Autoresponders are among the most powerful tools an email marketer has to build relationships with new subscribers and turn them into customers. Illustrating the point is a recent MarketingSherpa case study showing how a small mom-and-pop real estate brokerage firm used email autoresponders to make money in one of the worst real estate markets in the country.
The case study holds important lessons for law firms pursuing "niche" markets (e.g., bankruptcy clients, estate planning clients, fleeced investors, etc.) who might also want to consider sequential email marketing campaigns to nurture relationships with clients and other contacts.
According to the case study, husband and wife real estate team Kurtis and Cindy Squyres had been successfully flipping houses in Southern California until the real estate market crashed. In dire straits, the couple hit on the idea of selling fixer-uppers to investors searching for distressed properties. They would seek out such properties, such as bank-owned foreclosures, get the house under contract at a low price, then re-sell the contract to another investor in exchange for a finder’s fee. The question was how to find buyers to whom to flip the properties. The pair decided to try and build an email newsletter subscription list of potential investors who trusted their expertise and to whom they could promote the latest deals they had to offer. Here's the multi-pronged, multimedia-based strategy they followed to successfully build their list and promote their properties.
1. The Squyres built a new niche website at www.FarBelowMarket.com telling their personal story and featuring properties under contract that were ready for other investors to rehab and flip. The homepage of the new website featured an email signup form highlighted in a blue box, which asked for a minimum of information: name, email address, and status as a homebuyer or real estate investor.
2. The couple also launched a new blog, “Wholesaling Deeply Discounted Real Estate,” designed to educate readers on trends and opportunities in the troubled real estate market.
3. Capitalizing on the popularity of online video, the Squyres created low-cost videos of their featured properties, allowing potential buyers to see the neighborhood and get a sense of the potential return once the property had been rehabbed. The videos were promoted on third-party real estate sites such as Zillow.com.
4. The couple also placed Craigslist advertisements, and pursued public relations opportunities resulting in some high profile media mentions.
All this activity resulted in increasing traffic to the couple's website and blog, and by extension, rising email newsletter signups.
But rather than immediately blast email subscribers with sales offers, they decided to first build a relationship using a 21-message autoresponder series for new opt-ins that sent new messages on a staggered schedule with the goal of introducing subscribers to the team and their business model, and providing educational resources for real estate investors.
The initial sequence of emails also included questions to help segment subscribers so that future emails would tailor property deals to subscribers' individual situations (for example, subscribers were asked about geographic preferences, and whether they had cash to invest since certain deals required all-cash).
Results? The couple didn't become overnight millionaires, but were able to turn around a dire financial situation into a moneymaking operation flipping new properties at a brisk pace primarily to email newsletter subscribers. Additionally, the couple has made money selling online educational resources to real estate investors.
Lessons for law firms?
1. "Niche" websites - a/k/a microsites - possibly structured as a blog - can work well when targeting niche audiences for legal services by aggregating resources around a particular topic.
2. A holistic strategy incorporating multiple online marketing tools (e.g., website, blog, video, email) and channels (e.g., PR, social media) maximizes a firm's exposure to the audience you are trying to reach.
3. Segmenting email newsletter lists maximizes response rates by tailoring content to subscriber interests.
4. An email autoresponder series with an educational slant may be more effective at building relationships than direct pitches when initially communicating with recent opt-in subscribers.
5. If possible, "productize" your legal expertise so that in addition to buying legal services, potential clients can also purchase online "info" products that educate them about your particular area of expertise.
Read the full MarketingSherpa case study on email autoresponders (subscription required).
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