One thing that I love about real estate agents is the unique way each of them have come into the business. Some agents are fresh out of college, others are embarking on a second career after years in another field.
In spite of our varied experience, something that many real estate professionals have in common is that they don’t necessarily have a marketing background. Luckily, that’s ok!
I often hear real estate agents asking about how to get started with marketing, or simply feeling overwhelmed by the vague idea of “real estate marketing”.
While marketing is a vast subject, there are several key things you can implement as an agent that will boost your business. Let’s explore the top 7 marketing must-have’s for real estate professionals. And guess what? Setting these pieces up is easier than you think!
A mobile friendly real estate website
In our increasingly digital world, it’s no surprise that a good website is a cornerstone of your real estate marketing. Many agents are satisfied with a generic page on their broker’s website, but this simply doesn’t cut it!
When leads are searching for a real estate agent online, they’re faced with a lot of options. Take this opportunity to stand out from the crowd and secure more quality leads!
More and more people are using their phones and tablets to perform online searches, so if your website doesn’t load perfectly on their devices, you’re creating a roadblock.
Make a mobile friendly agent website a priority. Prospects will see you as credible, active, accessible and current.
Even better, when you choose a website with automated lead capture, like IXACT Contact’s solution, your leads will automatically be added into your CRM so you can begin nurturing them straight away!
A real estate blog
Content marketing has been the buzz of the marketing world for a few years now, and there’s a good reason why!
While it can be easy to tune out billboards, and ads online or in newspapers, content marketing offers prospects something of value by way of educational material. It offers you a more creative way to communicate with your leads, establish yourself as a thought leader, and gain a following.
One of the best methods of content marketing is through a blog. Lucky for us, real estate offers a never ending source of topics that home owners, buyers, and sellers are interested in reading.
Many people find the idea of blogging intimidating, or fear that it’s too time consuming. Fortunately with a good solution, blogging can require little to no work on your part!
IXACT Contact’s websites come with a built-in real estate blog that is updated bi-monthly on your behalf. You can choose to supplement the automated posts with your own content, or just let the blog posts populate as they are.
Once your blog post is published, remember to post links to it on your social media channels so that your friends, prospects, and past clients can read and share your posts as well. This will broaden your reach and possible lead to even more leads.
A monthly eNewsletter
Aside from catching new prospect’s attention, real estate marketing is necessary for ensuring that your past clients don’t forget your name. You want to keep in touch regularly to secure as much referral and repeat business as possible!
Similar to a real estate blog, some agents like the idea of a monthly eNewsletter, but fear they don’t have the time or resources to put it together each month. That’s where IXACT Contact comes in!
Each month, IXACT Contact uploads a professionally written and designed eNewsletter to real estate agent’s accounts. The newsletter is branded with your own header (photo and contact information) and you can even customize the introduction if you wish. This eNewsletter will be sent to your contacts on the day and time of your choice, again reminding your contacts of who you are, how to get in touch with you, and offering them value through the informative articles.
Automated drip email campaigns
According to a marketing study by McKinsey & Company, email is 3 times more likely to result in lead conversion than social media. Unlike other online marketing methods, email allows a direct-to-client conversation that is easily personalized and customized.
Best of all, you can utilize this highly effective marketing practice without manually typing out each message, thanks to automated drip email campaigns. You’ll be able to keep in touch with all your contacts in a way that feels personalized and unique to them, without taking time away from your busy real estate business.
If you’re not using real estate drip campaigns yet, start by choosing real estate contact management software that has the campaigns pre-loaded into your account, like IXACT Contact. You should also be able to create your own custom plans and customize the pre-loaded ones. Keep in mind that the drip campaigns can be composed of emails, letters, to-do’s or a combination of all three.
Since different leads have unique situations, drip email campaigns suit your different types of contacts. You can choose from campaigns like a four month high touch buyer prospecting plan, a two year seller prospecting plan, a six month after purchase nurturing plan, and more! Choose the email campaign that suits your prospect and they’ll be receiving relevant and timely emails from you automatically!
A consistent look and feel
In a sea of competitors, you want to stand out as the real estate agent in your city or town. An important part of that is by building awareness for your brand.
If you’ve spent time thinking about your personal brand as a real estate agent, it’s likely that you have particular colors, headshots, logos and images that you want people to associate with you. In an industry where being recognizable is key, it’s a good idea to use recognizable branding across your different marketing pieces.
Did you know your real estate CRM can help keep your brand consistent? When you create your IXACT Contact website with a beautiful, customized header, you can also add that header to your marketing emails. This way, your emails are sent out looking customized and consistent with your brand.
A list of trusted professionals
You might be wondering how a list of recommended professionals contributes to your real estate marketing, but it does!
I think we’d all agree that for long term success, one of the most important things you need to do is to add value to your client relationships over time. If you’ve positioned yourself as the expert in all things home-ownership related, your leads or past clients may reach out to you for recommendations of local business or vendors.
Maintaining a list of reputable professionals you can recommend to past clients is a powerful way to offer ongoing value, and establish yourself as a resource for your contacts. You’ll have leads reaching out to you, rather than you always contacting them! How’s that for marketing success?
IXACT Contact’s Business Directory helps you market yourself as the expert on home-related services. You can easily search and filter your Business Directory and pull up the name of a reputable professional for a client in a matter of seconds. Your clients will appreciate you sending them to quality vendors, and the vendors will certainly appreciate you sending them business!
Insight into your marketing performance
Part of the fun of marketing is trying new things and seeing them succeed (by bringing you more clients and more commissions)! Are you aware of what marketing practices are working for you, and which ones aren’t?
With IXACT Contact’s email campaign reporting you’ll gain insight into exactly who is opening and clicking on your emails. Armed with this information, you can reach out to hot leads and connect with them at the right time.
Campaign reporting makes it possible for you to split test subject lines to see which one results in more email opens. Your understanding of your recipients will increase when you learn which emails resonate with them.
Takeaways
The amazing thing is that these 7 real estate marketing must-have’s utilize automation, freeing up more of your time to make connections, set up meetings, and sell more homes.
If you’re missing any of these 7 marketing must-have’s, now is the perfect time to implement them.
Start your 5 week FREE trial of IXACT Contact today and your mobile friendly agent website with blog, eNewsletter, email marketing, business directory and campaign reporting can be up and running in a day!
