Get your contacts’ express written consent so you have proof that they want to receive promotional messages.
2. Wherever you advertise your texting list, provide clear and compliant promotional language, including details like message frequency and the purpose of your SMS program.
3. Send a compliance text message after your initial message to a new contact. 

These guidelines also apply to clients or leads who’ve provided their number for other purposes, like scheduling a house tour.

It’s essential to get their permission to send marketing text messages before importing their contact information into your text message marketing platform.

📌 Get a tutorial and scripts for inviting existing real estate contacts to join your texting list.

Once people start opting in to your real estate texting list, it’s time to create and send your first text message campaign. 

Here are five popular text message campaigns to consider:

New Property Listings

Notify potential buyers about newly listed properties in the market, highlighting their key features and generating interest.

Open House Invitations

Invite prospective buyers to visit an open house event to meet you and see the property in person.

Price Reductions

Tell buyers about a price reduction on a property to renew their interest.

Client Review Request

Ask satisfied clients to share feedback and testimonials to boost your reputation and showcase your expertise.

Re-engage Leads

Provide valuable information about the real estate market—like trends, insights, and tips—to remind prospects of your services and demonstrate industry expertise.

Need more inspiration? Check out our roundups of real estate text messaging ideas and SMS campaign examples.

The biggest SMS marketing mistake I see real estate agents make is not responding to texts promptly (or not responding at all). If someone doesn’t hear from you for several days, they may move on to the next agent.

Don’t forget to adjust the notification preferences in your SMS platform so you never miss a message from someone who’s motivated to buy or sell. For example, you can choose to receive email and browser notifications every time you get a new text.

Also, double check that your real estate text messaging platform supports two-way messaging capabilities (not just bulk texting) so contacts can ask questions and provide feedback.

Two-way messaging best practices:

1. Set up templates and autoresponders to save time on message responses.
2. Customize your notification settings for incoming messages, and consider downloading your SMS platform’s mobile app, if available, for on-the-go communication.
3. Create an automated out-of-office message that triggers during your quiet hours or vacation, so people know when to expect a reply from you.

After sending your mass text campaigns, review the analytics dashboard in your SMS platform to track their performance.

Depending on your SMS app’s analytics features, you should monitor:

• Click-through rates of texts containing links
• The number of contacts who subscribed to your texts
• The methods through which your contacts are signing up
• The number of contacts who unsubscribed
• Campaign-level data, including response and link click-through rates

By examining these SMS marketing metrics, you see what resonates with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.

It’s time to take the first step toward creating your text marketing strategy: find a flexible, affordable SMS marketing app. 

Sign up for your free 14-day trial of SimpleTexting’s real estate text marketing software, and see how we compare to the top nine SMS marketing platforms on the market.