With over 2 million active real estate agents in the United States, finding a way to stick out from the competition is crucial. But finding real estate marketing ideas that all the other agents aren’t using in your area can be difficult. Ads on buses, post cards, and cookies at open houses have all been done before.
Luckily, successful marketing isn’t always about coming up with a brand-new idea. It’s often about tweaking and modifying a method that’s been successful in the past to successfully resonate with today’s market.
At NYB Creative, we work with all types of marketing, from website development to SEO to email campaigns. So we know a few things about what’s tired and what’s trending.
Here are 12 real estate marketing ideas your competition isn’t using…at least, not yet.
Offer a Freebie
Potential clients consider several matters when deciding on a realtor. Even with impeccable service and plenty of positive reviews floating around, you’re not guaranteed clients.
One way to give yourself a competitive edge is to offer a free service or product. But a free trinket won’t do. Services that clients need will gain the most traction, like home cleaning services, furniture staging, or any other service that can help them sell their homes faster and for more cash.
Give Live Tours
A smart way to boost the number of eyeballs exploring a property for sale is to host a virtual open house. One great way to do this is on Facebook. Market your property through a post and announce a date and time for a live tour. Tell your followers you’ll answer questions and take requests, such as an extended tour of the backyard, during the virtual open house.
Another great benefit of virtual tours is that viewers can tag friends and share the video as well. When compared to traditional open houses, virtual tours can increase a home’s viewings in record time.
Adjust Search and Filter Options
Does your website’s search and filter options make sense for your buyers? When working with real estate clients, we’ve noticed that some only allow searches for exact addresses. Not many buyers know the address of a home that could fit their needs. Potential buyers should be able to search by town or zip code. Filters should allow them to skip homes that don’t have the right number of bedrooms or square footage.
Even if nothing pops up after filters have been applied, clients are more likely to come back to your site to continue their search because of your effective and easy-to-use search and filter options.
Become a Local Guide
For buyers who are unfamiliar with your selling location, being able to provide information on more than just local homes is a bonus. Make yourself known as the authority of your town. You can do this through a series of blog or vlog posts that highlight the area’s best restaurants and entertainment spots. Mention local parks, the nearest hospital, and what type of shops are in town and nearby.
Paint a picture of your town that’s detailed enough for potential buyers to picture themselves in, making it that much easier to say yes to one of your listed homes.
Community Cause Marketing
Cause marketing allows you to better society while generating new leads and buzz around your brand. But for cause marketing to work, your intentions can be nothing less than authentic.
Find a local cause that speaks to you. Perhaps you want to support the local animal shelter, help raise funds for a new park, or assist a local family going through a rough time. Hold a fundraiser, such as a race, picnic, or raffle. By putting out both positive energy and your name in your community, you’ll be remembered and respected.
Create a Facebook Group for Your Town
From your business page, create a Facebook group dedicated to a town you love to sell homes in. While you need to make sure group members understand the page is ran by a real estate agency or agent, the content doesn’t have to be strictly real estate related.
Instead, let conversations happen naturally. Group members might talk about local events or ask for recommendations of daycares, restaurants, or landscapers. Make your group feel like the town’s best resource, sprinkle it with a few real estate posts, and you’ll bring in tons of potential leads.
Marketing Automation Software + CRM
Marketing automation isn’t just for the nationwide real estate companies anymore. Agencies of all sizes, even single agents, can take advantage of platform features such as campaign tracking, landing page services, and blog building assistance.
If this sounds interesting, consider SharpSpring, a marketing automation provider that helps real estate agents drive leads and convert sales. They’re an all-in-one marketing automation platform that can help you make the most out of your marketing resources.
One way the platform does this is through CRM, or Customer Relationship Management. Whether you use SharpSpring’s setup or integrate with a third-party provider, you’ll be able to track each and every lead you’ve ever connected with, whether you spoke with them for an hour yesterday or exchanged business cards four years ago.
CRM allows you to build better client relationships, improve efficiency, and increase profitability. These systems help you track personal information and data that lets you know when it’s time to nurture a specific relationship. How can someone work with another realtor when you were the one who reached out to ask about their dog just as their lease was running out?
You can filter through these leads as you wish as well. When you have a new modern condo to list, you can push a sneak peak to everyone in your CRM system that you marked with an interest in such housing.
Having a CRM allows you to catalog people that have been on your website or interacted with you offline. You can quickly and efficiently reach out to these customers with marketing automation, but even better is being able to quickly recall everyone in the last 5 years that were interested in a location or type of home, and push out that new listing. Imagine the 25 year old who reached out to you 3 years ago about a rental, you can push some new listings that fit their previous search when their lease is coming to a close.
Sound intriguing? Consider scheduling a demo with SharpSpring to see if you’re ready to automate your marketing efforts and take advantage of a CRM system.
Invest in a Moving Truck
While some real estate agencies offer moving services as a freebie marketing tactic, here’s a way to take it a step further. Invest in your own moving truck that local clients can use after they sell or buy.
Not only is this a great way to gain advantage against the competition, but a moving truck with your ad on it also serves as a mobile billboard. When the truck isn’t being used, make sure it’s parked in a high-traffic area for even more advertising potential.
Brush Up on Your Design Skills
Visual content sells. Studies show that people only remember 10% of information they hear three days after the fact. But if they receive the same information visually, 65% of people will remember it.
Either use your own skills or hire a designer to create branded graphs, guides, charts, or maps that your target audience can use. For example, create a map for families moving into the area that includes local schools, parks, and kid-friendly restaurants. Create guides that help first-time home buyers understand different types of loans or how to quickly save for a down payment. When the time comes to buy or sell, your information will already be etched in their minds.
Send Anniversary Cards
The average person moves about 11 times throughout their lifetime. This means that a one-time client can easily become a repeat client. But only if you stay connected in some way.
While people are likely to leave your mailing list after settling in or lose your contact information, receiving an anniversary card on their home purchase date is a kind and effective method to remaining relevant without being pushy.
Even if previous clients have no intention to sell or move again, the friendly reminder of your service could lead to a referral.
Create an Insanely Unique Business Card
Here’s a staggering statistic to consider. 27 million business cards are printed daily, but 88% are unfortunately thrown away within a week. If you want to keep your business cards from ending up in the trash, creativity is key.
Have your business card professionally designed. Consider unique shapes, bold colors, or a 3D element. You can also consider business cards that aren’t technically cards at all, like wine bottle openers, cutting boards, or screwdriver sets with your contact information printed or engraved on them. Recipients are more likely to keep these items, or give them away instead of disposing of them.
Host a Local Seminar
Share some of your buying or selling tips with the community to generate buzz and leads. Ask the local library if you can offer a class once a month for those interested in learning about remodeling for resale or how to secure a loan. Attendees will appreciate your honest (and free) advice, along with your name.
Now that you have a list of real estate marketing ideas to try, don’t make the mistake of trying them all. In fact, the best approach is to decide on a few marketing techniques and find a smart way to combine your efforts.
For example, start a Facebook group that features your live tours and streamed seminars. Or host a community fundraiser that includes branded handouts. As long as you’re authentic and honest in your marketing efforts, you’re sure to gain traction in your community.
While there are plenty of great marketing ideas listed above, don’t be afraid to try something original. You might just start the next great real estate marketing trend!
For more information on how to market your real estate business, reach out to NYB Creative, the experts in real estate marketing.
