Handwritten Notes for Real Estate

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Complete Guide to using Handwritten Notes for Real Estate

For real estate agents, marketing is an important differentiator between success and failure. Besides, marketing for real estate is more hands-on and competitive.

What if we said including handwritten notes strategy can be a gamechanger and help you shine?

In this guide, we’ll tell you all about using handwritten notes to grow your real estate business.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What are handwritten notes for real estate agents?

Importance of handwritten notes for real estate

How to get started with handwritten notes for your real estate business

Handwritten note templates for real estate agents

Tips for sending handwritten notes for real estate

Ready to leave a lasting impression with handwritten notes?

Frequently asked questions about handwritten notes for real estate

What are handwritten notes for real estate agents?

Remember receiving a Christmas card with a handwritten note? Or a birthday present with a little card written by hand?

Handwritten notes for real estate agents are similar.

A handwritten note is written by pen and paper instead of digital print. Real estate agents send handwritten notes to customers and other stakeholders for many reasons.

There’s a lot of competition in the real estate industry. Moreover, ensuring personalized and hands-on experiences for customers is an essential aspect for the success of real estate marketing.

That’s where handwritten notes come in. They add a personal touch, elements of surprise, uniqueness, and add a breath of fresh air in today’s digital world, leading to higher open rates than digital alternatives.

Consider this: IgnitePOST routinely sees a 99% open rate with its handwritten notes services. In comparison, email campaigns see open rates between 15-25% (Campaign Monitor).

With such a high open rate, real estate companies can benefit in many ways from handwritten notes.

Importance of handwritten notes for real estate

Emails, SMS, social media, cold calls, and advertisements are some of the most common ways real estate brands communicate with customers. But in the overcrowded space of digital messages, real estate brands need something more special to nurture relationships with customers—handwritten notes.

Here are some benefits and advantages of handwritten notes for real estate:

1. Enhance your brand’s human touch

Trust and emotion play an important role in the real estate industry. Afterall, buying a house or owning an office is one of the biggest aspirations people have in their lives

Real estate is a big investment and that is why it’s important to have a human touch in your interactions with customers. Handwritten notes fill that need.

For instance, send handwritten notes to announce new property launches, open house days, or when a customer moves into their new home.

2. Demonstrate your brand cares

Handwritten notes are an off-beat and unique way to communicate with customers. When you put in effort, your customers feel good. They get a feeling that you care, that you value them and appreciate them for doing business with you.

Sending handwritten notes helps differentiate your real estate brand from competitors. Customers will easily identify you as the brand that creates meaningful experiences.

3. Make your real estate offers easy to understand

When it comes to real estate and property, there are a lot of details that customers need to understand. They have many questions that you must address. They may also have doubts and it’s important to put their minds at ease.

This is where handwritten notes can solve your problems.

Use them to introduce new property listings and offers that they may be interested in. A small note or message with a QR code is way better than sending a big brochure.  

4. Handwritten notes are cost-effective

Sending handwritten notes is among the more cost-effective marketing methods for the real estate industry. Think about it, advertisements, large-scale campaigns, and marketing events require huge investments and can eat into your profits.

In fact, the more commonly used mass direct mail too has also been reported as ineffective.

We have found that almost 20% or more of direct mail gets thrown away without being opened. So real estate agents are burning 20% of their budgets by using mass direct mail instead of handwritten notes.

5. Generate leads

There is immense competition in the real estate market. Real estate brands incorporate different marketing strategies to generate leads. For example, social media, magazine advertisements, and email campaigns. However, there’s nothing new with these campaigns and it’s extremely difficult to get clicks, responses, or leads from this type of media.

Handwritten notes have an average open rate of 99% and a much higher lead-generation rate compared to other marketing mediums. Handwritten notes help brands stand out and hence generate more leads.

6. Stay in touch with COI (Center of Influence)

Another way we see successful real estate companies and agents use handwritten notes is to stay in touch with their center of influence - which is sometimes also called the sphere of influence. This refers to using handwritten notes to get in touch with all their contacts at least 33 times throughout the year; to stay on top of their minds and not get lost in the volume of competition in the industry.

