Marketing Manufactured Housing Using Email

by Bob Stovall

Why?

It is both known and expected that prospects making a large purchase, such as a home, will take longer to finalize their decision than those making a smaller purchase. They are also expected to purchase them with less frequency. That is one reason why the small items around the cash register in most stores are called impulse items and why larger items, such as washers and refrigerators are called durables.

If your prospects are normally going to take longer to be ready to buy, it is in your best interest to stay in their field of consciousness by keeping your name in front of them throughout their decision-making process.

The simple fact is that when your prospect finally makes the decision to buy, they will most likely call the last person who has contacted them. You'd want that to be you. A well-planned email marketing program can help with that. So can a well-planned social media campaign. But email is direct whereas social networking is passive.

Email allows you to control the timing and the message.

So an email marketing strategy can bring you customers. Why don't you have one? And not just any old email marketing plan – but one that is thought out and planned to achieve your goal.

When?

Once you've come to the realization that having your own email marketing campaign can bring you more business, the only question that remains is whether you put it into action now or later. The answer to that question is another question: do you want more customers now or later? Given that home buyers take longer to make the decision to buy, the choice is more business a little way down the road or way down the road.

It's your choice – which will it be? Now or later? Begin or wait?

How?

There are a lot of ways of putting an email marketing campaign into action. There is no specific right way – but there are plenty of wrong ways.

I'm not going to get into the wrong ways here. That would require much more space then we have in this article. But I will list a number of features that your email list and provider or software need to have:

• Ability to send newsletters
• Professional ready-to-use email templates
• Automatic mailing from blog posts
• Performance tracking
• Facebook and Twitter integration
• Emails published online
• RSS Feeds from emails
• Signup form templates
• Easy-to-use form designer
• Split test signup forms
• Subscriber segmentation
• Unlimited autoresponders
• Advanced scheduling
• Email Analytics
• WordPress form widget

I know of many email application service providers (ASPs), but no readily available, affordable software, that have many of the features listed above. I know of one ASP that has ALL of them. Plus videos on how to use all of those features and more.

That ASP is Aweber. Aweber is the oldest and best of the email service providers and, in my opionion, the best. We've done testing and found that Aweber's delivery rate to subscribers of a double opt-in list (that means the subscribers have confirmed their subscription) is around 98% or more. Compare that with less than 80% for software installed on your own server and an even lower percentage for private mailing lists.

I've worked with Aweber for many years and there is simply no other email ASP I'd recommend more highly.

And since the cost is the same as for other ASPs, why not work with the best?

For a free test drive, you can use the form below:

Editor's Note: Bob is a member of MH SPIRIT, MHMSM.com's team of SPeakers Instructors Resources Inspiration Training that can help you clarify YOUR Internet marketing needs. Visit mhspeakertrainer.org for more information.

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Bob Stovall is the IT Manager/Web Consultant for the MHMarketingSalesManagement.com trade journal and does contract online marketing, web development and social networking including full services and training for MH industry professionals and companies. Are you ready to put all the pieces of your Online Marketing strategy together so they complement each other rather than fight each other? Websites, blogs, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, online directories and email all work together to build a synergistic online marketing package to produce leads. For more information on building an effective Online Marketing strategy, visit Bob Stovall's Blog on this website. Bob has been marketing online since 1991. He has investments in manufactured housing, owning homes in communities and buying and selling land/home packages. He also holds a Manufactured Housing Installer Manager Certification in Kentucky and is a member of the KMHA. He is involved in the online marketing for several Real Estate companies and MH Communities and businesses from all over the U.S. and the world. Connect with Bob at LinkedIn or Orange Cat Productions Facebook Fan Page or follow him on Twitter.