Create an Online Presence
An online presence is the first step to increasing the credibility of your real estate agency.
Create a website that is both professional and professional.
Provide its ranking (Google on Page 1, Bing on Page 2) and a description of services.
Set up a way for people to contact you. And keep this contact information up to date.
Everyone loves a little sunshine. Offer free marketing to people who write to you.
Introduce yourself, your company and your services on Linkedin, Facebook and other social networks. (Tips on marketing on Facebook)
If your website is still not ranking high enough, get help from a professional. This is better than wasting months or years trying to climb the ladder on your own.
Be mobile.
Make sure your website is mobile and optimized for mobile devices.
Get Social with the Facebook Marketing Platform (50+ Million Users) and the Google+ Platform (74+ Million Users)
Create additional presence on these platforms and in particular, check that your page in Facebook has an active fan page (and a visible link on your main page that goes to your fan page).
By using social networks, a real estate agency can not only conduct outreach and get new clients, but also stay informed about current market conditions.
Your presence on the social networks helps you to make contact with people that like what you have to offer.
Ask for Referrals
In any conversation, ask people what they would do if the house they’re looking for was ever available. The referral phase may be uncomfortable at first; however, remember that they aren’t going to go to your competitor with your inquiry. They need to view you as a friend, so the least you can do is provide referrals. Think of the compliments you’ve received from others; the information you’ve learned will benefit them as well as yourself.
Develop a Strategy.
Most people in your market think they are selling the same way as everyone else does, but they’re wrong. Develop a strategy and follow through with it. If you don’t need money, focus only on the long run.
Prospective Buyers are Human.
They need the same things in life; they just want to pay them back in cash.
Centering Your Market on Human Needs.
If you want to sell on the Internet, do it with the framework of human needs: the more time people have, the longer they can engage in tasks, the more they learn and the stronger their lives become.
Go Where the Prospective Buyers Are.
Host Valued Open Houses
Open houses are a great way to show off your property. But they can also be a headache. Dealing with potential buyers can take days. Open houses can be a lot of work and require a lot of your time. But if you host valu-
Ed open homes, you can teach your buyer value and make a sale. A valued open house is a one-on-one, personal experience with your agent.
The one-on-one time helps you highlight your best features, both inside and outside. Your open house will be even more valuable once you’ve demonstrated all your features.
A valued open house is quick. It’s usually set up in an hour and can be as short as 45 minutes or as long as four hours. But whether it’s 45 minutes or four hours, what really matters is that you show your property in its best light. This can be a great alternative if you have a buyer on the fence in terms of pricing and want them to meet the right real estate advisor.
When you have a valued open home, your buyer receives personalized attention. You can give attention to each of your buyers when you use their name.
Be Active on Social Media
Write Personal Note Cards
During an open house, you will often be touched by someone’s enthusiasm for the property. Such a moment deserves a little thank you; we are therefore recommending that you write a personal note – on a post-it note –, after every open house so they know how much you appreciate their visit.
Be sure to write a personal note on the envelope of the thank you cards, too! With that, you will gain valuable feedback and the host will be able to help you with the next process.
Support Local Businesses
Do you own or manage a business? Shopping locally for products and services can help you build loyalty and keep your customers coming back for more. Simply put, you can target nearby businesses to support.
Not only can you buy local when you shop, but you can also help local businesses by donating your business to them. Some local businesses have even made it a mission to help local businesses. These businesses can make online donations very simple through their websites and accept payments in cash throughout the day (or on Saturdays or Sundays).
You can also support local businesses by participating in their sponsorships, partnerships or donations. For example, you can help support businesses by running a promotional campaign with them. When you run a promotion that helps a local business, you’re both supporting and buying from local businesses.
If you’re looking to boost business and make money, you can also help local businesses by using their products or services. For example, you can refer customers to them, and when they decide to purchase one of your referrals’ services, you earn a referral commission.
Selling products yourself (like stationery items or household items) can help local businesses as well. If you sell local products, it encourages people to shop locally – increasing demand for local products and services.
