By Jed Carlson
Services for Real Estate Pros with Adwerx
Try these real estate brand building techniques to get more real estate clients
As a real estate agent, you’re busy helping buyers and sellers in a major transaction. But you also have a business to build, to keep your pipeline full.
There are so many ways to do that -- from digital ads, to billboards to newsletters and direct mail. But sometimes you need to break out of the box and shake up your marketing. As 2017 gets underway, here are 17 ideas to help you meet new people, strengthen relationships and be the local real expert.
1. Buy lunch for your local public servants. Bring sandwiches for the local firehouse or bagels to your local librarians.
2. Put your office somewhere public. Hang out at your local coffee shop with a handwritten sign that says, “Ask me anything about real estate!” (Hint: get the manager’s permission first!)
3. Change your message on your phone. Don’t follow the same ol’ format you’ve used for years. Mix it up to make someone smile.
“Bob's voicemail is broken. This is his refrigerator. Please speak very slowly, and I'll stick your message to myself with one of these magnets.”
“Hello, this is Jane. I'm not in the office right now, but I can take a message. Hang on a second while I get a pencil. (Open a drawer and shuffle stuff around.) OK, what would you like me to tell me?”
4. Sponsor a cause matters to you. From rescue animals to cancer to children’s literacy, connect your cause to your brand. Don’t just do it once -- make it part of your brand for the entire year. You can do this easier than ever through sites like Rockstar Connect.
5. Share what you know. Are you part of an organization? A book club? Chamber of commerce? Offer to speak on your area of expertise. From first time buyers to fixer uppers, bring your experience to the forefront. You can even invite your referral partners to join you, from loan officers to home stagers and closing attorneys.
6. Be Oprah. Interview one of your clients. Talk to your latest seller about what made their home special for them. Or ask a first time home buyer what surprised them most about the transaction.
7. Reach out to past clients. Run a digital ad campaign everywhere on the web, but only for people you’ve worked with, and thank them for working with you. Have the ad link to a landing page where they can sign up to meet you for coffee.
8. Do a brand health checkup. Ask your colleagues and clients to describe you in three words. Are they the same words you would use? Is there overlap? If you like what you hear, integrate those words into your branding!
9. Imagine your ideal client. Create a persona by describing the client you want to work with. Know everything you can about this person. Then compare what you have to your current brand. How would this persona respond to your brand as it is now? What do you need to tweak to make those two connect?
10. Connect your offline to online. Use digital listing ads that look like the Just Listed/Just Sold postcards you mail out.
11. Host a safety day at a local elementary school, where kids can get free bike helmets and the fire department helps parents install car seats.
12. Invite a guest to write on your site. Who is a local expert that you admire? Who is doing work you respect? Even if that person isn’t in real estate, it’s a great opportunity to offer someone else a chance to be published. Then that person will share the post that lives on your blog.
13. Host an art show in your broker’s office. Find a local photographer or painter who needs a gallery and make an event out of it.
14. Sponsor a movie night. Talk to your local library or chamber of commerce about using a room and play a family friendly movie on a big screen or white wall. Offer popcorn and healthy snacks.
15. Go in on a social media fad! From the ice bucket challenge to the mannequin challenge to a dance craze, get your team to participate.
16. Celebrate a nontraditional holiday. Send your clients Valentine’s Day cards. Or pass out donuts on, you guessed it, National Donut Day. Find some unique holidays here.
17. Host a virtual reality roundup! Learn more about VR for real estate and let home shoppers view homes with Matterport or other content from the comfort of your office.
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