Keller Williams has an entire 33 touch campaign that is designed to help real estate companies and agents make the most of their contacts. Read about it here.

How to get started with handwritten noes for your real estate business

Building a handwritten notes strategy requires planning, the right skills, and resources. Here are some steps we recommend:

1. Identify your goals and objectives

Every marketing campaign must begin with goals and objectives—you must know what you want to achieve from your real estate handwritten notes campaigns. For instance, do you want to announce a new project, promote a new service, reconnect with old customers, generate more leads, etc. When you have a clear goal, your messaging will become clear.

2. Identify your ideal customer persona and market

Once you know your goals, you must identify your target market and your ideal customer persona. Make a detailed description of these two things. Try to be as specific as possible. For example, if you want to announce a new property, you will need to know the ideal customer base and market to whom the property would be relevant.

3. Customer segmentation

To make handwritten notes more relevant and personalized, segment your existing customers. You can segment them based on location, preferences, etc. Segmentation will help you understand and create the best personalized handwritten note message for specific segments.

4. Choose the right tools for handwritten notes

To create and send handwritten notes, you must choose a smart solution. Leverage the latest technology that offers multiple capabilities, such as customization, timeliness, personalization, etc.

IgnitePOST is a preferred handwritten note solution for real estate companies. The tool uses robotics and advanced automations to personalize and tailor handwritten notes to match the needs of real estate agents.

5. Choose a visual style

Next, determine the visual style of your handwritten notes. From the color, font, size, design to the envelope, among other factors. Ensure your style matches your real estate company’s branding style.

6. Measure and optimize

Like every other marketing campaign, it’s critical to measure and optimize handwritten notes campaigns. Set up systems to understand and track customer responses across campaigns. Measure them based on your goals. Optimize and make changes based on the performance. The IgnitePOST platform gives agents the ability to target, measure, analyze, and improve campaigns.

Handwritten note templates for real estate agents

For real estate companies, building warm and strong relationships with customers is extremely important. That’s where handwritten notes come in. Here are some handwritten notes templates for real estate companies.

Template 1: Congratulations note for selling a home

Hi (first name),

(Name of the real estate company) family congratulates you on the sale of your home. We truly value your trust in our company for the sale of your home.

Please feel free to contact us for any further assistance and help required by you. We hope to provide excellent service to you.

Thank you,

(signature and contact information)

Template 2: Request review

Hi (first name),

Thank you for choosing (Name of the real estate company) for the purchase of your property. We hope you had a good experience with us.

We’d love to know your thoughts. If you have a moment, could you share a review of your experience?

Just scan the QR code on this card.

Thank you,

(signature and contact information)

Template 3: New property announcement

Hi (first name),

We’re excited to share that (Name of the real estate company) has launched a new residential project that we think you will love.

To know more about this new property, simply scan the QR code on the cover.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if would you like to book a private tour of the property,

Thank you,

(signature and contact information)

Template 4: Post-purchase services

Hi (first name),

We hope you’re enjoying your new home. Our heartiest congratulations to your family and you.

We’re proud to share that we offer our esteemed customers many post-purchase home-related services. To know more about these services, scan the QR code.

Thank you

(signature and contact information)

Template 5: Referral related message

Hi (first name),

Thank you for referring (name of the referral) to (Name of the real estate company).

We are excited to show them our properties. As a token of appreciation, we are sending this small gift for you. We hope you like it.

Thank you again

(signature and contact information)

Tips for sending handwritten notes for Real Estate

When done well, handwritten notes campaigns not only set your real estate company apart in the market, it can also help generate more leads and conversions. Here are some tips to ensure the best handwritten notes campaigns for real estate companies.