Co-market by Teaming Up With Other Professionals
When co-marketing, work together with other professionals in the market to ensure your events are a success. Is your co-marketing partner someone who can help you fight the battle when you run into a marketing bump? Can he or she help you reach other professionals in your area? Is that person someone who has the same promotional plan in place, or is he or she looking for one as well? Does he or she have the same marketing goals in mind?
The right formula for a successful co-marketing project is to make sure you and your partner are on the same page when it comes to marketing goals. This could make you and your partner all the more successful in your marketing venture. You can find co-marketing opportunities all over the place for buyers and sellers of real estate. If you are thinking of launching a ribbon cutting, open house, or an event for your listing, there are a lot of other professionals in your area looking to team up. So don’t be discouraged. If you are open to the idea of co-marketing, you will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of support out there for helping you in your marketing quest.
Offer Zoom Client Meetings
As a professional realtor, you already know that the majority of your time in the office is spent communicating your home’s (or commercial property’s) listing and selling price with your clients. With the market already a bit tight, any free time during the week that you can spend in your marketing efforts will certainly be used to your advantage.
One way that you can easily incorporate some of these 29 easy real estate marketing ideas and strategies for success is by offering your clients a meeting.
This way, you can share the details of some of the newest selling trends & techniques used to get the house sold. It is also a perfect opportunity to communicate all the information you’ve written about your property in the listing.
When you schedule a meeting instead of simply calling your client, you dramatically increase the likelihood of getting attendees. Not only that, but it also gives you an additional way to communicate and update your client’s on any market trends that might affect their decision.
So the next time you need to set up a meeting with a real estate prospect, consider adding some of these ideas to your marketing toolkit.
Conduct Client Appreciation Events
Become a Sponsoring Partner
Sponsoring a sports team or local event is a great advertising opportunity. You reach thousands, all with deep pockets and wants for your product or service.
Advertise at Your Place of Worship
One of the best places to find new customers is in your place of worship. Nearly everyone who attends your church or synagogue regularly is a potential prospect for your real estate business.
Think of them as your own personal market of potential customers. Instead of going from door-to-door in your suburb, get Facebook blasts out to your church members in your local area (reach out to those who can reach out to people).
There are also many leads out there that you can advertise to them. Think about how many people new baby enters a church every single day. They are entering the market, but you need to give them a reason to hear you out.
There’s such a large amount of potential prospects every single day at your church that you’re missing out on if you don’t get involved.
Another great place to advertise is to your place of worship. Although you may want to do this yourself, there are also many service providers that specialize in doing this type of advertising.
Getting paid to advertise at your place of worship is a win-win for everyone. You get to advertise, and the church/synagogue gets the main benefit of bringing in new members.
The bottom line: advertise at your place of worship. Your target market is there, and they are struggling to find ways to enter your market.
Partner With Your Local Grocery Store
I had not been in business long before I realized that I wanted to expand. Along those lines, I approached the local supermarket and let them know my services. They were NOT interested to be a partner up front. But because they noticed my name on the sign, they made an exception and allowed me to display the sign.
The grocery giant was not going to fit me in their store, so they gave me a big space to make it bigger and more prominent. They offered me a display spot as the aisle was out of commission. I rented a large trailer for my sales and made it a point that I sold one home for each day and each week in their parking lot. Then, if other businesses had any questions about my business or my services, they would ask me for my business card. Within 6 months, my sign was bought and implemented into the grocery store rotation.
Now I have a constant stream of customers and people stop to see my sign, or at least read it. I get stopped and asked what I do, or if my business sign is there. I get many customers knowing my sign is in the parking lot.
I have business cards and several marketing materials in the store by the sign. This is a great idea as your marketing materials are not scattered about the entire store … they are right there in front of the customer. That way the open house sign boost you get.
Become an Active Neighbor
Be the person next door everyone wants to know. It’s a common phrase, and it’s a phrase they’re probably not talking about when they?re talking about their neighbor. A few hours of being active as a neighbor can yield a lot of results, and it’s one of the easiest and least controversial ways to market your home for sale.
