Estate sale email marketing is a great strategy that will help you get more buyers to the sale, it’s also an affordable strategy to generate estate sale leads.
A successful email campaign begins with a great subject line and a targeted audience. Let’s discover some tools and strategies that will boost your email marketing campaigns to the next level.
With websites, search engine optimization, and social media on the rise, you’d think email marketing is on its way out. Well, that may seem true in certain industries but for an estate sale business, there’s no better opportunity to drive traffic to your estate sales, and reach a wider audience at a fraction of the cost you’d pay for other marketing and advertising methods.
Simone Kelly, Founder of Grasons Co Estate Sale Services, an estate sale franchise with over 24 locations nationwide had this to say when asked about email marketing.
“Marketing in general is extremely important for our brand, and email marketing is a single part of that. With many locations across the country, it’s essential to keep emails properly categorized in order to market the right content to the right audience about estate sales and services offered.”
Boosting Estate Sale Email List Sign Ups
For years, businesses used to buy targeted email lists and begin emailing, but this method is no longer acceptable or legal and will get your email address labeled as spam quickly.
Get enough emails reported as spam or “junk” and most of the major email marketing platforms will close your account for good.
Luckily, you have many opportunities to grow your email list, and one of the best places to start is at the estate sale.
At the Estate Sale
During a sale, it can get hectic but always remind your buyers to sign up to your email list if they haven’t done so.
Most companies will place a blank sheet by the register and ask buyers to manually fill in their email address. Here are a few additional tips you can use at your sale to boost email list subscriptions.
- If you use a morning sign-up sheet, add a column for an email address along with a check box next to it “Add me to your estate sale notification emails”.
- Place an iPad or laptop computer near the register with a web browser pointed to an email sign-up form like the one offered by EstateSales.org. If you’re an existing member of .org, simply replace the number in the URL with your EstateSales.org company id, which can be found on your settings page under “Company Info” when you’re logged into the site.
- Include cell phone number as a field in your sign-up form in case you choose estate sale text notifications in the future, you’ll already have it. Note that EstateSales.org captures this info already for you.
- If using advanced sign-up tools with an email marketing software many will offer (Text to join, Scan a QR code to join, etc…) Print the instructions and have them readily available near the register.
A fun addition to your estate sales can include a digital picture frame near the register. A slideshow can be added so you can share links to all your social media channels, ask buyers to subscribe, or even share fun photos and announcements all in one frame!
Website Email Sign Up Tools
If you have a website, make sure there’s a subscription form on the home page.
Encourage your audience to subscribe because they will be notified first, get certain discounts, or preview photos before anyone else.
Whatever it is you promise your audience, make sure you do it. If you say “Sign-up and you’ll get notified first!” Make sure your email blast goes out before your social media post does.
Increase Email Subscriptions via Social Media
Most major email marketing tools offer a social media sign-up tool that can easily be added to your Facebook business page.
Make subscribing to your email list fun! Once a month, create a post that will remind your social media followers that it’s fun to shop with a friend, encourage them to sign up to your email list and share it with their friends. Don’t forget to provide instructons on HOW they can sign up to your email list. For example “Visit our company’s page on EstateSales.org and click the ‘Follow’ button to subscribe to our email list!”
Printed Marketing Material
Put your marketing material to work for you. An affordable and fun URL can easily be purchased and re-directed to an email subscription form. “IheartEstateSales.com, IshopEstates.com, Iknowfirst.com”. Whatever your heart desires, if it’s not already registered, buy the URL and point it to your email list subscription.
Estate Sale Email Marketing Tools
There are many options when choosing email marketing software for your estate sale business, however we will cover the most popular ones used by estate sale companies today.
Email Marketing with EstateSales.org
Cost
Designed specifically for estate sale companies and driving traffic to your estate sales. If you’re already a paid plan member of EstateSales.org, the email tool is included at no additional cost to you.
- There is no limit on the number of recipients or emails you send.
- No additional cost is added to your existing paid listing plan.
Ease of Use
Since the tool was created specifically for estate sale businesses, it’s tailored to fit your busy schedule and efficient needs.
The email tool automatically generates a template from the sale you upload and list on the site to include all pertinent information such as date, time, location of the sale and photos. You have one list of emails which includes all the estate sale shoppers to be notified when there’s an upcoming sale.
Email List Subscriptions with .ORG
Growing your estate sale email list is easy because anyone that follows your Estate sale company listing on the EstateSales.org website is automatically added to your email list, this means your list will organically grow without you doing anything!
