The importance of having a consistent and diverse marketing strategy for your real estate business cannot be underestimated.
Whether you are a real estate agent who is just getting started or a veteran with years of experience, coming up with fresh ideas and staying up-to-date on the latest marketing channels can keep your book of business booming even in times of downturn.
During the next several blog posts, we’ll cover the key components and best practices essential to any successful marketing plan including:
- Email Marketing – Must do’s and don’ts
- Texting – When is it appropriate and new capabilities
- Social Media – New ways to leverage social
- Open Houses – Getting remembered
Along with implementing these marketing fundamentals, a number of agents are finding success using out-of-the-box marketing strategies to appeal to a broader audience and garner free press coverage and generate viral buzz.
While there are no one-size-fits-all rules to coming up with the creative ideas that will get noticed, here are 3 examples real estate agents have used that got results.
Take Your Marketing to the Dogs
Mission Viejo, California-based real estate agent Zen Ziejewski taps into the love of
man’s best friend by hosting a free annual photo event where owners and their dogs are
bedecked in fun costumes. Attendees provide their information and email address along
with filling out whether they plan to move in the next year. Then they can pick out costumes for their pet that he provides and get a free professional photo, along with dog
treats and other goodies.
The result?
Zen has gotten both a listing and a buyer client from the event, along with a large pool of new leads and free publicity. All totaled, the results more than paid for the costs associated with hosting the event.
Want More Leads? Give Them Coffee
When Christine Kim was a newer agent in Saratoga, California she wanted to try to start a farm in her own backyard, an area that was already dominated by 3 or 4 agents with 20+ years of experience. Wanting to stand out and provide something different than the Just Sold and Just Listed mailers everyone else was doing, she decided to send out mailers in the shape of a giant coffee cup advertising an “Open House: Coffee with Christine” event at her own home in the neighborhood. She hired a barista, gave real estate updates on the area and let people walk through her home.
The result?
Three listings and the start of a fruitful farm that yielded $6m in sales
volume over the next 2 years.
Rethink Your Messaging
South Carolina-based agent Jeff Cook took a traditional marketing channel — highway
billboards — and rethought their impact by using timely messaging to tap into public
sentiment. Before the 2016 elections, his billboard featured pictures of both presidential
candidates (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump) with a headline that read “Moving to
Canada? We can sell your home”. He included a link to his website, his phone number
and a photo of himself.
The result?
The tactic helped get him press coverage on national outlets like Fox News, Huffington Post and many more. In addition to the free publicity, he also benefited in online search from all of the high-quality linkbacks from such well-known sites that helped boost his standings on Google.