Christy Murdock Edgar is a regular Inman contributor who writes about news, tech and marketing. She has two recurring columns, “Lessons Learned” and “Dear Marketing Mastermind” that publish weekly and monthly on Mondays and Tuesdays respectively.
Whether you’re a rookie agent, a rising team leader or an established veteran broker, we can all benefit from sharpening our skills. Follow our “Back to Basics” series to learn fundamental strategies, tactics, philosophies and more from real estate pros across the industry.
Memorial Day has long served many purposes in American culture. It marks the end of the school year in many markets, the beginning of summer activities and an opportunity to shake off the winter doldrums and get outside for fun, food and festivities.
So what five things can real estate agents do to make this holiday work as a fabulous marketing opportunity? We’ve got some ideas.
The best part? Each of these marketing maneuvers can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. That means you still have plenty of time for spending the day at remembrance events or cooking out with family and friends.
1. Do a patriotic photo shoot
(Estimated time: 1 hour)
Because so many of the decorations around Memorial Day look similar to July 4, taking some photos in your market can serve double duty.
Use some for your on-the-fly Memorial Day social media marketing, then use others to create custom mailers, flyers and posts as the Fourth of July approaches.
2. Use Memorial Day to launch your summer marketing
(Estimated time: 1 hour)
Because it is the unofficial start of summer in many areas, Memorial Day is a perfect time to start a summer marketing push. Let your friends, fans and followers know about upcoming summer concerts and events.
Create calendars for everything from farmer’s markets to fireworks to kids’ events in your neighborhood, then email them to your sphere, and use them as lead gen incentives on your website or Facebook ads.
3. Put together some quick pop-bys
(Estimated time: 3 hours)
Fun and fabulous pop-bys don’t have to be time-consuming, custom boxes. Grab some premium barbecue rub or sauce, a condiment set or just some barbecue tongs or spatulas and add a red, white and blue bow and your business card, then stop by and see a few valued friends and clients
Be sure to take a photo or video of yourself preparing and delivering those goodies to share on social media.
4. Make a splash on social media
(Estimated time: 5-30 minutes)
Memorial Day is the time to pull out all the stops on social: Do a Facebook Live or IGTV from your cookout, share a video of you making your famous potato salad or live tweet a concert, baseball game or other event you attend.
Want to be big on Snapchat? Create a custom filter, and schedule it to drop during your town’s biggest Memorial Day celebration or your favorite neighborhood’s annual cookout.
5. Tell your story
(Estimated time: 5 minutes to 1 hour)
If you have a special memory associated with Memorial Day, this is the time to share it. Drop a blog post, create a video, or find some way to tell your story.
Attend a Memorial Day service, and participate or volunteer. If you’re a veteran — or if you work with a lot of military families — this is a great time to show your respect for their service and sacrifice. Opening up and making your content personal means you’ll connect in new ways.
Memorial Day is a solemn time of remembrance, but it can also serve as an important moment to connect and spend time with those you love as you welcome summer and reconnect with the kids after a year spent on schoolwork, sports and activities.
Remember, your Memorial Day marketing doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Choose one or two of these marketing options and get yourself in front of potential clients before the first burgers even hit the grill.
How do you stay ahead in a changing market? Inman Connect Las Vegas — Featuring 250+ experts from across the industry sharing insight and tactics to navigate threat and seize opportunity in tomorrow’s real estate. Join over 4,000 top producers, brokers and industry leaders to network and discover what’s next, July 23-26 at the Aria Resort. Hurry! Tickets are going fast, register today!
Thinking of bringing your team? There are special onsite perks and discounts when you buy tickets together. Contact us to find out more.
Christy Murdock Edgar is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant with Writing Real Estate in Alexandria, Virginia. Follow Writing Real Estate on Facebook or Twitter.