Along with the tool comes a FREE landing page for users to opt in to your list. Share the URL/Link with anyone and they can easily add themselves to your list. Remember, you can always buy a fun URL and re-direct it to the landing page. The link to your landing page can be found on your account dashboard on the bottom of the right hand sidebar under the heading “SELF-SERVICE CHECKOUT TABLE EMAIL SIGNUP WIDGET”. Here’s what an example signup form looks like. As an added estate-sale specific benefit, the signup form resets itself automatically for the next person in line.
Email statistics are also available to help you evaluate your email marketing efforts and how many people opened and viewed your sale. The .org email tool meets CAN-SPAM LAWS and standards, it provides the user with an easy “unsubscribe” link to recipients making it compliant and safe.
EstateSales.org also respects the privacy and security of your email list. Mike Judkins, Founder & CEO of EstateSales.org, stakes his company’s reputation on it:
EstateSales.org DOES NOT and will NEVER “cross market” to your list. Your list is yours to own, import, export, add to or remove anytime you like.
Here’s what Curtis Childers with Amazing Estate Sale Company in Texas and an active user of the EstateSales.org email marketing tool had to say:
“The email marketing tool is a wonderful platform. We’ve been utilizing it for a number of years and have rapidly grew our client list in a short amount of time. Our customers compliment and enjoy the mobile friendly photos, information and descriptions.”
Childers continued,
“The automatic mailer is a huge bonus also. It lets us set a time and date when our clients can view the sale. Another awesome feature is the ability to hide the address of the sale until we determine it’s safe to release to the public. Our industry is rapidly changing, and I like dealing with the folks at .org because when we have an issue or want to make a change, the customer service is awesome”.
Email Marketing with Constant Contact
Designed for small businesses, Constant Contact is a popular marketing tool you can easily sign up for with a 14-day FREE trial.
Cost of Constant Contact Email
After your trial period runs out, the cost is $20 per month for up to 500 contacts and will increase to $90 per month for up to 10,000 contacts for basic email marketing. The cost is higher if you use added features such as surveys, registration forms, coupons and more. Constant contact calls it “Email Plus Plan”.
Ease of Setup and Use
There is no existing template specific for estate sale companies, however there are many templates to choose from that you can manually edit to fit your needs. It’s an easy drag and drop, but it’s manual and so is the process of adding a sale each time.
Once you have a template created, you can copy it to reuse, however you will need to make changes to the information, photos, etc.. It’s a manual process and it’s not automated.
Although you have template options, you must take the time to create the email, manually upload the information, and schedule the email to go out.
If you list the sale directly on your website, you may be able to setup an automated email notification with some custom html code.
Email List Growth
4 sign-up tools are available for you to use with a link, but it’s not directly automated to populate from your business listing followers on .org or any other listing site.
You can add the sign-up form to your company website, Facebook business page, buyers can scan a QR code to sign up, and one of the most popular ways of signing up is (text to join) where a subscriber can text their email address along with a custom message you setup to a specific number, and they get added to the list. View more information about setting up your sign-up tools with Constant Contact.
Constant Contact does allow you to have multiple email lists as a way of organizing your contacts, and create multiple templates for specific actions if you choose to do so.
You will need a quick training course in order to properly create and manage your email marketing campaign. It’s user friendly, but it’s not set it and forget it!
You can manually add emails to your list, import, or export your list at any time. Constant contact is compliant with the CAN-SPAM Laws, so you’re required to add address information, a reason why the recipient is receiving your email and an “unsubscribe option”.
There’s no limit to how many emails you can send, but you must strategically do it after the sale address has been released, or send an email with a link to your listed estate sale on a listing site.
After the email has been sent, you can quickly check statistics to view how many recipients opened your emails or clicked on the links you provided.
Using Estate Sale Email Marketing with MailChimp
Another popular email marketing tool is MailChimp. This tool offers a wide range of features that go above and beyond your normal everyday email marketing.
Automated templates, statistics, multiple list usage, custom html sign up tools, pop-up subscription forms and more. If you’re eager to get “techy” dive into the MailChimp email marketing platform.
Cost of MailChimp
Mailchimp offers a FREE plan for up to 2,000 contacts but you will not be able to remove the “MailChimp logo” from your email unless you’re on a paid plan.
The plans start at $10 per month for 500 contacts and unlimited emails.
Ease of Use
The average person would not consider it user friendly. There are many templates available but they are not designed for the common user.
You must have a pretty good understanding of html, marketing strategies, and design in order to function with the many tools and features available inside MailChimp.
