Real estate marketing is not a one-sided conversation anymore. In fact, the consumer holds so much power nowadays that in this competitive business environment; they are a lot more educated than ever before. With so much information digitally accessible, they come equipped with an onslaught of data, resources and peer-to-peer knowledge that they bring to the table to support their buying decision.
Which now provides a wealth of benefits for real estate agents looking to be better positioned in the market and differentiate themselves – because the client comes forward with real-time and actionable marketing insight and feedback that many agents and brands let slip by them.
Real Estate Marketing is All About The Experience
The future of real estate marketing – no matter what avenue you take to get there – is to give your customer or client a better experience. We often talk a lot about big data, video marketing, or AI in where marketing trends are taking us, but all of those are just facilitators of a positive experience for the customer – because that’s what it ultimately comes down to, to help breed referrals and repeat business.
Our association with a brand is based on how it makes us feel. Going above and beyond for a client and working to truly understanding their needs and be a rock for them in this roller coaster ride of a time in their life will leave them feeling confident and without buyers remorse.
According to Forbes, Americans tend to mention a good brand experience to an average of 9 people – but will talk about a bad one to 16 people. Shocking, isn’t it? Makes you really rethink the overall experience that you are offering to your client. And when you reverse the tables and put yourself into their shoes, how are they left feeling after working with you? Was it a positive end-to-end experience? What will the types of sentiment be on behalf of your brand when they tell their circle of friends of family?
Continue with an unparalleled customer service experience not just throughout – but beyond as well. This means keeping the lines of communication open, offering your service after the deal has closed and making regular touch points to stay on their radar.
How Are You Understanding Your Customer’s Needs?
“The most important thing you can learn from talking to your customers is how what they actually want differs from what you think they want.”
This isn’t anything new for a seasoned real estate agent to hear, but in an area that demands quick decisions and swift mobility, how confident are you in taking the time to truly understand their needs and long-term vision?
This type of invaluable fuel can actually help build out content for your website, or copy for sales collateral, because you’re taking the language directly from the mouth’s of the modern buyer. It helps to rely on technology to document these crucial points as they come throughout your professional relationship to make sure you capture moments as they come.
Try saying: “So this is all very positive, and we’ve covered a lot of ground – let’s pause for a minute here so I make sure I understand everything so far.” By taking the time to understand where they are coming from, you can leverage this language to help connect to other prospective clients who can relate.
How Feedback Fuels Your Real Estate Marketing
“Without customer feedback you are literally flying blind.” – Jay Baer
Marketing hit a revolutionary turning point when the life-altering idea of talking to customers came about. Instead of crafting campaigns and content around what you think they want and struggle with – why not just simply ask them?
By talking to your clients, it allows you to create useful and relevant content for your audience – from your audience.
You get first-hand feedback on the specific pain-points and frustrations they experience when dealing with the real estate market and it allows you to propel the exact language they use to describe those problems. By taking the time to truly get to know what a prospective buyer or seller goes through, you can quite literally put yourself in their mindset and replicate it in your marketing.
It also helps bridge the disconnect in your marketing material that shows you’re in touch with the contemporary challenges of the real estate market, and what people go through during this process.
Empower Your Clients’ Voice
Are we failing to really listen to our customers?
Ultimately, their feedback will only help better your business and can sharpen your marketing material – so why not involve them in the process?
Try asking: “What could I have done to make this process and overall experience better for you?”
And you really don’t have to just wait until the end to ask. Schedule frequent checkpoints to gather intel and make sure both sides are aligned. You can also ask if you have permission to use their story in your marketing. You could build out an entire case study, use testimonial quotes for your website, gain quantifiable metrics or use photography from this on your social media channels. There really is no shortage of material and inspiration you can pull from the process – and there’s nothing to lose but everything to gain from asking.
Co-Marketing is a Two-Way Street
There’s much to be said about co-marketing with another brand to deliver more value and expose you to new audiences to generate leads. Now, what about co-marketing between a real estate client and an agent?
Real estate marketing is a conversation. It is no longer just telling your audience what the deal is – they are very much involved in the process and have a voice that needs to be addressed. Not to mention when you empower their feedback, they can become very powerful advocates on behalf of your brand.
Start the conversation today by empowering your clients’ voice and asking for feedback. You can use this for social media stories, case studies, to highlight in your e-Newsletter or as sales collateral for top of funnel content. When you flip the lens to start marketing with people, and not at them – both sides ultimately benefit in the end.
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