One of the best ways to build a successful career as a luxury real estate professional is to dedicate as much time and attention to marketing yourself and your abilities as you do to gaining listings and selling properties. Without the ability to effectively “sell yourself,” you miss out on the opportunity to establish your reputation and expand your clientele.
Direct Mail Marketing
Most real estate marketing experts agree that direct mail marketing will never be completely replaced by online alternatives. However, it’s crucial to ensure that your print materials, such as flyers, postcards, and brochures, are of high quality, professional, and suitable for the luxury properties and affluent clients you aim to attract and retain.
Digital Marketing
Whether you’re new to the business or a seasoned professional in the high-end marketplace, now is an ideal time to embrace additional digital marketing tools to enhance your presence in an increasingly competitive market. Familiarize yourself with these tools, ranging from social media platforms and YouTube to online books and “sharing” sites like Pinterest and online photo galleries.
You don’t have to use all of them, especially in the beginning, but it’s important to establish a website that allows you to expand your digital footprint in the future.
Choose wisely from the available tools. Feel free to experiment and track responses to specific campaigns. Chart a future direction for your marketing efforts and revise it as necessary. Evaluate the effort involved in each option. Eliminate those that make you uncomfortable personally, and abandon those that you find too time-consuming, distracting, or expensive.
Here are 6 specific suggestions for digital tools to include in the quiver of arrows aimed at increasing your influence in your market:
Start a Blog
View blogging as an opportunity to engage in informal conversations with potential buyers and sellers. Prepare a list of questions they might ask and address those concerns. Keep your blog posts brief, casual, lighthearted, and non-salesy. Share community information, promote local events and celebrations, find articles about the economy, the housing market, or travel, and provide links to such information. If you lack confidence in your writing abilities, consider hiring a “ghostwriter.”
Embrace Video Marketing
Post virtual tours of your properties or showcase unique attractions in your locale and community. Conduct video interviews with local personalities or industry experts. Highlight community events and celebrations through short, shareable content reels. In addition to professional still photographs of listings, consider creating a quick video tour of the property and its grounds from ground-level or using an overhead drone.
Get Familiar with Email Marketing
A coordinated campaign might include such things as a monthly newsletter with statistics about the luxury market in your specific area, as well as a recap of listings and sold properties during the last quarter. Include future projections if they’re pertinent.
Don’t overload customer mailboxes with too much data. Remember that email communication is effective only when used judiciously. Keep messages short and to the point, otherwise they will end up in the trash bin.
Infographics — A New Trend
Typically a single graphically-interesting page online or a printed flyer that is designed to capture the attention of the viewer and spur a response, an effective infographic is much like a great photo. It will present information, promote a viewpoint, or answer specific questions. It will also be a memorable representation of the message you want to share, spur a response, and give you an opportunity to interact with another interested potential client.
E-books and Guides
Not for the novice, because eBooks and informative guides of any kind require time and planning to prepare. However, they can be invaluable over the long term to establish you as an authority in your field.
If you have an enviable record of sales or annual closings and a history of satisfied clients in your locale, publishing an eBook may be right for you. Compile the record of your insights and experience in a format that becomes valuable to others.
In other words, if you have acquired expertise in your field of luxury home marketing, flaunt it and share it! To add an air of exclusivity, make them email gated, and populate your contact list.
Host Webinars and Sponsor Events
Connect with potential buyers and sellers through virtual events that deal with market trends, the state of the local market, coming year projections, investment topics and community events. Invite guest “experts” to share their knowledge and establish a digital library that your clients can access at will.
Finally, capitalize on a comprehensive multi-faceted strategy designed specifically to propel you to the forefront among your peers and in your targeted area.
The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM) is one of the best resources available to help you take your career to new levels. Become a member and network with other members to expand your knowledge.
ILHM offers a wealth of new ideas every month that members can tap into for future growth. Contact us for information about membership and explore the resources available to you through ILHM.
Comments
Always thoughtful and important reminders for me. Keep creating good data and infographics.