This platform offers robust features if you have an online store. You can setup an automatic template that captures your newest arrivals and featured items.
Many companies that use MailChimp will rely on a professional email marketing consultant to manage their efforts.
If you run a blog heavy website, it offers a scheduled, automated email that gets sent without you doing anything, but the up-front setup is quite involved and takes much more than “drag and drop” to accomplish it.
Generate Estate Sale Leads Via Email
The majority of estate sale companies surveyed said they use email marketing to notify buyers about upcoming sales, but a true email marketing strategy goes above and beyond marketing to buyers.
Before you dive into the email marketing world, develop a strategy that you will follow, and keep consistent.
- I will email my buyers about every sale
- I will send a thank you email to any referring source after a sale
- I will send a holiday email to all my buyers and my referring sources on certain holidays
- I will send a company introduction email to anyone I meet in person
Phoebe Sharp owner Carnaby Estate Sales serving the Western New York area and a member of our private estate sale company network on Facebook said:
“Besides upcoming sales, we also use our estate sale email list to notify customer of discount days, and we ask them to follow us on Facebook. We include a link to our F.A.Q. pages about hiring us for a sale about twice a year.”
Sharp added:
“People DO NOT like getting bombarded with junk emails, so we are very selective about what we do with our estate sale email marketing strategy”.
No matter what your strategy is, email marketing is only successful if you’re consistent. Begin by creating a workflow sequence for both buyers and referring sources. Add an email plan where you think it will make the most impact.
Don’t overdo it! Email inboxes are flooded with hundreds of emails on a daily basis. Stay consistent but don’t spam.
Growing Your List and Social Followers
According to a campaign monitor study, email marketing in 2018 is the most-effective method of communication with customers.
Here are some tips you can immediately use to boost your email marketing efforts, grow your email list, and generate leads.
- Allow the recipient to share the email with others so they can also subscribe
- Always add links to your social media channels and ask them to follow you (give them a reason)
- Allow the user to share your email on their personal social media channels
- Share important information first. Keep it simple and quick!
Don’t be shy, add a quick statement about your estate sale experience, why clients choose you, and let them know you appreciate referrals.
Buyers have families, neighbors, and friends that may need an estate sale. If they like you, they will also refer you business. Make it easy for them to do so.
Although email marketing is effective, with hundreds of emails arriving to the inbox on a daily basis, it’s important to make yours stand out by making it personalized, fun, interactive, and something they will look forward to.
Choose your subject line wisely, and always change it a little.
Subject Examples:
- “Did you see the pics at this Ohio sale?”
- “See you soon at our Ohio sale.”
- “This Ohio sale will be busy, arrive early!”
- “Are you ready for the most packed estate sale ever!”
- “Save the date, this will be a good one!.”
Communicate with your recipient as if you’re talking to them in person.
Tips for Generating Estate Sale Leads
If you send blast emails to people you don’t know, ie a “purchased list”, the chances are they will never open your email.
The recipients may even report it as spam, this will hurt your overall efforts, including the emails you send to buyers if you use an email marketing platform that monitors email bounces and spam reports like Constant Contact, and MailChimp.
Only send emails to referring sources you’ve talked to, met in person, or someone referred to you.
If you’re generating leads by visiting open houses collect business cards and introduce your company, end the conversation by letting them know you will stay in touch with them via email and send them your company information.
An introduction email to referring sources should be a few paragraphs maximum.
Introduce yourself, your company, and always focus your communication on how your service helps the recipient.
“No one wants to hear about how great you are, they really want to know how you can help them solve a problem, meet a need, and make their job easier.”
Example:
“Hi I’m Jenny with A1 estate sales, we work with many other Realtors in the area and have held x number of sales. When you have a home filled and want to sell it fast, we get the job done quickly. We always refer business back because hundreds of people come to our sales and ask us for referrals. If you have a minute, check our company out at www.yourcompanywebsite.com and give me a call at (111) 555-1212.
You can also use this type of message if you’re using social media channels to grow your estate sale business by sending it to attorneys, real estate agents, funeral homes or any other referring source.
Tailor the message to their needs. LinkedIn and Facebook are a great platform to send direct messages.
In Summary:
Using email marketing in the estate sale industry is extremely effective if done right. An estate sale company can easily blast emails to buyers with one-click ease of use via the EstateSales.org website.
A company can also open a lower tier account with an email marketing platform like Constant Contact or MailChimp in order to reach the same buyers although with a bit more effort and cost in some cases.
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