Being a local, independent real estate broker may be scary when thinking about marketing your business. It can be a daunting prospect to put yourself out there, especially when you might also be up against stiff competition.
This blog will show you that you don’t need huge corporation-sized budgets to successfully push marketing out into your area.
Competing against the bigger, established names out there can feel like a David and Goliath task. But your business has something they don’t - You!
By offering a personal experience and using your local knowledge to create meaningful content for your clients (as we mentioned in Blogging Best Practices), you will be able to set yourself apart from other businesses and quickly build trust with your prospective clients.
So, what can you do to stand out from the crowd? Here is a list of marketing ideas that won’t break the bank.
1) Research your target market
It’s all about the ‘Graphics’ – Demographics and Psychographics.
Demographics: Who are they? Are your local clients young professionals or are they retirees? Do they have young kids or are they empty nesters?
Psychographics: Do they spend their weekends renovating their homes or going for local walks? Are they interested in gardening or good local schools? What housing format appeals to them most?
Knowing these initial pieces of information will shape not only who you market your business towards, but how.
2) Review the assets you already have
What do you already have in your pocket that you aren’t utilizing?
For example, if you have a website that holds all your listings, but no blog, or no connection to your social media pages, or vice-versa, there is a quick fix to bring your business into one seamless brand concept.
3) Connect with your prospects
Remember, you bring a personalized experience to your business. Something industry giants simply can’t do. Making your social media pages work for you will increase your connection with prospective clients.
Connecting through Messenger or SMS for specific queries can help you build a collection of regular questions that can be used later to create content focused on your target market.
4) Be active on social media
If you have been responding to leads through messenger services, it’s time to leverage that information onto your social media posts.
You can also follow local pages through your business not only to create a professional network, but also to keep up to date with local events and news that you can share with your audience.
5) Check on local competitors
One of the best things you can do is watch and learn. Take a look at your competitors and see what marketing techniques they have that get the most traction.
6) PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. It is very important to do all the research, but unless you know how to act on it, it may not create the traffic you want.
One of the biggest reasons that real estate agents fail at their blogging and marketing attempts, is because they don’t have clear action plans when producing their content and determining the right channel through which to deliver it.
Creating a 12-month real estate marketing plan will keep you organized and shape the marketing content you create and how you share it.
What does a Marketing Plan Look Like?
First off, there is a difference between a Content Calendar and a Marketing Plan.
Your Marketing Plan should be the first port of call for organizing your marketing content for the year.
The Content Calendar works in lockstep with your marketing plan to connect blog content with other marketing streams.
A 12-month marketing plan should be as detailed as you need. It is essentially the calendar of key schedule dates for all your marketing activities.
The dates should be a combination of national and local events, as well as regular dates for posting marketing content across channels.
This includes regular listings on your website that cater to your specific audiences preferences, blog posts that mix evergreen topics like first-time buyer guides with changing content say around current trends or local events.
Your marketing plan should also map out how you plan to engage using other social media, like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
Having an overview of your marketing schedule for the year means you have an opportunity to understand where you want your marketing content to lead you.
You can confidently implement your strategies, break down your goals into monthly actions, and budget-plan for your year.
What do I need in my Marketing Plan?
➡️ As mentioned above, your first stop should be to add key dates that will be popular in your target market – public holidays, local events etc. so you can plan marketing campaigns around these.
You want to have an excuse to engage with your past and future clients. These kinds of events are pure gold when it comes to outbound marketing.
➡️ Use your Business Plan to forecast your numbers/audit last year’s successes:
How much visibility do you need from your marketing?
How many leads do you need to generate?
How many of those leads do you need to convert into clients this year to meet your revenue goals?
➡️ Use the goals you have set for your business plan for the next 12 months. Are they different from last year? Where should you budget your efforts for best success? You should focus your marketing efforts on your most successful revenue streams.
➡️ Add regular content check-ins. Your marketing should be consistent. Blogging on a weekly basis would be a great way to communicate with your base. And blogging is easier when you have a plan in place to guide the content you create.
➡️ Add in the highlights for the year. What are the things you want to be able to celebrate with your clients over the next 12 months? These can be big or small wins, but positive posts like this will keep your clients interested as well as keep you motivated for your business.
"You already know that being a real estate agent is tough. Having set plans in place will support you on your road to success. Combining a marketing plan with a content calendar will give you a robust strategy to generate leads and convert them into clients.
GrumpyText is here to help you with any content you need, and we can even provide you with a 52-week content calendar and the blogs for it.
When you sign up for one of our annual premium plans, we actually take you through the marketing plan process to help you align all your marketing spend and goals to best hit your revenue goals for the coming year.
Check out our page for more information, and contact us now for a free telephone consultation."