The days of traditional marketing are numbered, but some businesses haven’t caught up with the times yet. Due to lack of digital know-how or resistance to adopting new methods, many antiquated marketing practices are still lingering in the real estate industry, and they’re quickly becoming ineffective.
The internet has irrevocably altered how people find and hire people in service-related industries like real estate. Because marketing trends and tactics change at lightning speed, being nimble and innovative as a marketer is essential to succeed in the highly competitive real estate industry.
If you are still marketing your business like it’s 1999, it may be time for a change. Here are five marketing tactics that are quickly becoming extinct.
Print Ads
Circulation numbers for newspapers and magazines have been in a free fall for years. Think about it for a moment: Do you know many people who still read print newspapers? Due to the rise of online news, the newspaper industry in Canada is in dire straits. Print ads are expensive, and it’s getting harder to measure your return on investment. When you use print ads to promote your business, there’s no way to ensure you reach your target audience making it difficult to justify putting your ads dollars there again. This isn’t to say that all print media is useless because in the short term it can pack a quick punch – but it has tough staying power as a sustainable model for the long-haul.
The solution? Get acquainted with banner ads, Google AdWords and social media advertising options. These do-it-yourself online options are scalable, interactive and measurable for next to nothing. Plus they connect to a digital audience that
Telemarketing
Phoning complete strangers and trying to convert them into customers isn’t just time consuming and exhausting, it can seem downright useless these days. Very few people are receptive to receiving an unsolicited phone call (when was the last time you were happy to answer a cold call at home?). By risking annoying your prospective clients you may drive them further away from your business.
Ditch the sweat-inducing cold calls and focus on digital opportunities to connect with prospective clients. By tapping into your database and easing your way into their lives on their screens with e-mail marketing, you’ll have a much higher success rate because your messages are running in the background.
Door-To-Door
How many doors will be closed in your face before you realize that door-to-door sales is just not worth the trouble? Though some kindhearted people may politely listen to your pitch and accept a flyer, the vast majority of people are never happy to see a salesperson on their doorstep pitches their services. People value privacy while they are at home, and showing up unannounced is a difficult way to build trust and win over new clients. Stay away from the canvassing routine and focus on networking events and open houses to build rapport with real prospects.
Paying for Phone Book Placement
Remember the days when phone book placement actually mattered? Back in the 90s, if someone wanted to find your business, they’d pick up a copy of the Yellow Pages, comb the pages and scope out services in their hometown. In 2017, the first place that the vast majority of your prospects turn to for information is online. Even in smaller communities, phone book ads are not worth the paper they’re printed on. Online display ads, social media channels, and email marketing are far more likely to engage your existing and prospective clients. Plan accordingly!
Purchased Email Lists
When you are building a brand new business it can be tempting to purchase lists of email addresses. A ready-made list of prospects can seem like a great tool to promote your services to a new audience and help get your brand off the ground. When you use an email list that you purchase, you’re dealing with email addresses that you end up buying, selling and passing around numerous times. If there were any good leads on the lists, they may already be tapped out by now. You may be wasting your time and effort on a dead list, as well as compromising your professional reputation.
The solution? Build a permission-based email list from scratch. Yes, it takes longer and it requires more effort on your part, but when you are delivering targeted content directly to subscribers who actually want to hear from you, you are building your reputation in a positive way – not to mention sparking more meaningful, long-lasting relationships with your prospects.
Get to know your subscribers, and segment your list so that you are delivering targeted and personalized content. IXACT Contact’s Real Estate CRM makes it easy to keep track of important contact information including phone and email, birthdays, family members, move-in anniversaries, referral history, properties, mortgage details and your entire communication history.
Quick Takeaway Tips
- Bid adieu to print ads and invest in AdWords & social media marketing instead.
- Go cold turkey on the cold calls. No one will even notice that you’ve stopped!
- Drop the door-to-door routine. Focus on networking events and open houses to meet new prospects.
- Build a permission-based email list from scratch. Send targeted and personalized content to people who actually want to hear from you.
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