Even if you live in an apartment building, it’s easy to market your home as a vacant unit to the rest of the building. If you are a secure resident, as a way to allow the other residents to know you are home, put a note or sticker on your door so the maintenance man at the condo will know you’re in and will call you.
In today’s Seller Beware world, it’s important to let the other residents know a little about yourself and your family. And just being a friendly neighbor goes a long way as it builds trust. Don’t be afraid to also offer to babysit or neighborly needs such as running the garbage for those who are away on vacation.
Volunteer During the Holidays
During the holiday season, many homeowners are on vacation. This causes staffing shortages for the front office of many real estate companies. The perfect solution to this problem is to hire a volunteer to work the office.
Volunteers are enthusiastic and can provide important customer service during the holiday season. This will save their employer from hiring permanent employees who would only be working during this time.
Launch a YouTube Channel
Real Estate Marketing Ideas: Sorting Out the Rubbish
Write a Blog
If you want to really make a difference, you have to write a blog. Blogging can be a great tool if you know how to make it work for you. It will open up your marketing to almost anybody who is willing to visit your blog (for free). When I started blogging, I searched for a niche and one of my friends who was in the same niche as me just gave me a shout out because I was a fellow blogger. I also had a few people email me and mention how they liked my blog and then start following my blog. I have not hired anyone or purchased any services for this philosophy yet but I have the potential for more business because of my blog. It’s been free at every step of the way especially starting a blog. I’m hoping I will gain more readers and make a greater profit one day. But for now, I’ve worked really hard to try and improve my blog to where I will get more business. This is where the free downloads are included to get people to your blog.
Reward People Who Refer Clients to You
One of the best ways to get new referrals and increase your real estate business is by giving people who refer their friends and family to your business a small reward (e.g. a gift card or pass). Referral programs are a great way to entice people to refer people to you because it makes it worthwhile for them and rewarding for you.
Think about this for a second. It’s a strategy that’s proven to work by involving the prospect just enough but not to the point that they are worried about it. By offering a small reward for referring someone, you’re gaining their trust and then offering them a promo that’s attractive to them.
After that, you’ve got a great set-up for your future business. Soon after your first referral, ask for their friend and you’ve got another referral contact. Then, you’ll need to tell them that they’ll be rewarded for the person that they recommend to you in the future.
Give Out Promotional Items
With Your Client's Contact Information
Reward that customer who spends with you well by giving out promotional items as a form of appreciation. A promotional pen, plastic card, or other item is a quick way to let your client know that you appreciate having them as a customer.
Promotional items work by instilling the feeling that the item is a form of currency, with its own value that will be appreciated and recognized. Since it is not backed by gold or silver, it does not have the emotional weight that a physical dollar does.
A promotional pen for instance, is not a substance of value and from a chemistry point of view, it is just a bunch of colors and inks. Nonetheless, for the customer, it still has value, which is why they like it. All you have to do is to make sure that your promotional item has your company slogan or name imprinted on it so that the customer will recognize it and use it to remember your business well.
Even those inexpensive promotional cards that you give out at exhibitions, can work to instill goodwill and recognition. For example, you can have your company logo printed on them, and the custom printing facility can ensure that it is imprinted on it well and can retain its quality. This costs some money, although it won't be as much as the cost of a promotional pen.
Get Involved at Local Schools
Whether it’s signing up to read to a class or helping out at their local school or other charity’s event, getting involved at a local school or organization can result in long term benefits for your business. Because school and non-profit fundraising events are often sponsored by local businesses, having one or more representatives at such an event can significantly increase your company’s visibility.
By showing your support for these local organizations, you’ll also be helping to raise money for the school as well as helping the kids develop their social and work skills. This positive image of your business as supportive and caring for the greater good will provide local families and organizations with an incentive to seek out your services and encourage all their friends and family to do the same.
Why not catch people’s attention before they even need your services? Nothing is more essential for business growth than getting your name and your business out there. Advertising costs money, but businesses like yours can get a lot of recognition at very little expense.
