REAL TIPS FOR REALTORS SERIES: How to Apply Real Marketing Strategies Using Print

Why would anyone purchase your services instead of someone else who is perhaps more experienced, or with a better track record?  

The Real Estate Market is truly competitive, and everyone is hard pressed to come up with engaging, creative, and impactful ways in their prospecting efforts. While recent developments have made buyers more capable of procuring homes with their mortgage arrangements, and indeed stock markets have been flying (valuations up close to 20%), this does not mean that you should sit back and wait for your customers to come to you.

Good marketing strategies are developed with the customer at the forefront; and in this case, you are the product.

Here are great marketing strategies you can use to strengthen your personal brand. Apply bonzer printed communications and you’re good to go.

1) MARKET YOURSELF DAILY, AND MARKET TO THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

• Remember the old adage, “A business without a sign is a sign of no business”? Make an active effort to make your name and service offerings known. Invest in a well-designed quality presentation kit of “Leave Behinds”: Direct Mail Stationery , Letterheads , Postcards , Flyers , Brochures , and Business Cards . Keep them with you at all times (in your bag, in your car, a set in your office) so that you are always prepared and no opportunity is lost.

• Create your own professional Real Estate Blog. While a lot of brokerages keep an agency blog, chances are it will only list your name and some information, and will mainly promote just the brokerage. By having your own blog, you can build and boost your own image and start good conversations and relationships by offering free community information, detailed data of your listings, buyer and seller tips, even financial tool, and of course, your qualifications, accomplishments, and unique sales pitch.

• Be visible, always. Make an extra effort to participate in community events and socials in your local industry group. The more you circulate, the better the chances are that you will meet new prospects. By being active in civic groups, volunteer groups, and associations, you create a local buzz for people who are likely to become future prospects or referral sources that will recognize and remember you. Once you do your Mail Drops for Flyers  or Leaflets  to the same community, they will have been more open to you, and you can continue to build your customer base.

• Contact local businesses about doing a bit of co-marketing. Use this synergy to promote their local businesses at your open with their Coupons  and Giveaways  in exchange for promotion of your open house at their respective establishments.

• Don’t forget previous clients! Loyal clients are your main source of business, whether as repeat transactions, or for referrals. They are your most powerful social proof tool that will help others associate your name with positive buyer experiences. Invest by setting aside some time to periodically touch base with them, and remember them on special occasions by sending out Thank You Cards  or client packages for varied occasions.

2) HOST A HARDWORKING OPEN HOUSE

• Manage your time, and try to host as many open houses as you can. Are you a new agent? Even if you don’t have regular listings, you can ask other agents in your company so that you could host open houses for their listings. This way they get free promotion for their properties, while you are given an excellent opportunity to market yourself personally and learn more about the needs and problems of your target customers.

• Be engaging. Designate an area as your “base of operations” (the kitchen is a great location for you as most buyers seem to gravitate and congregate there, and this will give you the chance to strike up conversations) and dispense in-depth information about the property, community, facilities, schools, and so on.

• Turn the open house into your own promotional event. Never just sit in a corner! Greet people as they walk in, and give out quality brochures to emphasize all of the important amenities of your home to potential buyers so that it is your home that will stand out in the buyer’s mind. Pass out Business cards , Flyers , and Custom Brochures  in branded Presentation Folders  that will feature your professional services, and use the remaining time to make a good impression by talking to potential clients and answering their questions.

• Provide a Home Book and encourage visitors to sign a guest log with their contact information and comments. The Home Book should answer most buyer questions about the house and surrounding area to help make the decision to purchase easier. It is best to send out Thank You Cards  to the attendees in a day or two so that they remember you. Use the contacts you have gained from the Home Book and send out advance notices to previous attendees for other open houses that you will have in the same area.

3) FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS AT NETWORKING

• Build your contact list of professionals. Creating lasting friendships and partnerships with colleagues, appraisers, title companies, contractors, mortgage lenders, and title abstractors are invaluable sources of brand new leads that will help you build your business and career.

• Establish referral networks around Australia. Remember that tip about being visible, always? If you are a member of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, you are able to become a bridge to nationwide agent and broker contacts. Your sellers could relocate to another city, and this is an opportunity to offer to find a broker for them that will meet their needs. By following through, you essentially become a “referring agent”. This type of sales effort will provide you due commission once your sellers purchase a property through the broker you referred.

• Keep correspondence with industry professionals. Continue to sell yourself and keep up-to-date about worthy events and meetings though email, but keep it professional and quick. Send Personal Cards  to influencers for your own event—these go a long way with this kind of audience. Learn from other fellow Real Estate agents’ and gain invitations to the more important seminars that will help you become the best at what you do.

A dynamic personal marketing plan will secure you a place in your chosen community’s top-of-mind, earning you referrals and a good steady flow of loyal customers.

To promote yourself effectively, you must understand your customers. That way, your messaging will be clear, and will resonate with your audience, getting you the attention that you need to start or strengthen your Real Estate Career.

Learn how to craft the right marketing messages to amplify your self-promotion strategy before you get your Flyers and Presentation Folders  up and working for you!

Ink Splat, 

INKABLE 

P.S. We’ve got another Inkable Toolkit for you! It’s a quick 10-Step Checklist that we think would be real helpful…