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I’m a big believer in pretty much everything you do in business being related to marketing in some way, and I promise that’s not just because I’m in marketing. Whether advertising a service, selling a product or creating a relationship with your customer, it all comes back to the transaction and the levers that make it happen.
When it comes to a “sales-based” profession like real estate, agents often think of marketing either as a task outside of themselves or a separate skill that requires a ton of money, time or education to do successfully.
But because you’re technically running your own business, it’s even more important to balance all of your talents and cognizantly incorporate good marketing in your day-to-day tasks — regardless of your experience level or what’s happening in the market as a whole.
Here’s three major things you should be thinking about to build your business from a marketing perspective:
1. Represent your product well
The first piece that may be a no-brainer is represent your listing as best as you possibly can — whether that’s an investment property, home, apartment rental or whatever it is you’re trying to make someone transact on. That’s your product, and the potential customer needs to be convinced that it’s right for them.
But before you even get to show how good of a salesperson you are, you need to market your listing effectively.
Quality content is where I always start in this process. Set a standard for yourself. Clean up the space as nice as you can, and absolutely get professional photography and video — include renderings, walkthroughs and even drone footage if you really want to wow people.
There’s nothing more “lifestyle” than where you choose to live, so make sure you’re also capturing content of the surrounding neighborhoods, retail and landmarks to really give people a sense of how they would fit into this new space.
From there, it’s all about getting the word out. Of course, there are the usual platforms where people search for real estate, but you can also get creative — whether that’s through digital marketing via pay-per-click advertising on search engines and paid targeted advertising on social, events or hiring a pilot to advertise on an aerial banner (OK probably not that last one).
2. Market yourself
Think of marketing as inbound and outbound — people are definitely looking for a particular type of product you might have, but you can also be marketing to them when they’re not looking. The best way to do that is to advertise who you are as an agent and the services you provide, so that when they are looking your’s is the first name that pops into their head.
Again, content is where I start here. Develop a list of your points of difference, what content relates to that and how you want to represent yourself and your professional brand.
Get photos, videos and messaging together, and begin to let the world know what you stand for through your client network and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Are you an expert in a certain neighborhood? Do you take amazing photography of listings? Do you always bring your dog to your showings?
Agents are often anxious about choosing a branding path and sticking to it — but know that the more you drill down into who you really are and the more you can show that, the more people it will resonate with.
Create a content calendar, analyze what works best, and refine your communication to be the best it can be.
3. Be good at what you do
I saved the best for last, and I can’t stress this third point enough. When I create marketing campaigns for beauty products, the first question I always ask is “Does the product work?”
If it doesn’t, even the best marketing in the world won’t save it from going under in the long run.
Take that anecdote, and relate it to the way you do business. Be good at what you do — stay educated about your product, read the news about what’s going on in the market, and listen to what’s best for your client.
Be smart. Be kind. Create lasting relationships with your clients that go beyond the transaction that’s in front of you, whether that’s with holiday cards or cups of coffee every now and again.
Remember that you are your own business. Retention of current clients and referrals through their experiences will do more for you in the long run than any campaign ever could — and that’s what good marketing is all about.
James Rozanski is the director of marketing for REAL New York. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
