For your newsletter to be effective, the content has to be valuable. You want to give your readers information they want to know. If you give the same, boring content every single time, your newsletters will end up in the bin, and you can actually damage your brand and reputation.
The purpose of your newsletter is to keep you on the top of your database’s minds, to gain interaction and trust with them, and demonstrate your expertise by sharing your knowledge of local real estate and all things home. The best way to compel your readership is by providing them with content that is emotional, funny or helpful. Tug at their heartstrings, make them laugh, or help them learn. You can’t do that if you are only talking about real estate all the time.
Here are some suggestions of things you could talk about in your newsletters (and some of the things that we talk about as well, depending on your plan)
- How to guides. Homes are complicated things—help make them easier. You can even interview local affiliates, such as plumbers, electricians, etc., to get their expert know-how.
- Review home products. Which brands do you use in your home, and why? What’s good about them? You can even ask for submissions from your readers on their favorite brands or products.
- Changes to local laws/bylaws/housing standards that might affect the neighbourhood.
- Shout out to clients who gave you referrals over the last month. Not only does this acknowledge your past clientele and give them the warm and fuzzies, it also encourages others to follow suit!
- Tips for maintaining the home in every season. Home maintenance checklists are always a hit!
- Reviews of local restaurants, cafes, bars, entertainment. What’s the happening spot in the area?
- Cartoons or joke of the month. Again, you can ask for submissions from your readers, or even hold a joke contest.
- Spotlight on a local celebrity. Interview someone of note in the community and tell their story.
- School news. P&CÂ changes, sports teams, ratings of different schools, achievements of local students, which schools are the best?
- Updates on mortgage rates, or information about how mortgages work, how/where to get the best rates, how to refinance your home.
- Updates on new residential construction in the area
- Create a detailed local events calendar; you can even start promoting local meet-ups or things like book clubs or neighbourhood associations.
- What home insurance to get and how to ensure your home is protected?
- Where to volunteer in the community or highlight on local volunteers
- Local area market updates. Let them know what homes are selling for in their area, which neighbourhoods are hot, what features are people asking for, etc.
- Review local contractors. You can even get reader submissions or share their stories where things didn’t quite work out so that everyone can learn from them
- What’s hot in home design and how to get it in your home
- Landscaping and yard trends, or how to’s in the garden.
- Money saving tips in the home, including energy saving ideas.
- Highlight or tour “famous” local properties. Everyone loves to ‘stickybeak’, and has probably wanted to see what was in that strange or iconic property in the area.
- History of the neighbourhood. You can even get readers to send in submissions of pictures of the area from a different era or stories about the area from local elders.
- Common real estate questions solved
- Interview a neighbour—how do they like the neighbourhood, what do they like about it, etc. Or even a “Get to know a neighbour” section where you profile an average family living in the neighbourhood.
- Ways to pay off your mortgage faster
- Your personal hobbies or updates on changes to your business
- Educational guides on the buying or selling process
- Local area business and jobs. Are there any new businesses/industries moving into the area? Profile the local job and financial markets.
- Home safety tips
What topics do you write about in your newsletter?
