One of the basic rules in the real estate industry is that each property, regardless of how amazing it is, still needs some marketing and advertising in order to close a great deal. A great marketing strategy will also increase your potential as a real estate agent, propelling you from the beginner stage to the successful real estate agent that you can become. A great marketing strategy will increase the value of your work in the industry and will help you close more profitable deals. Today, you will learn how to properly advertise a property and yourself as an agent, regardless it’s a penthouse or a series of luxury apartments in Pensacola. Below are some useful pieces of advice.
1. Be responsive and upgrade to modern channels
Of course, profile websites are a great place to start advertising your properties. But nowadays, if you want to be efficient, opt for social media channels. Be active on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and so on. Also, try to be more responsive, and active on these channels. If you don’t remind people about your properties and activity, they will certainly forget those. If you lack a smartphone (although nowadays is almost impossible), invest in one. Mobility will offer you more opportunities in terms of real-time marketing and update, while it will also increase your responsiveness abilities. All apps installed on a smartphone come with notifications, and you will also be up to date with the development of your properties. Also, if you have an official website, try to hire mobile developers. It is highly important to build a user-friendly platform for all devices. These may be the first steps which you should take in order to prepare the ground for an intricate and effective marketing strategy.
2. Implement email strategy
Since you already activate in the industry, you must certainly know that old clients are a goldmine in terms of opportunities. They have the power of recommending you friends and acquiesces, and this may contribute more to expanding your client network. As a result, even your portfolio consists of two clients, develop an email strategy. The efforts are worthy. As many claim, it is more important to focus on the relationship, and not the transaction itself. And keep in mind, that an email marketing strategy might, in fact, be more efficient than any other approach. So, create personalized content for each of your client, depending on their socio-economic coordinates and geographic ones. Considering the fact that you are at the beginning of your journey, this shouldn’t be complicated. A small client portfolio will allow you to get to know each client, their preferences and needs more accurately, and develop an email marketing strategy more effectively.
3. Never sell a property you wouldn’t buy
Although there is a thinking trend that the “property sells itself” is a myth, the saying is not far from being true. While all properties need a good advertising strategy, you want to avoid those particular properties that might give you a bad name in the industry. If you can, concentrate more on luxury houses and apartments. Take the example of the aforementioned luxury apartments in Florida. While you will still have to put efforts into selling those, the fact that they are located in wonderful areas, and that they offer easy access to various facilities, including 24/7 emergency services is a thing that boosts a property’s potential and your chances to closing a great sale. Search for such opportunities, and if you wouldn’t buy a property for you or a family member, then don’t advertise it.
4. Build your own real estate online domain
As previously said, business migrated in the online in the past few years. Because of this reason, you want to invest in a domain and build it in such a manner to increase your authority in the field. Build it in such a fashion to maintain it throughout your entire career. This means that the name of your website should be carefully chosen to illustrate the field in which you activate, and to inspire high levels of professionalism at the same time. You want to keep the same URL during your entire career because once you have your online voice, you want to preserve it. Constantly changing your domain will reverse your evolution, which defeats the purpose of most of the marketing strategies previously implemented.
5. Relevant content is king in the real estate industry
You may have heard about content marketing and SEO, but you may still be reluctant when it comes to implementing such a strategy. Thing is, consumers love blogs with plenty of content, both video and written content, and you want to create content targeted to the local audience. If you plan to activate in an area of a particular city, then create blog posts and videos in which you explain to your audience relevant aspects of living in the neighborhood, finding a perfect property in the area, etc. Recent studies have shown that notorious names in the industry create on a daily basis somewhere between 5 to 7 blog posts. If you lack the knowledge needed in order to implement an effective SEO campaign, then choose a specialized agency with a strong voice in terms of SEO and collaborate with it.
6. Market yourself as a fast and responsive agent
People love to have their questions answered in a timely fashion, and they love to receive relevant information regarding their issues or questions. Invest in a customer relations management tool, which will empower you to monitor your email and deliver suited replies to all your clients, even the few ones that you have at the beginning of your journey. While many see these systems as a waste of money, reaching closer to your clients will shortly deliver measurable outcomes. This will translate into more leads, into an increased capacity of turning those into sales and to increase the number of recommendations due to your effectiveness. Something crucial that most real estate agents seem to forget is the impact of a tidy schedule on their relationship with clients.
7. Google Ads are the Internet’s billboards
You may consider investing in a side road billboard to advertise your activity, but also the properties that you sell. But will a billboard company be able to tell you how many leads the ad will create? Unfortunately, not. And sadly, side-road billboards are less likely to show the same effectiveness as an online ad. The average monthly costs of a side-road billboard vary somewhere between $ 700 and $ 2,500. Given the fact that a single billboard is unlikely to show effects in terms of winning new leads (or leads in general, in your case), the expenses of implementing a marketing strategy like this are enormous. And truth be told, they don’t pay off. Online ads are like the billboards of the Internet, with the crucial difference that they appear when a real lead is interested in products or services like those offered by you. And this is why this strategy is a more effective one. Also, you have the opportunity to implement a PPC marketing strategy, which is very likely to have the expected outcomes.
8. Flyers and postcards still do their job
Although we insisted on how important online advertising is, you shouldn’t forget about old-fashioned marketing strategies either. While online marketing campaigns can be implemented with success, you must consider the last as a complementary strategy. Elders, generally, are less likely to come across your online ads, and you want to make sure that you include those in your targeted audience as well. Plus, a flyer left on a coffee table, or at a bar, for instance, is likely to gain the attention of plenty of potential clients.
9. Your attire matters
This may seem a little superficial, but your outfits will influence the way in which your clients perceive you and your activity in the field. We are well aware that real estate agents are always on the run, and most of the times comfortable attire is required, but you shouldn’t go to extremes. While high heels will hurt your feet, try to find an in-between solution. Ask a fashion counselor for advice, if you want to create a wardrobe that will inspire strength and professionalism, but which offers you all the mobility needed.
10. Don’t forget the good old staging trick
Potential buyers want to be able to picture themselves as owners of the presented property. This is hard, if the only see an empty property, with little to no personality, or a property with outdated furniture and faulty appliances. Learn the art of staging a property, and you will increase your power in the industry. People want to see the property at its full potential, in order to be able to picture themselves as happy owners.
These are three simple strategies that will help you put in a better light the properties which you plan to sell. Also, don’t feel discouraged by the fact that you might lack experience in the field. Build a strong portfolio by taking small but important steps.