Make Marketing Personal
Possessing a soft heart and especially being a woman usually makes you the go-to person when it comes to taking care of those who hurt.
One of the most effective ways to market a home for sale is to make it clear to your guests that they’re welcome to come in. Many people will stop in because you invited them.
The next time you are hosting a house party, consider including some refreshments and spreads you can prepare prior to the event. You can also prepare an informal ‘homework assignment’ for your guests. Some of these may take the form of –homework’ cards to distribute to the early guests. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.
Put the names of the guests on index cards and number them. Later on, you’ll match the guest’s name to the number around the room. Which is the one that says –Hi, my name is Thomas Smith.’
Set out the towels and washcloths you are planning to use. This will help everyone find a place to dry their hands and wipe their feet.
Put the name and contact number of the person who will be most responsible for sending out the invitation on cards and hang them near the door.
Offer First-time Homebuyers Workshop
Marketing is vital to real estate agents, but if you don’t prove your worth, then clients will opt to work with other agents. Create an informative, insightful and memorable marketing workshop with your team members or a trainer.
Identify the difficulties a first-time homebuyer is going through and provide useful real estate marketing advice to help make their journey easy and entertaining.
Provide background information on your own personal experience as a first-time homebuyer, and explain to them how you navigated the real estate marketing process and prospered as a real estate agent.
Offer valuable marketing information and tips to help first-time homebuyers understand various home marketing strategies and tricks to make their search for a home easy.
Discuss various marketing tactics that will prove useful throughout the process of buying a home. Identify the various tools that you use, and demonstrate some fast and easy ways in which your clients can leverage them to buy a home faster and for less.
Attend various real estate workshops and share information on how you leverage the power of computers and the Internet to easily market and streamline real estate services.
Plan a practice workshop with your family members and friends and brainstorm on the various marketing strategies that you would like to use while working on their homes.
Teach a Rent vs Buy Workshop
Create an “expert” logo:
Mid-day Chicago author Wendy Wills, called in guest experts that she knew had knowledge in different markets to answer questions via phone or conference call for a chance to win prizes.
The most successful marketing campaign for me has been the Rent vs Buy workshop I have been doing over the past few years with a group of real estate investors.
This is a one-hour workshop designed for sellers who have just been through a long listing process.
I know everyone is in a hurry these days, but I will let you know why there is not much time for you to do both listing and selling. I really believe after you hear my story, that I will be able to save you time and money in your selling process.
For some sellers, I create a short PowerPoint presentation to share my expertise on the newest rent vs buy market trends.
In the workshop, not only am I sharing my experience, the workshop participants can ask me questions, and I can help them find the answers.
Send Postcards
The best and easiest way to get your first few new buyers is by sending a ‘Thank you’ postcard to your customers who bought your homes before.
You’re going to want to spend a whole lot of time on writing a great postcard. Send it a few weeks after a closing too, so that the customer has had a chance to re-settle.
But first, write a letter to them first letting them know what went well and where you want the next step to be. You can lead with the fact that you’ll be sending them another postcard in a few weeks.
You have no better tools for getting your first few new sellers than the best set of postcards for real estate listing realtors.
Call up a copy shop and a printing company and tell them to print out a whole stack of postcards; they’ll do it in no time. Get several color options too so you’re not restricted to one color.
Send out a note to your buyers that simply says ‘Thank You’ and then you’re going to follow up that thought with a great postcard that lets them know the next step.
Develop an Agent-to-Agent Referral Network
�The best real estate agent is not the one with the best marketing plan; it is the one who knows where to place the best listing. This is why you need to develop an Agent-to-Agent Referral Network. Building your Sales and Marketing Plan around this concept is cost-effective and sets you apart from everyone else.
Why is this a good strategy? Because when you coach agents about marketing, listing, showing, and selling, you are working against long-term competition. When you are top dog, what do you want to be doing?
Helping to coach your agents, helping to build their confidence, and helping to set them up for success.
To promote your brand and begin a referral network of Agents to Agents, you must really understand your market. The more you know about your market, the better your marketing message.
