ForumsHome

I visited "Great Advertising and Marketing Ideas for Real Estate Agents" and it was great. I agree with Jay who provided a comment that you have a great site and offer great information for small business. I'm going to do some thinking about how I can offer some "surprising" premiums to our services and properties. Thanks so much for the response...

Do you stay in touch with your past clients? A couple of years down the road, would your past clients remember who they did business with? Have you given them a reason to do repeat business with you?

There is an way to create a greeting card campaign that will send out real greeting cards through the mail for as little as 62 cents. You can set the campaign to send cards on birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. You could ask for referrals too. Everything is done from your computer online, but the greeting cards are sent through the postal service. You can even use your own handwriting font and upload your picture and/or a scanned image of your business card

With this same system, you could take a picture of a family in front of their new home that they just purchased from you and upload it and have it printed on the cover of the card. You then offer to send the card out to your client's contacts to let them know about the new house and the change of address. Of course your business would be mentioned inside the card.

Greeting cards are more likely to be read than postcards. Many realtors are using this system, you should try it out.

David Simons
www.cardsguy.com

Hi,

I love this question. I'm a freelance marketing consultant for small businesses and the most fun I've had in this job was for a real estate company.

Everyone has a different opinion of radio and print. Personally, I almost never recommend either to my clients. Typically the business owners I work with have a tight marketing budget and can't afford a mis-step.

Let me tell you what has proven successful for me and hopefully it'll work for you.

• A 24 hour property hotline advertised on the real estate signs with a rider.
• An optimized website that is designed to grab email addresses in exchange for free reports.
• Event marketing advertised with press releases.
• Purchased a used moving van and had the sides logo'd. Offered it for free to every client.

Some quick explanations of these:

• The 24 hour hotline is something I set up using the client's phone system. We bought another line with a catchy number (used the last four S-A-L-E). When a client drives past a home, they see the hotline number on a rider that essentially tells them for more info, they can call 24 hours a day. When they call, they press the extension number for the property where they'll hear all sorts of info as well as receive the cell number of the listing agent. They also have the opportunity to listen to info about more houses, leave a message for the listing agent, request free reports, etc.

• Websites should offer free reports (bullets are the best - "10 Things to look for....) in exchange for joining the email list.

• By far, event marketing is the crown jewel. Partner with local charities and create an event around their needs. Write a compelling press release and blast newspapers, TV and radio. I've done everything from collecting food for the food bank to handing out free school supplies to offering free 5x7 photos of kids at Halloween. I've not only NEVER had a press release rejected when working in conjunction with a charity, I've been picked up for free TV exposure and every single event has been a huge success and lots of fun.

I wish you luck!

We have thousands of real estate customers that say they have tried other forms and print advertising works best for them. I know you may think i am being biast, but for our real estate customers we will design a postcard, help them put together a list or provide one, print, and mail for less than the price of a postage stamp. If they sell a house in a neighborhood they send a postcard to every other house in that neighborhood a "just sold" home. same for "just listed". On a side note the only way any form of marketing works is if you stay consistent. Don't just try it one month and then wait a few months. We recommend breaking up your list and mailing to it on a weekly basis. For more information on postcard printing and mail check out www.imagemedia.com. To view some free real estate postcard templates visit http://www.imagemedia.com/templates/browser.cfm?type=postcard

Hi There,

Love the question and some terrific responses; I think it is worth waying in on the importance of the message in relation to the delivery. You mentioned Buy, Sell and Lease homes there probably is some value in considering those as separate messages to separate audiences. Maybe consider breaking them apart and crafting a message about your business advantages in each area. With a message and/or tagline for each the best delivery method may be very obvious. You can also take advantage of easier response measurement and conversion ratio.

Best of Luck!

Hello,

Real Estate seems to be running into a lot of trouble as of late, particularly with marketing. Many agents, homeowners, etc., are struggling to find the mos efficient medium to advertise in.
I encourage specificity. Radio is a tough tool, one I typically abstain from. It has less science and quantification capabilities than others.

Here is What I Recommend:

1) Determine whom you are marketing to; are they dirt poor, are they rich? For each property, I recommend figuring out what a property's potential buyers subscribe to, what rallies they attend, where they socialized, etc., then sticking an advertisement where they will notice. The local newspaper is also a good idea.

2) Train or recruit a copywriter of good caliber. There is nothing like a "double" sales tactic: one written, one spoken. Heck, if you have really good copy and a wide-circulation target specific medium, you might just rake in the money.

3) You mentioned local, which may be tough. Does your local market have enough residents to qualify your property value?

4) Set-up a newsletter and/or "This Month's Special" or property listing updates. If you acquire enough subscribers, someone will see a house they like, or mention it to someone who would be interested. You also create long-term customers this way.

*Is It Cost-Effective*?

Advertisements, especially in magazines, can be expensive. It is therefore your responsibility to determine if you have the right market. However, if you receive your return on investment, the initial expense is nothing. I have seen paper and magazine ads between $200-$2000.

Regards,

A.R. Suarez