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Marketing
Steps for Real Estate
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Good
marketing does not just happen.
You have to plan for it and the planning involves
deciding or focusing on what you want. This part is relatively easy.
For example, looking at the list below, decide what
markets you want to target.
A. Sellers
B. Local Buyers
C. Out of Town Buyers
D. All of the Above
DEFINE
YOUR AUDIENCE
Now that
you know what markets you want to target, your next step
is to define your audience or your market with a little more
precision. In
other words, if you said you want to target sellers you
probably did not mean that you want to target every
homeowner in the country did you?
No, you probably meant that you want to target
homeowners in your geographic area.
The same is true if you said you want to target local
buyers. So, how
do you define these markets with more precision?
Here are some ideas:
| A. |
Homeowners
with property valued at $500,000 or above. |
| B. |
Homeowners
in a specific and defined geographic area. |
| C. |
First
Time Buyers |
| D. |
The
For Sale by Owner Market. |
| C. |
Buyers
looking for horse ranches |
Of course
there are other defining characteristics but this list
should give you an idea of what I mean.
METHOD
OF OUTREACH
With your
market or markets identified and defined, it is time to
consider how you will reach out to these folks.
This step requires that you consider a variety of
marketing and advertising options available to you.
Let’s say that you want to target sellers that you
have defined as homeowners with property values at $500,000
or above. Here
are some possibilities:
| A. |
Good
Search Engine Placement. |
| B. |
Direct
Mail |
| C. |
Newspaper/Magazine
ads |
| D. |
Public
Relations |
| E. |
Use
of Sales Aids |
| F. |
Combinations
of any of the above |
Again, the
list above is not exhaustive but it is enough so that you
get the idea. You
need to go through this process for each of the markets you
identified. If
you will call me toll free at 888-814-5347, I’ll help you
work out a plan specifically for your market.
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The
Market-Marketing
Match |
Choosing
the best methods of advertising and marketing involves a
variety of considerations. For each type of advertising or
marketing you want to consider, you must ask the following
questions.
One:
Is this an effective way to reach my target audience?
Two:
What budget will I need to use this strategy effectively
If you
don’t know the best ways to reach your identified target
audience you are liable to spend a lot of money advertising
in all the wrong places.
If you do not have a sufficient budget to carry out
an effective ad or marketing campaign you are liable to
waste a lot of money for nothing.
Finally, when
you know what you want, what your budget is and the best way
to reach out to your target audience you are ready to ask
the BIG Question.
WHAT
WILL WOW MY MARKET?
Let
me start by making a general statement that applies to
ALL marketing. If
you provide your target market with useful or helpful
information, they are more likely to pay attention to your
message than if you provide trite, overused, outworn
messages. For
example, if you are reading this newsletter it is because
you are interested in real, honest marketing information
that can help you increase your business.
Am I right? OK,
so how do you create and provide useful, real, helpful
information that will impress your target audience and get
them to pay attention to you?
THINK
ABOUT THEIR NEEDS
Ask
yourself, what does an owner of a $500,000 + home want
when contemplating selling that home?
Well, I can start off by being somewhat facetious and
say they probably want $100,000 more than the home is worth.
They may want assurances that the agent they choose
is experienced in working with high end buyers, qualifies
prospects before showing the property in person and has a
direct line to hot prospects that are likely to pay top
dollar. The
First Time Home Buyer has a whole different set of needs and
interests. So,
for every market you want to target, you must give thought
to what that market wants and needs.
Why? So,
you can demonstrate that you can meet their needs.
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How
Will You Meet Their Needs? |
The
only way that I can answer this question is to know
something about your qualifications and strengths so
that I can match that information with my knowledge of
what buyers and sellers want.
However, let me give you an example of how I go
about determining how an individual agent or broker, you
for instance, can demonstrate your ability to meet their
needs. If you would like to have a PLAN for Meeting your
prospects’ needs created especially for you, visit me
online and complete the form at http://www.sellrealestate.net/
freecustomwebplan.htm.
ONE
POSSIBILITY
Let’s
say that you want to target the out of town buyer
and we have already determined that there are many
retirees moving to your area each year. We know that
most of the retirees want to sell high in their area and
buy something less expensive so they can pocket some
money and live in style, comfort and security.
Because these folks are seniors, we want to make
sure that the Website is easy to navigate and easy to
use. We are
not dealing with Silicon Valley Nerds here!
So, here are some clever marketing ideas for your
Website.
One:
A calculator where they can enter the sales price of
their existing home, the purchase price of a new home,
estimated moving and sales costs click a button to find
out how much profit they can expect.
Everybody likes to think about how much money
they can make.
Two:
Provide a list of activities that are available in your
area such as golf, bridge groups, political clubs, spas,
etc and invite your Web visitors to click on the
activities they might enjoy.
For every activity they click on a page comes up
that tells them more about that activity in your area.
You might include a feedback form here so they
can request more information about a particular topic.
Three:
Include IDX (Internet Data Exchange) information on your
Website for those who want to do their own searches.
Many people do, many do not.
IMAGINE
THE DIFFERENCE
Now,
suppose for a moment that you had all these Web
pages currently working for you on your Website.
Then let’s suppose that you are not interested
in targeting out of town retirees.
Instead, let us suppose that you want to target
high-end homeowners because what you want is to increase
your listings. Now,
these strategies that were so interesting to the out of
town buyer and not as important or as effective when the
market you want to attract is high-end home sellers.
You will need an entirely different set of
strategies to please that market.
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