• by Ray Schultz , March 19, 2020

Email produces the best ROI — $42 for every dollar spent, according to Digital Marketing In Real Estate—A Guide to Better ROI, a study by ActivePipe that is clearly designed to boost email use by real estate agents, using ActivePipe’s email services.

Pay Per Click is a distant second, generating only $2 per dollar expended. And social produces 95 cents, the study says, quoting other sources.

In addition, email generates an engagement rate of 3.6% versus 1.5% for Instagram, 0.09% for Facebook and 0.048% for Twitter, the study says.

Email’s benefits include the following (we quote):

• Everyone can use it
• Email can hit every market segment
• Email technology is continually becoming more sophisticated
• It costs very little to send out email campaigns
• Users typically do not pay per email sent
• People on your email list have given permission for you to contact them
• Email is now extremely mobile-friendly, with more than 60% of email opens occurring on mobile (EmailMonday)
• Email click-through rates for real estate average 3.6% (CampaignMonitor) compared to the post engagement rate on Facebook 0.09%, Instagram, 1.6% and Twitter, 0.048% (Social Media Benchmark Report)

One possible drawback is that agents “need to invest the time in getting the communication right. One size does not fit all for email, personalization is critical,” the study notes.

In addition, it says: “Calling each lead periodically is time-consuming and sending generic mass email campaigns often does more harm than good.”

That said, Chief Revenue Officer of ActivePipe Mike Feller says, “Email continues to prove to be the most profitable marketing investment for real estate agents.”