One of the most exciting and stressful times in a person’s life is when they decide to buy a house. This is a massive investment that can take months or even years to move through the entire process, from browsing property sites to the final signature at closing to move-in day. The complexity of buying a home is what makes real estate agents so important. Most people need a helping hand to look for a home, put in an offer, and close the deal.
Proven Promotional Marketing Ideas for Real Estate Agents
- Real Estate Marketing is Unique
- Crafting a Real Estate Marketing Strategy
- Practical Real Estate Marketing Ideas
- What Will Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Be?
If you are a real estate agent, then you probably love the part of the job that allows you to help others find their dream homes. On the flip side, you can also assist sellers as they try to attract home buyers who will pay a fair price for the property. But the highlights of the job do not come without a lot of work up front. First, you need to convince potential clients to work with you during the buying or selling process.
Real Estate Marketing is Unique
Real estate marketing looks very different from many other industries. Your services are only required during a very specific time in people’s lives, and you work exclusively in rather large investments. The pressure to serve your clients well is extremely high because if you cannot get a good deal for them, you will not succeed in the industry.
Real estate marketing requires that you have a personable attitude, knowledge of geographical areas, the ability to think on your feet, and a competitive nature. The real estate industry is constantly in flux and looks different from market to market. In many cases, even if you work under the umbrella of a larger company, you have to be your own marketing manager.
Crafting a Real Estate Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy as a real estate agent will make all the difference between whether or not you can be successful. Likely other agents are operating in the same geographical area, so you need to stand out from the rest when buyers or sellers need assistance.
Focus on Your Target Audience
Your target audience is the lifeblood of your real estate efforts. Yes, you are focusing on potential buyers and sellers, but you also have to consider other data points that characterize your clientele. What are their salaries like? Where do they live? What kind of lifestyle do they lead that will play a huge role in the type of home they want? You need to be in touch with the local community to understand how to connect with prospective clients.
Find the Right Channels
Your real estate marketing efforts will fall flat if you don’t know where to connect with potential clients. Depending on geography, age, and other demographic data, you will need to conduct audience research to become familiar with where they spend their time and are most likely to interact with your brand, online or in person.
Make Your Brand Stand Out
Real estate professionals often have the same message for their clients. They will work to get the best deal for them to find their dream home or sell their current property. To generate more leads and stand out from other real estate businesses, you need to figure out what makes your brand unique. Is it your personality, your experience, or the fact that you’ve lived in the local market for your entire life? This theme can guide your real estate marketing messaging.
Practical Real Estate Marketing Ideas
Now that you have an idea of how to build your real estate business with a sound marketing strategy, you need to determine how to practically promote your brand to your target audience to find new clients.
Harness Social Media Platforms
Social media is extremely beneficial for any real estate professional because this industry is particularly reliant on visuals. No one will buy something as big as a house without seeing it first, let alone a house that looks good. Through social media platforms, you can share virtual tours, post testimonial videos from past clients, advertise property listings and images, join local groups and offer real value, and share positive reviews. By using social media accounts to build your personal brand, you can present a friendly face to new clients. You can also target potential buyers and sellers with social media paid advertising such as Facebook messenger ads or LinkedIn ads.
Email Marketing
Running an email marketing campaign can be very effective for real estate agents. You can use it to follow up with people who have filled out a contact form on your website, knowing that they are high-value leads. Though they may be early in the home-buying process, you can get in touch quickly through email to draw them in further.
Local Marketing
Your presence in the local community is crucial for success in real estate. You can host free seminars, advertise an open house, give away branded merchandise with your name, invest in direct mail postcards, partner with local businesses, or even attend charitable events. See if you can find local sponsorships in your target market. All of these real estate marketing ideas can improve awareness of your brand with your target audience.
Online Marketing
An online presence is critical for most businesses in the 21st century. Your website can be an important touchpoint between your real estate business and both former clients and potential buyers and sellers. This platform is where you can share content that demonstrates your knowledge and post local listings. You can also upload video tours and property images for people to explore.
The key to driving people to your website is search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO can increase your rankings when people conduct a Google search, making the website more likely to generate leads from organic traffic. Websites that show up early in results on search engines see far more clicks than those on page two and beyond.
What Will Your Real Estate Marketing Plan Be?
There are so many real estate marketing ideas that you could use to promote your brand and connect with potential clients. You can focus on social media, promotional products, local events, or any number of primary marketing channels.
Just remember that a comprehensive marketing plan is always evolving. Using key performance indicators to track which methods are or are not working should guide your decision-making as you adapt your marketing campaigns. Try out a real estate marketing idea that makes sense and will help you generate local leads, then add another strategy. You may have to go through a phase of trial and error before you become a truly effective real estate marketer.
Danielle is one of our most popular customer services representatives and has boundless enthusiasm for helping others. She brings that level of excitement to her blogs and is always excited to share the latest info and newest products. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next promotion, check out her posts.