The ABCs of Real Estate Marketing

Most agents waste a lot of time and money on real estate marketing because they are not sure what method and messaging to use to reach potential clients. The ABCs of marketing help you identify your audience, and use the correct messaging and method to get people to respond to you.

Real Estate Marketing: “A” Stands for Audience

Be clear on exactly who you are trying to reach. If you are trying to reach someone who is thinking about downsizing their home, that is a completely different person than someone who is thinking about buying their first home. Be clear. Who are they?

• Are they married or are they single?

• Are they divorced, or are they widowed?

• Do they have kids? If so, how young are the children? Are they elementary, middle school, or high-school-aged?

• Are they empty-nesters?

• What do they do for vacation?

Once you have answers to these questions, you’re well on your way to knowing everything about the audience you want to reach.

Real Estate Marketing: “B” Stands for Bait

What’s the bait that, if put in front of them, would make them say , “I want that.” Most of the mail pieces that come from real estate professionals have absolutely no basis.

There’s a recent Real Trends article that said one out of every five homeowners wants to move in 2021. Some of the reasons cited were:

• COVID made me decide life is short, and I now want to be somewhere else

• I can work remotely

• COVID has impacted me financially, and I need to cash out my equity to pay my debts and get my life on track

What a lot of real estate professionals would often do is take that information and put a postcard out there that says, “One out of five homeowners say they want to move in 2021. Does that include you?” They might have some great copy, but then a common call to action might be, “Call me for a market evaluation.” So what’s wrong with that bait?

The call to action, that’s what.

You need to add value for people so they feel compelled to reach out to you. The call to action that we see all the time is, “call me.” The problem with that is you are a salesperson to them — and they are immediately reminded of a used car salesman mentality.

(Fortunately, most of the time when people meet us, they realize we are not like other salespeople).

However, when a lot of people think of a salesperson, they often think of them as being pushy — maybe even the type of agent who comes over to your house and immediately wants to list it on the market that very afternoon. In reality, most people who are thinking of selling their home may be considering it, but likely aren’t quite ready to put it on the market. 

A better call to action would be to offer some sort of educational based marketing piece. These pieces take on a variety of forms — tip sheets, consumer guides, free reports, or eBooks, to name a few. Regardless of what you want to call it though, it’s an informative piece that’s meant to educate. One example of this would be a consumer guide, for example “How to Downsize the Right Way Without Getting Stuck With Two Mortgages or Ending Up Homeless.”

As with any real estate marketing piece, the key to marketing is to enter the conversation that’s already going on in the client’s head. Mention to them that you have a resource they might find valuable — that’s your bait. One way you might offer something like this is by saying, “Call this free recorded message.” Or you might even instruct them to call your “24-hour voicemail hotline.” Or you can even set up a simple landing page on your website — maybe even using a custom URL so it’s easy to remember. Regardless of how you bait them, the next step is all about building a relationship with them and establishing credibility. Once that’s completed, they’ll likely be more willing to meet with you.

Real Estate Marketing: “C” Stands for Channel

Channel is the means in which you deliver your messaging. This is often a postcard or other print materials, but it can also take on a digital form. The best way to determine which channel to use is to ask yourself which method is going to result in the best type of response. Maybe it’s a postcard, or maybe it’s Google Ads? Maybe it’s Facebook, or maybe it’s a video on YouTube? It could take on a variety of forms, but always make sure that you’re offering your audience something of value. You need to bait them into interacting with your messaging, which will in turn begin to help build trust with them. Once that trust is established, continue to message them on the channel that they’re most likely to interact with. And whatever you do, always make sure your messaging joins the conversation already going on in their head.

If you want more guidance on how to grow your luxury real estate practice, you can learn more about the Institute’s training options here.