If you are an agent who has been in the business for quite a while, you have probably included the following benefits in your marketing plan. Let’s consider which area of marketing you need to focus on to help elevate your reputation as a top real estate agent.
Sponsor a Coat & Blanket Drive
Leaving a surplus of blankets or warm clothing at the front door is the perfect way to bring people into your home. Charge a nominal fee for new items, and each one will bring you more money during its lifetime. You can collect coats and blankets for your local animal shelter, the National Kidney Foundation, or your own family’s needs. This strategy is ideal if you live in an area that has frequent temperate changes and harsh winters.
This strategy can also be used by individuals to help out people who are experiencing tough economic times. Fellow residents can drop off their old baby formula and baby food that they no longer use at your door in return for a nominal donation. This works best for those who live in a community with similar economic demographics and who can easily meet often during the day or night.
Finally, this strategy can bring in additional income for real estate agents who want to work in the daytime or even take extended breaks from the office. They can place curb appeal signs in their front lawn or along their driveway to alert people of their extra items available for free and ask them to not only leave their name and address, but also a potential number they can be reached at if they run into unexpected frights while they are out. They can also ask people to bring bags they can easily carry to their car to take their goods home in.
Place Door Hangers in the Neighborhood
You’ve just purchased your dream home and love it…however, just picturing yourself in it is a little daunting. But think of all the benefits: You’ll be right in the center of the action (okay, not really, but imagine how awesome it’d be); it’s green… no more daily commute for you; and perhaps best of all, you’ll have an awesome view.
You’re finally ready to move in, but what’s stopping you? Is it the fact that you’re not quite ready to find a renter? That you have a monotonous commute? Or that the house is too small?
Well, your last stop should be a good real estate office, and a door hanger is a great way to draw attention to your property. Perhaps a door hanger placed where your home is will provide you with the boost of confidence you need to move in.
Get Involved in Your Local Chamber of Commerce
Your city and its surrounding areas are full of professionals and members of groups, which can give you numerous opportunities to help local business through marketing, education or networking.
If you’re particularly interested in real estate, there’s no better place to market your skills than in your community-minded Chamber of Commerce.
Chambers can give you guidance on how to market yourself in the midst of all the fun activities that it does. They can give you some great kits to pass out and train you how to market yourself with a business card, voice mail, brochure, etc. They can help you find events to attend and speakers to speak to at these events.
Chambers of commerce can teach you strategies of how to make your business stand out from other businesses. They can put you in touch with members of local business organizations. They can help you teach you the best marketing tactics to use, which will increase your traffic to generate opportunities to make you money.
What’s more, Chambers are a great representation of local businesses, and this can be quite helpful for you. They can give you positive quotes about your business and they can give you referrals to give to other businesses looking for someone to help them.
Create a Client Birthday Club
Did you know the average client turns 24 twice a year – just in time for Christmas and his/her birthday? This is why it’s important to get in touch with clients on their birthday and send them a short note of congratulations. A birthday – card may seem like a simple marketing strategy, but it’s an effective one. And there are a variety of ways to go about it!
For instance, you can send the client a hand-written letter and/or a pressed flower or pressed leaf. You could even include a small fruit platter with the note. You could also include an open palm print (ideally with the client’s name and address) to give the letter a personal touch. You could even include a small hidden chocolate cake!
Bottom Line
Most Realtors spend their time in the office and struggle to follow up on multiple leads that have landed in their box. Don’t let your dream of building your own empire become just a dream; follow the strategies in this book and get your franchise on the solid foundations of results.
The marketing plan in this book is not your typical pamphlet to stocking up the front office desk. It’s a practical manual with actionable tips that will help you to:
- know what to charge for your services
- build a solid client database
- generate leads and win internet traffic to your services
- follow up on leads
- manage multiple sales and showings
- handle additional business while you are on vacation
- grow your real estate business quickly
- set and reach goals and build a long-term marketing plan for your business.
As you read through this book, you will experience many techniques that are being used by real estate professionals that are working right now in your specific region. Some of them will be presented as individual suggested strategies, while others will be more of an overview of a larger concept.