  • Send a handwritten thank you note when potential customers get in touch for the first time
  • Send handwritten thank you notes for every special occasion
  • Place QR codes on the cover of the card or on the back of the card to share detailed information
  • Ensure your website address is mentioned in the handwritten note
  • Make sure the handwritten note is not too big or too small
  • Make the note visually appealing
  • Ensure your real estate company branding is on the handwritten note
  • Share an updated business card with every note
  • Ensure consistency between different handwritten notes
  • Craft messages carefully without being too salesy
  • Ensure a warm and friendly tone

Creative ideas to use handwritten notes for real estate

Handwritten notes can do wonders for your real estate business when sent at the right time to the right people. Here are some ideas to help you understand when to send handwritten notes:

1. Personalize handwritten notes

Whether it’s a thank you message, a new announcement, a festive greeting, it is essential to personalize handwritten notes. Personalization makes the card more warm and more meaningful. There are many ways of personalizing notes for real estate. For example, include a famous quote about the place or location.

2. Create unique designs

Think of unique ways to create appealing designs of your handwritten notes. For instance, include an image of a local attraction. Doing so makes your handwritten cards stand out and grab attention.

3. Follow up after customer visits

Increase customer satisfaction by sending follow up messages via handwritten note. Imagine receiving a follow up message via SMS and via a handwritten card. Which one do you think will be more impactful? The handwritten message, of course!

4. Send festive greetings

Sending festive and holiday greetings via handwritten notes is an excellent way to make your customers feel special and remind them that you’re thinking about them.

5. Special occasions

Send handwritten notes for greetings on special occasions, such as customers’ birthdays, anniversaries, etc. This makes customers feel special and appreciated.

6. For no reason at all

That's right! The best time to really grab someones' attention with a handwritten card is when they are not expecting it at all. Send out a handwritten card in the middle of a random month for no reason other than to let the recipient know you're thinking of them.

Give your real estate company a competitive edge with personalized handwritten notes 

With increasing competition in the real estate industry, it is difficult for companies to differentiate themselves.

When it comes to marketing, most real estate companies take the same approach and strategy. However, adding a human touch to your communication can help you stand out in the crowd.

Handwritten notes for real estate agents are one such unique form of communication that you can personalize and use to your favor.

The good news - writing and sending handwritten notes is easy now. You don’t have to do it manually and spend hours and resources.

There’s an excellent solution for that - IgnitePOST. The handwritten notes tool combines robotics and automation to write and send handwritten notes at scale.

Real estate agents can use its customization and personalization capabilities to boost leads and conversions.

To know more about how you can use the IgnitePOST handwritten notes tool for your real estate business, get in touch with us.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK A FREE IGNITEPOST DEMO.

Frequently asked questions about handwritten notes for real estate

Should you use handwritten notes in real estate? Do they work?

The world is becoming digitized. Even industries such as real estate have started using tools and apps to interact and transact with customers.

In such a world, handwritten notes add a breath of fresh air. Real estate agents can use handwritten notes for many purposes:

  • Thank you messages
  • Activate old customers
  • Share announcements
  • Request feedback and reviews
  • Request referrals
  • Follow up after showings
  • Congratulation messages after property purchases

How do handwritten notes affect real estate customers?

In the real estate industry, trust and reputation are important factors for customers to decide whether or not they want to purchase a property from a particular company.

Handwritten notes are a much more personal, human, and warmer way to communicate with potential and existing customers. Handwritten notes make people feel special, cared for, appreciated, and valued. That’s because people get a sense that the brand has put in a lot of effort and cares for them.

Due to these emotional and strong connections, handwritten notes have a higher open rate and response rate, and generate more leads & sales for real estate companies.

What can you write in a real estate handwritten note?

There are many ways real estate companies can use handwritten notes and we have discussed those earlier in this guide along with templates. The content in the note can be different based on each brand, situation, and requirement.

For example, if you want to revive communication with an old customer, you could send a thoughtful message mentioning the earlier experience you had with the customer. Letting them know that you miss them and want to keep in touch is a great way to build rapport while earning trust at the same time.

Typically, personalized messages help build stronger relationships with customers. And hence, whatever the purpose of your handwritten notes campaigns, ensure it is relevant and personalized to customers.

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